Coming off a tough loss against Iowa Central, the defending back-to-back national champions put on a scoring clinic against the Erie Community College Kats with the help of their dominating defense to allow only two points the whole game.
“Our defense played the lights out. Our defense is capable of doing it week in and out,” head coach Matthew Rahn said. “Offensively, it was important this year to put up as many points as possible on the board and not let anything work against us when it comes down to rankings.”
With 9:14 left in the first quarter, sophomore quarterback Peyton O’Laughlin was able to connect with sophomore wide receiver Fabian Baez to score a 35-yard touchdown after throwing a deep fade towards the right side of the end zone to put up the first points of the game. Baez finished the game with two touchdowns from two different quarterbacks.
“I feel like I played well for the team,” Baez said. “Anything I can do to contribute to the team is all that matters. Also, we have to play like this every week, no matter who we are playing against.”
Later in the first quarter, freshman Dominick McDonough blocked a punt from Erie, and the ball was soon picked up by freshman Antonio Rivera for a touchdown to make the score 17-0.
Shortly after, COD scored a safety after Erie’s offensive center overthrew the snap in the back of the end zone due to pressure from the front line of the Chaparral’s defense to make the score 19-0.
With 12:38 left in the second quarter, sophomore cornerback Brandon Vines picked off Erie’s quarterback to give COD possession and even more control over the game. Vines also secured a 29-yard pick-six in the fourth quarter to finish the night with two interceptions and a defensive touchdown.
“As a defense, we did a hell of a job and were very prepared,” Vines said. “My teammates helped me to get into the end zone. We wanted a defensive score today, and I’m glad we got one.”
The Kats’ only points from the game came from an overload blitz that caused O’Laughlin to be sacked in the end zone for a safety in the second quarter.
Shortly after, COD freshman kicker Christian Casillas scored an impressive 51-yard field goal to increase the Chaparral’s lead to 22-2 over the Kats.
COD sophomore quarterback Robert Brazziel finished the night with three touchdowns after checking into the game late in the first half and playing the majority of the second half. Brazziel’s touchdowns consisted of two throwing touchdowns for a combined 66 yards and a 6-yard rushing touchdown.
“I feel like we came out and executed at the level that we wanted to,” Brazziel said. “I could’ve played better personally but others feel that I gave the offense the spark that we needed to move the ball.”
With only a couple seconds left in the game, the game took an interesting turn when COD decided to score a touchdown despite Erie’s coaching staff taking their defensive squad off the field, assuming that COD would run a victory formation play to end the game. While COD ran their final play, the Kats were gathering, preparing to shake hands with the Chaparrals.
After the game had officially concluded, Erie’s coaching staff and players walked towards the COD sideline out of frustration and started to display their anger towards the Chaparrals coaching staff, which led to Erie’s coaches having to be separated and players having to hold each other back to prevent any suspensions.
“Our coaches and players all controlled themselves,” COD head coach Rahn said. “We didn’t have anyone going after another coach or player, so it was very one-sided with their coaches and players coming up and instigating some extracurricular stuff. Last year, we won 49-0 against this team and dropped from first place in the rankings to third. We were not going to play this year by chance and put more points on the board. They decided to not put a defense out there, so we ran it in.”
The Chaparrals will take on Detroit Community Christian at 12 p.m. on Oct. 7 in Detroit, Mich.
