The Chaparral football team won a blowout game on Oct. 2 against Erie college; the final score was 41-0. The team now has a 3-1 record this season. 

After a Fall 2020 announcement allowing only non-contact sports resulted in the cancellation of sports such as men’s football for an entire year; this season Junior College (JUCO) football is back. 

The Chaparrals now have an 8-2 record against Erie Community College, a team whose hometown is Buffalo, NY.

The Chaparrals took a 14-0 lead early in the game, taking only 3 minutes and 16 seconds to score two touchdowns.            

Quarterback Jarred Park threw two touchdowns. His first touchdown pass for 26 yards was to wide receiver Myles McKatherine. His second touchdown pass was 49 yards to wide receiver Lazerick Eatman. As of Oct. 4 Park has thrown a total of 295 yards and 3 touchdowns this season. 

After the game, Park said he was happy with the win but expressed that the team had the potential to play even better.  

“We’re not done. This is only the beginning,” he said. 

The rest of COD’s scoring came through a 25-yard run from running back Darrell Smith in the first quarter, a 10-yard run from halfback Lavale Hill in the second quarter, and an 8-yard pass from quarterback Peyton Brown to wide receiver Weston Sisson in the fourth quarter. Kicker Anthony Turnage successfully completed four PATs, and kicker Joshua Winslow completed one PAT.

Like Park, Assistant Coach J.R. Niklos was happy with the game, emphasizing the team would continue to improve. “This is the first game I can honestly say we’ve completed all three phases between the offense, defense, and special teams. That’s what we want. Good team victory.” 

The Chaparral defense stopped Erie from making any progress on offense. As of Oct. 4, COD’s defense is ranked 7th in the country for total sacks with 16, two coming from this game. Defensive lineman Tom Trieb is 3rd in the country for sacks with 7.5; one coming from this game. COD’s defense is tied for 7th in total interceptions with six, one in this game.

In July the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) announced changes to junior college football. The changes include the creation of two divisions, Division I and Division III (non-scholarship), with teams ranked separately within divisions; and the addition of a new Division III national championship, which will be hosted at COD’s Bjarne Ullsvik Stadium on Dec. 4. 

“We play mostly scholarship schools, so that’s Division I, and our opportunity is not just to be the best Division III team, but it’s to be the best JUCO team period,” said Niklos.

The Chaparrals have two more matchups against Division I schools this season, the first on Oct. 30 at Hocking College in Nelsonville, Ohio, and the second on Nov. 13 against Georgia Military College. 

When asked about the team’s hopes to play in the title game, Park and Niklos both stated the team was taking the season game-by-game, only focusing on the next week’s matchup.

As of Oct. 5, the Chaparrals are ranked second in NJCAA Division III football. The teams that finish the season ranked first and second in the division will play in the title game on Dec. 4. 

According to the NJCAA handbook, rankings are decided by a football poll. Each poll week, a voting panel submits a ballot listing their votes for the top 5 teams in the country. The voting panel consists of the chair of the NJCAA football committee and three Division III representatives from the NJCAA football committee. This constitutes 85% of the rankings. The other 15% comes from an NJCAA Football Computer Ranking (FCR). The FCR distributes points based on each team’s overall record, the strength of their opponent’s record, and strength of opponents-opponents record.

The Chaparral football team has been ranked in the top 2 teams in the country every voting week since the season began. 

The next game will be played on Oct. 16 against Nassau Community College in Garden City, N.Y.

The next home game is Oct. 23 against Detroit Community Christian College.

View the Chaparral football season schedule.