The College of DuPage Chaparrals football team kicked off its latest NJCAA Division III title defense season on Aug. 23 with a rout of the Rochester Community & Technical College Yellowjackets. Coming into the season, COD is ranked No. 1 in the preseason rankings. 

The Yellowjackets finished last season at 5-5, earning a No. 5 ranking. And throughout most of the first half, it looked like it was going to be a defensive battle for COD. Towards the end of the first half, COD’s running game suddenly became unstoppable. Coming out of the half, COD put up 24 unanswered points that led them to a 60-14 season opener victory.

COD started the game with the ball and opened up with Ethan Middleton revving up the run game, but the Chaparrals’ offense stalled out after a false start from the O-line that made head coach Matthew Rahn call out the field goal unit. Freshman kicker Danny Duray pushed his 43-yard kick to the right to keep the game tied at 0. 

For RCTC, their first drive lasted two plays. On the second play, COD’s Nehemiah Jones picked the ball off at the 45-yard line to get the offense back on the field. DuPage’s offense had to settle for a field goal, where Duray drilled it for the first points of the season. On Rochester’s second drive, COD’s William Sierra came out of the pile with the ball for another COD takeaway. COD turned the ball right back over deep in Yellowjacket territory. The Chaparrals’ defense stepped up by getting a safety to go up by 5 (5-0).

Starting COD QB Justin Bland injured his throwing hand late in the first quarter, so Askia Bullie took over. Bullie showed out in his first drive of the season by capping it off with a 20-yard touchdown run by himself to make it 12-0 after a defensive stop by the Chaps. Running back AJ Moore added on a touchdown to make it 19-0. 

The Yellowjackets punched back with a touchdown of their own to make it a game, but Bland came back into the game and ran in a touchdown to make it 26-8. Duray added a field goal at the end of the first half to go up by 21. 

After halftime, COD ran away with the contest by putting up three unanswered touchdowns in the third quarter to make it 50-8. 

DuPage defeated the Yellowjackets 60-14 with six different Chaparrals reaching the end zone. Bland and Bullie combined for 206 passing yards and one passing touchdown. The rushing game was the difference-maker in the game, with three rushers getting over 70 yards each and totaling 376 rushing yards. 

Starting Tight End Luke Bonnema stated, “It was great to be back on the field again with the guys and getting to know the new guys. It’s always great to start off the season with a win; there is definitely stuff we need to work on, but overall I’m excited for the rest of the year.”

The Chaps record climbed to 2-0 after a win on the road against the Minnesota West Community & Technical College Bluejays in Worthington, Minn. The final score was 37-7.

DuPage’s next home game is against the Hocking College Hawks at Bob MacDougall Field on Sept. 13 at 1 p.m.