LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Oct. 17, 2009) – For the fifth time in as many meetings Occidental College defeated Chapman University in non-conference action. Tonight the Tigers walked away with a 20-14 victory over the visiting Panthers on a warm October evening.

In a game that saw 15 combined punts and two scoreless quarters of play, the cats clawed at one another in the first and fourth quarters. Although the Panthers won the coin toss and opted to receive, the Tiger struck first when Neil Martin, who nailed a game-winning field goal one week ago on Patterson Field, lit up the scoreboard tonight with a 22-yard FG to put the Tigers up 3-0.

Josh Mun returned to the line-up after an injury sidelined him and put the Panthers deep on their own side of the field. Chapman, forced to drive the ball 77 yards down the field, did just that for the first touchdown of the game. In what has been one of the Tigers' strengths all season, Jim Hildensperger got a hand on the ball, blocking the point after attempt by CU and Occidental's Nick Saraceni recovered the ball, running it back for a safety after avoiding being tackled 15 yards from the end zone to pull the black and orange within a point at 6-5.

Immediately, Occidental got the ball back in the hands of senior quarterback Scott Saunders and the Tigers used seven plays to travel the length of the field, ending with a 42-yard completion from Saunders to sophomore Jordan Washington who used some fancy footwork and incredible athleticism to avoid the Panthers' defenders and wind up with the first Oxy TD of the game. Martin finished off the play to push the Tigers' lead to 12-6.

Occidental had an opportunity to score early in the second, but a fumble on the two yard line erased that chance as neither team scored in the quarter, sending the teams into the locker rooms at 12-6 in favor of the home team.

The third quarter turned into a punt-off after the first drive of the second half saw Occidental turn the ball over on downs. The next four possessions ended in punts before Aaron Stanton intercepted Chapman's quarterback Eric Willcockson for the first of two times in the game. The ensuing Tigers' possession, however, also ended in a punt as did the first three possessions of the fourth quarter.

During those seven opportunities for Occidental's Alex Groh a trio of them sailed 50 yards or more with 52, 54 and 56 yard punts.

In the fourth quarter the Tigers added to the score when Saunders connected with Jordan Inabnit for the longest completion of his career at 71 yards. The senior receiver avoided a pair of tackles in the middle of the field and twisted his way to the Chapman 15 yard line, which set up a three yard rush by Jason Haller with 6:18 remaining in regulation. Occidental opted for the two-point conversion and Saunders nailed a wide open Washington to give the Tigers 20 points.

On the kickoff, the Panthers were not to be out-done as Kevin Krail returned Mun's kick 91 yards for a touchdown. CU also went for a two-point play on a fake PAT with Blake Vanderweil rushing for a pair bringing the score to the final 20-14.

Saunders, who earned SCIAC Athlete of the Week honors for his performance a week ago against Redlands, was 26-for-47 for 310 yards. Inabnit was his favorite target as the duo combined for seven completions tallying 141 yards while Washington caught six passes for 91 yards and Jason Lehman nabbed eight catches.

Washington, Inabnit and Haller all surpassed 100 all purpose yards with 168, 141 and 127, respectively. Washington returned five punts for 52 yards with his longest a 14 yard gain and also had a 25-yard kickoff return. Saraceni finished with a pair of kick returns for a combined 42 yards.

The offensive line protected Saunders, allowing just one sack late in the game. As he has been all season, Nick Danielson was solid under center and Whit Montgomery was a force on the line. For the first time of his collegiate career Brian Brickey lined up on the o-line for Occidental.

Defensively senior Trace Wallace led the attack with nine tackles (seven solo) while breaking up three plays. Alex Wertheimer and Kyle Spaulding finished with seven tackles apiece and Wertheimer added four quarterback hurries while breaking up two plays. Hildensperger and Jesse Fischer combined for the only Occidental sack of the game. Stanton pushed his season interception total to five with two more tonight, returning one for 29 yards.

Overall, the Tigers maintained possession of the football for 33:26 and accumulated 460 yards of offense (150 on the ground and 310 through the air). Occidental was 2-for-3 in the red zone and picked up 23 first downs to the Panthers' 15. The black and orange converted 7-for-16 third down conversion chances as CU was just 2-for-12 in the same situation. Oxy also limited the Chapman running game to 61 total yards.

With the victory, Occidental improves to 4-1 on the season as they enter the home stretch with only Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference games remaining and their sights set on a league title.

Next weekend the University of La Verne will visit Patterson Field for the Tigers' homecoming game. Both pre-game and halftime festivities are scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 24 with kick-off set for 3:00 p.m. following the Inauguration of Jonathan Veitch, the 15^th President in school history.