Chapman Cruises On, 62-0, Beating Troubled Menlo : College football: Panthers recover from first loss last week and improve to 4-1-1.

ORANGE —  Jacob Galasso found a good night to play quarterback for Chapman University.

The Panthers, facing an overmatched and troubled team from Menlo College, took a 62-0 victory in front of 2,822 Saturday night at Chapman.

Galasso, a freshman who started the season as a third-string quarterback and reserve tailback, never had occasion to get the jitters. Chapman scored on its first three possessions and five of the six times it had the ball in the first half.

“I personally think I could have done better,” Galasso said. “There were some skill things I talked with my coach about improving, but as a team, we didn’t allow a sack, we only had two penalties. . . .”

Galasso, who completed five of 15 passes for 120 yards and a touchdown, didn’t have to mention all the touchdowns. That part was obvious.

Chapman (4-1-1) took a 34-0 halftime lead and extended it to 55-0 before the third quarter was over.

Menlo (1-6) put up a decent fight considering it had only 32 players available for the game. The Oaks gained only 32 fewer yards in total offense than Chapman, but it didn’t matter.

They were missing five players, including three defensive starters, because of disciplinary action after a brawl in the final seconds of their game last week at Claremont-Mudd.

Chapman, which lost the first time last week against Occidental, wasn’t sympathetic. The Panthers revved up their big-play machine, and every time they snapped the ball they were a threat to score.

Four times Chapman scored on the first play of a possession, once on the second play and another time on the fourth.

Add to that two interception returns for touchdowns and you have an easy night to be a Chapman quarterback . . . or coach.

“It was just too hard on them to lose those players and have the morale problems they probably had this week,” Chapman Coach Ken Visser said. “We had a little too much team speed for them, too.”

Chapman asserted its speed advantage all over the field.

--Tailback Darnell Morgan scored on touchdown runs of 35 and 64 yards.

--Darnell Rubin, wide receiver/kick returner/running back, scored on a 39-yard pass from receiver Terrance Green and an 85-yard run that was the Panthers’ longest play from scrimmage this season.

--Green got behind the secondary to catch a 34-yard scoring pass from Galasso to give the Panthers their 34-0 halftime lead.

--Linebacker Michael Simmons returned an interception 39 yards for a touchdown in the first half and Malcolm King returned one 77 yards for a score on the first play of the fourth quarter to make it 62-0.

It didn’t even matter if the plays weren’t run as diagramed.

Chapman padded a 3-0 lead after getting the ball at the Menlo 35 when Simmons intercepted a pass. On the first play, Morgan had to chase down the ball when Galasso’s pitch went over his head. But Morgan scrambled back and picked up the ball at the Menlo 47, eluded several defensive linemen and ran untouched into the end zone.

Another time, Green took a reverse handoff, slipped, recovered his balance and threw to a wide-open Rubin for the touchdown.

Chapman led, 3-0, after Bill Hamlin’s 45-yard field goal. Hamlin also made a 47-yard field goal, his longest of the season and thought to be a Chapman record.