Chaparrals Begin Title Defense with 48-25 Win over Ellsworth

It's fitting that the College of DuPage, located in Glen Ellyn, is the only Junior College in the Chicago area with a football team. Glen Ellyn is a football community, especially with all the success that the two Glen Ellyn high schools, Glenbard West and Glenbard South, have had.

The Chaparrals won the NJCAA Division III National Championship last December, and began their quest to defend their title with a bang. On the third play of the game quarterback Max General connected with running back Franklin Hayes on a 75 yard screen pass, which set up a 9 yard touchdown keeper for General.

The Panthers would answer back in one play, a 73 yard touchdown pass from Joshua Bauer to Malcolm Gillie. However that didn't faze the defending champs as they would rely on big plays on offense, and resiliency on defense. The Chaparrals would eventually add touchdown receptions of 48 yards by Myles McKatherine, 73 and 27 yards by Vince Brown, and 46 yards by Marquel Porter.

Max General finished the game with 5 total touchdowns (4 passing, and 1 rushing). The defense forced 4 turnovers (3 interceptions, 1 fumble recovery), and sacked Joshua Bauer twice.

The Chaparrals will host Rochester Community and Technical College next Saturday at 1 P.M.