A perfect 5-for-5 on first-half possessions set the tone Saturday afternoon as No. 1 College of DuPage routed visiting Hocking 45-0 in NJCAA football at MacDougall Field.
 
On the day, quarterback Peyton O'Laughlin threw for two touchdowns and back-up QB Robert Brazziel scored two TDs and threw for another as the Chaparrals improved to 3-0 overall.
 
"When you have guys who are only around for a few years, and you bring in a new system, it takes a while to get clicking,'' head coach Matthew Rahn said. "For the first time this season, we found our way on offense.''
 
COD got going when defensive back Michael Gravely Jr. forced a fumble that was recovered by linebacker Dominick McDonough with 9:39 left in the quarter. Three plays later, COD got inside the Hocking 10 and came away with a 23-yard field goal from Christian Casillas.
 
COD's defense forced a three-and-out from the Hawks, and the Chaps extended the lead when O'Laughlin hit wide receiver Amariyon Lynch-Gordon for a 20-yard strike that put COD up 10-0.
 
Chaps' defensive back Riley Dravet ended Hocking's next drive with an interception at the COD 29. The Chaps then drove 71 yards on seven plays — thanks to O'Laughlin's  17-yard completion to Dylan Gaston and a 15-yarder to Willie Feagin — and Brazziel came in and put the Chaps up 17-0 on a 5-yard run.
 
COD extended the lead to 24-0 on a 9-yard pass from O'Laughlin to Ethan Quaye with 2:41 to go.
 
Freshman punt returner Madixx Morris set up the final TD of the half when galloped his way to a 67-yard return to the Hocking 3 and Brazziel made the score 31-0 with 53 seconds to go in the half.
 
"Our defense played fast and physical,'' Rahn said. "It's been our ID in the past few years, where we bent a bit on drives, and then extended ourselves and found ways to stop.''
 
"Our defensive line unit played more in the backfield today than we had in our previous games,'' defensive coordinator Trevor Cipriano said.
 
COD added two scores in the fourth — a 57-yard pass from Brazziel to Tyrese Buffkin and a 10-yard run from Matthew Beck.

On defense, All-American defensive back Guy Goss led in six solo tackles and seven total tackles. Antonio Rivera and Martrell Hightower each had six total tackles.

Gravely Jr. produced two forced fumbles, four total tackles and 1 1/2 tackles for loss. Collectively, COD had five sacks for 35 yards and nine tackles for loss for 27 yards.
 
The victory now sets up a rematch of last year's NJCAA title game with North Dakota State College of Science next Saturday on the road in Wahpeton, N.D.
 
Science, ranked No. 2 in last week's poll, defeated No. 3 Minnesota State 30-14 in Fergus Falls, Minn, on Saturday.

Hocking 0-0-0-0_0
DuPage 10-21-0-14_45
 
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
C — FG 23 Christian Casillas, 6:32
Drive — 8 plays, 62 yards, 3:07
C — Amariyon Lynch-Gordon 20 pass from Peyton O'Laughlin (Casillas kick), 3:15
Drive — 4 plays, 47 yards, 1:40
Second Quarter
C — Robert Brazziel 5 run (Casillas kick), 9:28
Drive — 7 plays, 71 yards, 3:38
C — Ethan Quaye 9 pass from O'Laughlin (Casillas kick), 2:41
Drive — 7 plays, 93 yards, 3:08
C — Brazziel 3 run (Casillas kick), :53
Drive — 1 play, 5 yards, 4 seconds
Third Quarter
No scoring
Fourth Quarter
C — Tyrese Buffkin 57 pass from Brazziel (Mason Wojtas kick), 10:53
Drive — 1 play, 57 yards, 18 seconds
C — Matthew Beck 10 run (Wojtas kick), 4:45
Drive — 7 plays, 80 yards, 4:11

Individual statistics
Passing: O'Laughlin 9-9-0 146 yards, 2 TDs; Brazziel 1-1 58 yards 1 TD; Leons 1-5 7 yards
Rushing: Atiba Fitz 6-57 yards, Beck 4-51 yards, Ernest Temple 2-44 yards, McGill 8-43 yards, Jamareon Dale 4-19 yards, Deszmund White 1-16 yards, Brazziel 3-10 yards, O'Lauglin 1-8 yards, Leons 3-5 yards.
Receiving: Fain 2-16 yards, Feagin 2-55 yards, Lynch-Gordon 2-28 yards, Dylan Gaston 2-24 yards, Buffkin 1-58 yards, Kanye Tyler 1-26 yards, Quaye 1-4 yards