ORANGE, Calif. – Tanner Mendoza's 13-yard run in triple overtime provided the winning points in a wild 68-65 first round NCAA Division III playoff game Saturday afternoon at Ernie Chapman Stadium.
 
Chapman (10-0) advances to the second round where the Panthers will host St. John's on Saturday.
 
Artie Johnson rushed for a career-high 158 yards on 29 carries and scored four TDs but it wasn't enough for the Northwest Conference champion Wildcats. Linfield ended its season at 8-2 with both losses coming in Southern California.
 
Linfield could have sealed the game in first overtime but Reed Vettel completed a 17-yard pass on fourth down to Wyatt Hardin to send the game to a second overtime.
 
Both teams traded touchdowns in the second overtime. Linebacker Dillon Keefe passed 25 yards for Spencer Corona on a trick play to give Chapman a momentary lead. Wyatt Smith passed 25 yards to Keegan Weiss on the next play, knotting the score 62.
 
In the third OT, Linfield had to settle for 26-yard field goal by Andrew Starkel. The Panthers ran three plays on their offensive series, with Mendoza bursting through the center of the line for the winning touchdown.
 
Smith passed for 410 yards and four touchdowns. The junior also ran for touchdown in the first overtime on a 1-yard sneak.
 
Keegan Weiss had 14 catches for a career-high 161 yards and two TDs. Colton Smith pulled in five receptions for 109 and two scores. Jacob Calo had six catches for 97 yards.
 
Vettel passed for 175 yards and one TD. Jonston Macintyre threw for 141 yards and ran 49 yards and one score while alternating at quarterback with Vettel.
 
Mendoza ran 31 times for 173 yards and three TDs. He added five catches for 29 yards.
 
Keefe passed for one TD, ran for another score, had one catch for eight yards, and blocked an extra point. Corona had eight catches for 180 yards, Nico Ragas totaled four receptions for 74 yards and one TD, and Hardin pulled in seven balls for 54 yards and two TDs.
 
Two first-quarter turnovers dropped Linfield into a 14-point hole. A sack by David Aarhus caused Wyatt Smith to fumble on the Wildcats' first offensive play, and Keefe scooped up  the loose ball and returned it 21 yards for the game's first touchdown.
 
A second fumble came midway through the quarter when Keaton Wood caught a pass from Smith, but was stripped of the ball by Nathan Parkin. Six plays later, Tanner Mendoza sprinted over the goal line. The extra point by Ken Baierl made the score 14-0 with 4:16 left in the opening quarter.
 
The Wildcats battled back, with Smith tossing touchdowns passes to Keegan Weiss and Colton Smith in the span of 2:12. The Panthers got a touchdown of their own between the two Linfield scores, cutting the margin to 14-7 and 21-14.
 
Chapman made it a two-score game once more on MacIntyre's 60-yard bomb to Ragas with 9:51 left in the quarter. But Linfield's two Smiths hooked up again for a 51-yard scoring pass. The extra point was blocked at the line of scrimmage, keeping the score 28-20. The 'Cats pulled to within one point with 1:42 left in the half after Johnson knifed over from the 2-yard line.

Linfield took its first lead of the game midway through the third quarter. Johnson scored on a 47-yard run and  Starkel's extra point put the 'Cats in front 34-28. Chapman answered with Keefe's 10-yard run three minutes later. The extra point was no good, leaving the game tied at 34. The teams alternated two touchdown each in the fourth quarter with Johnson scoring on a 2-yard run with 3:53 to play, then forcing overtime with a 12-yard blast up the middle with 4 seconds left in regulation.
 
Defensively, Tyler Sitton made 10 tackles to go along with two pass breakups. Keyell Davis was credited with nine tackles and forced a fumble.
 
Keefe made 10 stops on defense, including a sack and a pass breakup and two quarterback hurries.
 
Chapman outgained Linfield 560 to 547.
 
'CAT SCRATCH
Temperature at kickoff was 75 degrees . . . Saturday's announced attendance was 1,221. . . Chapman pushed its winning streak dating to last season to 11 games. . . Linfield entered the game 5-0 versus Chapman and 28-3 against teams from the state of California. . . Chapman entered the game allowing an average of 62.9 rushing yards per game but the Wildcats gained 137. . . Chapman did not turn the ball over a single time. Linfield had three giveaways, two fumbles and an interception.