ILH FOOTBALL
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Pac Five's Darin Kamealoha broke away from Word of Life defenders for a touchdown last night.
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Wolfpack wear down Firebrands in opener
The first quarter looked like something you'd see in a game of Madden.
But once Pac-Five figured out Word of Life's unique running offense, the Wolfpack settled down to eventually beat the Firebrands 48-28 last night in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu opener for both teams at Aloha Stadium.
Junior quarterback PJ Minaya completed 37 of 51 passes for 511 yards and seven touchdowns, and Landon Amorin had 11 catches for 194 yards and three scores as the Wolfpack (2-2, 1-0) prevailed after withstanding a blitzkrieg by Word of Life (2-2, 0-1) in the opening quarter.
"I felt like the offense was clicking," Minaya said.
Pac-Five hadn't scored 48 points in a game in nine years, but did it for the second time this season.
"The funny thing is, all these guys are new," Pac-Five coach Kip Botelho said. "We have zero returning starters on offense."
The first 12 minutes looked like an Arena Football highlight reel as the two teams combined for 42 points. Word of Life scored four touchdowns on 11 plays from scrimmage and Minaya had 200 passing yards by the end of the quarter.
Minaya finished with 298 yards in the first half as the Wolfpack called passes on all but two plays. By contrast, the Firebrands rushed the ball on their first 22 plays from scrimmage. Their only pass attempt was an interception.
"For us, the key was to keep their offense off the field," Botelho said. "Momentum was a big part of the first half and we had to work hard to get it back on our side."
Three of Word of Life's four first-quarter touchdowns came on rushing plays of at least 40 yards. Max Mower scored the first of his two touchdowns on a 49-yard run and Ryan Alvarado scored from 40 yards out. Quarterback Jacob DeKneef scored Word of Life's first-ever touchdown in league play with a 45-yard scamper 4 minutes into the game.
"For us, it's a dream to have our own program and come out and compete," Word of Life coach Joe Onosai said. "We just ran out of gas."
Pac-Five battled back to tie the game at 28 at halftime and then pulled away in the second half. Minaya hit Jordan Doi for a 24-yard score and then found Amorin on a deep slant for a 70-yard touchdown to put the game away.
At Aloha Stadium
Word of Life (0-1, 2-2) |
28 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
28
|
Pac-Five (1-0, 2-2) |
14 |
14 |
13 |
7 |
- |
48
|
P5-Darin Kamealoha 65 pass from PJ Minaya (Brendan Sagucio kick)
WOL-Jacob DeKneef 45 run (Jana Tanouye kick)
P5-Landon Amorin 37 pass from Minaya (Sagucio kick)
WOL-Max Mower 49 run (Tanouye kick)
WOL-Ryan Alvarado 40 run (Tanouye kick)
WOL-Mower 3 run (Tanouye kick)
P5-Kamealoha 4 pass from Minaya (kick failed)
Pac-Amorin 32 pass from Minaya (Amorin pass from Minaya)
P5-Jordan Doi 24 pass from Minaya (Sagucio kick)
P5-Amorin 70 pass from Minaya (pass failed)
P5-Everett Kim 27 pass from Minaya (Sagucio kick)
RUSHING-Word of Life: Mower 17-111, Alvarado 9-52, DeKneef 7-37, Kalai Bustos 4-19, Paul Christian-Morales 4-13, Vega McKenzie 3-13, Branson Silva 2-4. Pac-Five: Kamealoha 2-12, Chalson Baitlon 2-5, Armando Cayabyab 1-(-1), Minaya 9-(-53).
PASSING-Word of Life: DeKneef 3-6-0-25, Alvarado 0-1-1-0. Pac-Five: Minaya 37-51-1-511. Kamealoha 1-1-0-(-12).
RECEIVING-Word of Life: Mower 1-17, Cody Bailey-Young 1-8, Alvarado 1-0. Pac-Five: Amorin 11-194, Kamealoha 11-124, Doi 6-91, Dylan Gomez 4-50, Kim 2-40, Cayabyab 1-11, Baitlon 2-3, Kaimi Kanehailua 1-(-12).
No. 9 Iolani 27, Damien 21
>Jarrett Arakawa completed 19 of 29 passes for 302 yards and three touchdowns and the Raiders (3-1, 1-0 ILH) held on to defeat Damien (3-1, 0-1) in the earlier game last night at Aloha Stadium.
Brandon Ball had five catches for 119 yards, including a 77-yard touchdown, and Keenan Hoohuli added touchdown receptions of 5 and 39 yards.
The Monarchs trailed 21-0 at halftime, and a 39-yard touchdown pass from Arakawa to Hoohuli on the first play of the fourth quarter gave Iolani a 20-point lead.
But the Monarchs made it close as quarterback Anthony Tuitele hooked up with Marcus Kaanoi for a 35-yard touchdown to pull within 13. After an Iolani missed field goal, Tuitele capped a 14-play, 80-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 27-21.
Iolani had a fourth and 3 with 51 seconds remaining when Damien jumped offsides, allowing the Raiders to pick up a first down and run out the clock.
Tuitele finished with 150 passing yards and Brenan Furtado rushed for 135 yards and a touchdown. Kaanoi added eight receptions for 100 yards as the Monarchs lost for the first time after three nonconference victories.
At Aloha Stadium
Iolani (1-0, 3-1) |
14 |
7 |
0 |
6 |
- |
27
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Damien (0-1, 3-1) |
0 |
0 |
7 |
14 |
- |
21
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Iol-Keenan Hoohuli 5 pass from Jarrett Arakawa (Andrew Skalman kick)
Iol-Brandon Ball 77 pass from Arakawa (Skalman kick)
Iol-Carl Gibson 24 interception return (Skalman kick)
Dam-Brenan Furtado 6 run (Makana Kaanoi kick)
Iol-Hoohuli 39 pass from Arakawa (kick failed)
Dam-Kaanoi 35 pass from Anthony Tuitele (Kaanoi kick)
Dam-Tuitele 1 run (Kaanoi kick)
RUSHING-Iolani: Kellen Imada 22-97, Ammon Baldomero 2-5, Arakawa 2-0, Kela Marciel 1-(-4), team 2-(-15). Damien: Furtado 20-135, Tuitele 11-50, Kawika Anders 5-11.
PASSING-Iolani: Arakawa 19-29-1-302. Damien: Tuitele 17-27-2-150.
RECEIVING-Iolani: Ball 5-119, Hoohuli 4-66, Marciel 4-58, Trevyn Tulonghari 3-33, Kevin Barayuga 2-20, Travis Muraoka 1-6. Damen: Kaanoi 8-100, Furtado 5-18, Josh Asuncion 2-6, Anders 1-15, Austin Dawson 1-11.