FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
The Islanders' Eddie Klaneski returned a kickoff last night with the Stealth's Daren Williams in pursuit.
Islanders in first
by downing Stealth
Darnell Arceneaux passed for six touchdowns as the Hawaiian Islanders beat the Wichita Stealth 61-55 last night to take over first place in the arenafootball2 National West.
But Arceneaux's brother, Anthony, made two big plays at a key point to help the Islanders take control of the game that 3,197 saw last night at Blaisdell Arena.
The Islanders are 5-2 and improved their home record to 4-0. The Stealth, who beat the Islanders in Kansas two weeks ago, fell to 4-3.
Darnell Arceneaux connected with Anthony Arceneaux on a 30-yard TD pass to give the hosts a 41-36 lead with 5:39 left in the third period.
"Anthony had great practices this week," Islanders coach Cal Lee said. "He really showed us something with the patterns he was running in practice."
Anthony Arceneaux then came up with another big play right away, recovering Michael Dritlein's fumble on the ensuing kickoff. The Islanders took over at the Stealth 14, and two plays later led 47-36 at 3:37 when Darnell Arceneaux delivered a 10-yard scoring pass to Nian Taylor, their third TD connection of the game.
The closest Wichita got after that point was four points.
"They deserved to win," Wichita coach Bob Cortese said. "They made big plays when they needed them. They played hard and tough."
The game was marred by a second-quarter melee that delayed play for 15 minutes and resulted in four ejections.
Eddie Klaneski took at kickoff off the net and broke through the middle, shedding tacklers for a 56-yard TD. But the real action came after Kimo Naehu's successful extra point; 6-foot-5, 270-pound Kerry Linnear hit the 6-0, 215-pound Naehu late, prompting retaliation from 6-2, 300-pound Morrie Roe. Linnear kept fighting, and the pushing and shoving escalated. A fan got involved from behind the wall, grabbing a Stealth player's face mask.
After order was restored, Linnear and Drew Mitchell of Wichita and Roe and Mike Tillis of the Islanders were all ejected. Both teams retreated to the lockers before play resumed with 9:51 left in the half and the Islanders leading 21-16.
"After everything the guys were able to settle down," said Lee, who has suffered from a severe sore throat and flu symptoms since the trip to Wichita. "They knew they had to forget about all that and settle down and play football."
After the scrap, the Stealth seemed to take control. They led 30-21 at the 2:45 mark when Dritlein returned Naehu's field-goal try of 40 yards the length of the field for a score.
But Arceneaux then completed an 18-yard TD pass to Channon Harris 17 seconds before the half, two plays after he scrambled 21 yards. The Islanders closed to 30-28 and Corse missed a 32-yard field goal as the half ended.
After Anthony Arceneaux's big plays in the third quarter, Shomari Buchanan caught his second of three TD passes from Anthony Buich, this one for 9 yards, to break the Wichita scoring drought at 14:17 of the fourth and close the Stealth's deficit to 47-43.
But Klaneski struck again, returning the kickoff to the Wichita 6. Darnell Arceneaux ran for 5 yards on the next play, and Chris Paogofie did the touchdown honors with his 1-yarder at 11:58, and Naehu drop-kicked at 11:58 for two points and a 55-43 lead.
Wichita closed to 55-50 on Dritlein's 4-yard touchdown pass from Buich, but it took the Stealth 9 plays and 7:14 to cover 45 yards. So when Arceneaux hit Taylor on a fly pattern for a 42-yard touchdown, the victory was sealed.
Buich, who threw six TD passes, hit Buchanan for a 29-yard score with 24.9 seconds left.
"They deserved the win," Buich said. "We had four fumbles. We're a good come-from-behind team, but in this game you fall behind you can run out of time."
Hawaiian Islanders
