[ NFL ISLANDERS ]
3 from isles
help Denver
The Denver connection was alive and well in yesterday's Broncos win over the San Diego Chargers.
Former University of Hawaii place-kicker Jason Elam returned from a career-long groin injury to hit two of three field goals and nail all four of his extra points to aid Denver in its 37-8 thrashing of San Diego.
Broncos wide receiver Ashley Lelie (Radford/Hawaii) started his seventh game of the season. He had two catches for 57 yards and two carries for another 20. Defensive lineman Mario Fatafehi (Farrington/Kansas State) added a tackle as Denver began its postseason run.
The St. Louis Rams are also making a playoff run, thanks in part to rookie outside linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa (Hawaii). He finished with three tackles in the Rams' win over Chicago. Several times, Tinoisamoa came facemask-to-facemask with Chicago Bears center Olin Kreutz (Saint Louis/Washington), who started his 10th consecutive game of the season.
So did several other offensive linemen with island ties, including Detroit's Dominic Raiola (Saint Louis/Nebraska), Atlanta's Kynan Forney (Hawaii) and Jacksonville's Chris Naeole (Kahuku/Colorado). All three were on the losing side of the scoreboard yesterday.
Jacksonville's Vince Manuwai (Farrington/Hawaii) missed his first start of the season with a foot injury. Jaguars running back Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala (Saint Louis/Utah) had nine carries for 40 yards, including a long of 18. He had a chance to help Jacksonville score late to force a tie in the 10-3 loss to Tennessee, but was stopped twice at the 5-yard line.
Raiola had a chance to reacquaint himself with a fellow island boy in Detroit's loss in Seattle. Seahawks tight end Itula Mili (Kahuku/BYU) started his seventh game of the season. He had four catches for 29 yards as Seattle raised its record to 7-3.
Forney had hoped to spend some time with former teammate James Fenderson (Mililani/Hawaii), but the New Orleans running back and special teams artist continues to be sidelined with an ankle injury. The Saints rallied to beat the Falcons in overtime.
Another local boy found himself in a similar situation yesterday. Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Ma'ake Kemoeatu (Kahuku/Utah) had two tackles in the overtime loss to Miami. Baltimore fell into a first-place tie with Cincinnati.
Makoa Freitas (Kamehameha/Arizona) continued his recent success for the Indianapolis Colts. Playing in only his sixth game of the season, Freitas started for the fourth time at left offensive tackle. The O-line helped produce 546 yards in the win over the Jets and yielded only one sack.
In the late game, Dallas running back Adrian Murrell (Leilehua/West Virginia) wasn't as active as his first two games. He finished with 11 yards on only three carries.
