[ ARENA FOOTBALL ]
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
The Hawaiian Islanders' Vai Notoa picked up some yardage before he was brought down by Chris Sibley last night.
Arceneauxes roll as
Islanders pick up win
The Hawaiian Islanders certainly kept things exciting for the Blaisdell Arena crowd in their home opener last night. But after twice squandering leads, the Islanders made the big plays late to pull out a 63-60 victory over the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings in an arenafootball2 shootout.
Islanders quarterback Darnell Arceneaux, the offensive player of the game, tied a franchise record with six touchdown passes and ran for two more as Hawaii (2-1) improved to 3-0 in home openers.
Anthony Arceneaux, Darnell's younger brother, caught a scoring pass and returned an interception 20 yards for the clinching score in the final minute of the game to earn defensive player of the game honors.
"I can't say he's just my little brother. He's a player," Darnell Arceneaux said. "Teams have to worry about me and him now. He's busted his butt to get here and he's playing so confident right now."
Bossier-Shreveport quarterback Sherard Poteete nearly spoiled the Islanders' home debut by throwing three scoring passes and running for two scores. Shadrick McAfee was named the ironman of the game after catching eight passes for 96 yards and a touchdown and scoring twice on special teams.
The Battle Wings (1-2) used big plays in the kicking game to rally from an early deficit. But the Islanders responded with three fourth-quarter scores to emerge with the victory.
"In this arena game you have to hang in there, we were up and then you're down. That's the type of game it is," Islanders coach Cal Lee said. "There's a lot of scoring involved, so you just can't give up."
Bossier-Shreveport stunned the Islanders with two special-teams touchdowns in the final minute of the first half, both by McAfee, to take a 30-28 lead into intermission.
Darnell Arceneaux threw touchdown passes on the Islanders' first four possessions of the game as they built a 28-17 lead.
"(Darnell's) a gamer, he's always going to come to play," Anthony Arceneaux said. "He's my brother and I feed off that energy, too."
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaiian Islander quarterback Darnell Arceneaux threw under pressure from Bossier-Shreveport's Markus Pratt.
The Battle Wings attempted a field goal late in the half, but Jason Ball's kick went wide and bounced off the net. McAfee then corralled the loose ball in the end zone for a touchdown with 16 seconds left.
The Islanders lined up for a field goal of their own with 5.8 seconds left and Kimo Naehu's kick drifted wide right. McAfee fielded the ball 2 yards deep in the end zone and weaved through the Islanders' coverage team for his third TD of the first half.
The Battle Wings maintained the momentum in the third quarter by recovering an Islanders fumble on their own 3 and stretching the lead to 37-28 on Larry Holloway's 2-yard scoring run.
Arceneaux gave the Islanders the lead back with two third-quarter touchdown drives. The second score was set up by Eddie Klaneski's 46-yard missed field-goal return and gave the Islanders a 42-37 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
A sack on fourth down by Hawaii's Vai Notoa gave the Islanders the ball on the Bossier 20 and Darnell Arceneaux hit Anthony Arceneaux for his fifth TD pass of the night.
The Islanders then attempted an onside kick, but the Battle Wings recovered at the Islanders' 16 and Poteete sprinted around the left side for a score. He then ran the ball in for the 2-point conversion, cutting the Islanders' lead to 49-45 with 8:27 left.
An interception by Willie Sheppard gave Bossier the ball back and a touchdown pass from Poteete to Bo Smith gave the Battle Wings a 52-49 advantage at the 4:34 mark. Klaneski had a shot at an interception, but Smith snatched the ball out of his hands in the back of the end zone.
Islanders 63, Battle Wings 60
At Blaisdell Arena
B-Shreveport (1-2) 10 20 7 23 -- 60 Hawaii (2-1) 14 14 14 21 -- 63 BS--Shadrick McAfee 10 pass from Sherard Poteete (Jason Ball kick)
HI--Robert Kemfort 8 pass from Darnell Arceneaux (Kimo Naehu kick)
BS--FG Ball 29
HI--Nian Taylor 29 pass from D. Arceneaux (Naehu kick)
BS--Poteete 2 run (Ball kick)
HI--Mike Miller 16 pass from D. Arceneaux (Naehu kick)
HI--Taylor 9 pass from D. Arceneaux (Naehu kick)
BS--McAfee net recovery in end zone (Ball kick)
BS--McAfee 52 missed field goal return (kick failed)
BS--Larry Holloway 2 run (Ball kick)
HI--D. Arceneaux 6 run (Naehu kick)
HI--D. Arceneaux 2 run (Naehu kick)
HI--Anthony Arceneaux 20 pass from D. Arceneaux (Naehu kick)
BS--Poteete 16 run (Poteete run)
BS--Bo Smith 15 pass from Poteete (Ball kick)
HI--Miller 12 pass from Arceneaux (Naehu kick)
HI--A. Arceneaux 20 interception return (Naehu kick)
BS--Corey Kelley 14 pass from Poteete (McAfee pass from Poteete)RUSHING--Bossier: Gerome Wallace 1-4 , Poteete 7-8. Hawaii: D. Arceneaux 3-10, Vai Notoa 1-4
PASSING--Bossier: Poteete 21-35-1-237. Hawaii: D. Arceneaux 16-27-1-221.
RECEIVING--Bossier: Francisco Kelly 4-53, Smith 4-53, McAfee 8-96, Kelley 4-31, Rufus French 1-4. Hawaii: Taylor 4-55, Kemfort 3-41, A. Arceneaux 2-36, Aaron Smith 3-30, Miller 4-59.
