[ ARENA FOOTBALL ]
Kealii Aguiar of the Hawaiian Islanders pressured Central Valley QB Kyle Biggs into an incomplete pass last night.
Unhappy Islanders
on top of divisionThey beat the Coyotes at home
to take the division lead
The Hawaiian Islanders claimed sole possession of first place in the arenafootball2 West Division with a 54-48 win over the Central Valley Coyotes last night. But the Islanders left Blaisdell Arena not overly pleased with their performance.
"We're happy we got a win like that, but I don't think they're real satisfied," Islanders coach Cal Lee said. "You take the win, but you look and we could have been so much better. We could have put them out early in the game, but we had to hang on to the very end."
The Islanders' second meeting with Central Valley (1-6) didn't go as smoothly as the first, when they routed the Coyotes 68-35 in the season opener in March, but the end result was the same.
"A team like that is going to get better through the year and they picked up a couple of guys that helped them become a little bit better," Islanders receiver/defensive back Anthony Arceneaux said. "That's the name of this game; you never know and you're going to have to produce, and that's what we did."
A crowd of 4,211 greeted the Islanders in their first home game in close to a month and the team responded by holding off a Central Valley rally in the fourth quarter to improve to 5-2 overall and 3-0 at home.
The Islanders entered the game tied with Bakersfield (4-3), which lost to Memphis 72-51 yesterday.
Islanders quarterback Darnell Arceneaux claimed offensive player of the game honors by passing for five touchdowns and running for two more. Darnell's brother Anthony Arceneaux was the Ironman of the Game after catching five passes for 143 yards and two scores.
Islanders defensive specialist Joshua Robinson, the defensive player of the game, intercepted his third pass of the season on the Coyotes' opening drive and recovered a fumble later in the first quarter.
The Islanders tied a franchise record with three sacks of Central Valley quarterback Kyle Biggs. Joe Correia and Andy Ramos had one each and Morrie Roe and James Davis combined on another.
"The defensive front played a great game, they put so much pressure on the quarterback they gave us a chance to make plays," Anthony Arceneaux said.
One week after leading Central Valley to its first win of the season, Biggs passed for 271 yards and five TDs in his second career start. Kenyatte Morgan was on the receiving end of four scoring tosses, three coming in the final period.
The Islanders' effort was aided by Central Valley miscues as the Coyotes were flagged for penalties 13 times for 68 yards.
The Islanders return to the Blaisdell on Friday to face the San Diego Riptide.
Islanders 54, Coyotes 48
At Blaisdell Arena
Central Valley (1-6) 7 13 7 21 -- 48 Hawaiian Islanders (5-2) 13 14 14 13 -- 54 CV--Marshall Blount 12 run (Justin Levine kick)
HI--Nate Jackson 26 pass from Darnell Arceneaux (kick failed)
HI--Nian Taylor 8 pass from D. Arceneaux (Kimo Naehu kick)
CV--Kenyatte Morgan 5 pass from Kyle Biggs (Levine kick)
HI--Anthony Arceneaux 22 pass from D. Arceneaux (Naehu kick)
CV--FG Levine 34
HI--Vai Notoa 2 run (Naehu kick)
CV--FG Levine 23
HI--A. Arceneaux 30 pass from D. Arceneaux (Naehu kick)
CV--JaJuan Huddleston 7 pass from Biggs (Levine kick)
HI--D. Arceneaux 4 run (Naehu kick)
CV--Morgan 10 pass from Biggs (Lavine kick)
HI--Taylor 16 pass from D. Arceneaux (Naehu kick)
CV--Morgan 6 pass from Biggs (Levine kick)
HI--D. Arceneaux 3 run (kick failed)
CV--Morgan 7 pass from Biggs (Levine kick)RUSHING--Coyotes: Blount 4-11, Ryan Marriott 1-7, Huddleston 1-4. Islanders: D. Arceneaux 5-24, Fabian Manumaleuna 2-8, Notoa 3-6, Randyn Akiona 1-(-2).
PASSING--Coyotes: Biggs 31-44-1-271, Team 0-0-0-(-26). Islanders: D. Arceneaux 13-22-0-239.
RECEIVING--Coyotes: Huddleston 9-82, Morgan 8-72, LaMonte Jones 7-52, Weston Borba 3-23, Darnell Lacy 2-33, Blount 2-9. Islanders: A. Arceneaux 5-143, Jackson 4-65, Taylor 3-30, Akiona 1-1.
