[ ARENAFOOTBALL2 ]
Randyn Akiona of the Hawaiian Islanders brought down San Diego's Nakoa McElrath during last night's game.
Late rally falls short
for Islanders
After his last visit to Honolulu, former University of Hawaii receiver Dwight Carter wondered if the local fans remembered him now that he's playing for the visiting San Diego Riptide.
Carter certainly jogged their memories last night by leading the Riptide to a 64-59 arenafootball2 victory over the Hawaiian Islanders at Blaisdell Arena.
The Riptide (5-5) survived a wild Islanders rally in the final minute to claim their second victory at Blaisdell Arena in just over three weeks. They extended their winning streak to four games while knocking the Islanders out of first place in the West Division.
"We're on a roll, we're getting our things together, we're understanding that it's crunch time and this is a big win for us," Carter said. "We had to come out here and match their enthusiasm because we knew they were going to be hyped up after the last game."
The Islanders head into their final bye week of the regular season at 6-5 and will have a chance to split the four-game season series when the teams meet again July 3 in San Diego.
They now trail division leader Bakersfield (7-4), a 33-26 winner over Central Valley yesterday.
Carter caught eight passes for 144 yards and four touchdowns -- the first coming on the opening play of the game and the last coming off a bounce off the end-zone net to give San Diego a commanding lead -- to claim Offensive Player of the Game honors.
"He got us off to a good start and game in and game out he's our smartest kid," San Diego coach Darrel "Mouse" Davis said. "He knows what he's doing and he's been very productive for us."
San Diego's Jesus Reyes was the Ironman of the Game and Rico Curtis was the Defensive Player of the Game.
Islanders quarterback Darnell Arceneaux set a team record with seven touchdown passes, four going to Nian Taylor and three to Anthony Arceneaux.
Taylor caught four passes for 143 yards, while Anthony Arceneaux had a game-high nine catches for 123 yards.
But two second-half turnovers led to San Diego scores and the Islanders' last-ditch attempt fell short as time expired.
"This (loss) is harder because I didn't really think they did anything to stop us. It was mostly our mistakes and our flaws that let us lose the game," Anthony Arceneaux said.
The Riptide prevented Arceneaux, who returned three kickoffs for touchdowns in San Diego's 91-77 win on May 28, from impacting the game on special teams by kicking the ball away from him and bottling him up when he did receive the ball.
The teams combined for a league-record 168 points in their meeting on May 28 and the teams picked up where they left off as three of the game's first four plays from scrimmage resulted in touchdowns.
The teams went into the final period with the score knotted at 47.
With San Diego leading 54-53, Carter scored his fourth touchdown of the night in unconventional fashion. On third down at the Islanders 2, Kane Claunch's pass sailed over intended receiver Reyes and into the net. Carter swooped in to make a diving grab in the end zone for the score.
"From my angle it was going out of bounds. I was already relieved," Islanders coach Cal Lee said. "But it hit the iron and lucky for them somebody was there in the right place at the right time."
San Diego's Nakoa McElrath came up with an interception and the Riptide capitalized with a 30-yard field goal by Rich Ehmke, giving them a 64-53 lead with 37.3 seconds left.
Riptide 64, Islanders 59
At Blaisdell Arena
San Diego Riptide (5-5) 14 21 12 17 -- 64 Hawaiian Islanders (6-5) 14 21 12 12 -- 59
SD--Dwight Carter 45 pass from Kane Claunch (Rich Ehmke kick)
HI--Nian Taylor 32 pass from Darnell Arceneaux (Kimo Naehu kick)
SD--Carter 15 pass from Claunch (Ehmke kick)
HI--D. Arceneaux 1 run (Naehu kick)
HI--Chauncey Ako 1 run (Naehu kick)
SD--Jesus Reyes 56 kickoff return (Ehmke kick)
HI--Anthony Arceneaux 13 pass from D. Arceneaux (Naehu kick)
SD--Marty Graham 16 pass from Claunch (Ehmke kick)
HI--Taylor 48 pass from D. Arceneaux (Naehu kick)
SD--Ryan Cuthbert 3 run (Ehmke kick)
SD--Rico Curtis 22 fumble return (kick failed)
HI--Taylor 30 pass from D. Arceneaux (kick failed)
SD--Carter 37 pass from Claunch (kick failed)
HI--A. Arceneaux 25 pass from D. Arceneaux (kick failed)
SD--Brad Greetis 33 pass from Claunch (Ehmke kick)
HI--A. Arceneaux 16 pass from D. Arceneaux (kick failed)
SD--Carter 2 pass from Claunch (Ehmke kick)
SD--FG Ehmke 30
HI--Taylor 33 pass from D. Arceneaux (pass failed)RUSHING -- Riptide: Cuthbert 2-10, Matt Guardia 2-13, Claunch 3-(-4) Reyes 1-4. Islanders: D. Arceneaux 5-16, Vai Notoa 3-4, Ako 2-4.
PASSING -- Riptide: Claunch 18-26-0-274. Islanders: D. Arceneaux 21-36-1-341.
RECEIVING -- Riptide: Carter 8-144, Graham 5-55, Reyes 2-9, Greetis 1-33, Nakoa McElrath 2-33. Islanders: A. Arceneaux 9-123, Taylor 4-143, Robert Kemfort 5-60, Aaron Smith 2-15, Randyn Akiona 1-0.
Att -- 3,179
