FRIARS CONTINUE TO ROLL IN TITAN’S DEFEAT

By Jay Leon Guerrero

The defending IIAAG Football champion FD Friars continued their winning ways with yet another big victory. The Friars prove still the team to beat, getting a huge 37-6 victory over the Tiyan Titans at Angels Field in Dededo.

The Friars improve to 2-0 for the season, the Titans drop to 0-2.

Last season’s offensive MVP DeAundre Cruz made his season debut and picked up right where he left off with two rushing touchdowns in the first half as FD led 34-0 by the break.

“It feels great to be back with my teammates on my senior year,” said Cruz.

FD Quarterback Daniel Phillips also had a big game converting 5-of-6 passes for 118 yards,  including an 80-yard touchdown to speedster Xavier Naputi. Aside from the touchdown, Naputi did work on special teams with big gain returns and hang time punts.

Wendy’s Player of the Game De’Aundre Cruz and Daniel Phillips.

Anderson scores for Friars

The Friars scored from their opening drive. Cruz nodded the first couple of run plays to move the chains. The Friars went to a reverse run play to Brian Anderson from 15 yards out to score the first touchdown of the game.

On the ensuing kickoff, Anderson recovered a fumble to give possession back to the Friars. Cruz took over in Titan territory and scored his first touchdown of the season from a yard out to push the lead to 13-0 after a converted extra point kick from Giancarlo Abril.

The Friar defense stopped the Titans from moving the chains and the FD offense continued to find success with Phillips finding Naputi for an 80-yard strike to close the first quarter ahead 20-0.

“Its good to have Xavier (Naputi) on the team. He joined our team and made an immediate impact,” said Cruz of his new teammate.

The Titans made offensive adjustments and moved into Friar territory with quarterback Kobe Quiambao finding Tyler Pangelinan for 14- and 13-yard gains. The Titans were unable to get into the red zone with Isiah Reyes and Kobe Onedera each recording sacks for the Friars, forcing the Titans to punt on a fourth-and-long situation.

The Friar offense took the field and Cruz took over once again, this time with a 42 yard touchdown. Phillips later called his own number and ran into the end zone from 8 yards out to push the lead to 34-0 by halftime.

“As a team we are working really hard and looking to improve with every game,” said Phillips.

Second half

The Titans continued to move forward on offense with head coach Danny Cepeda mixing up pass plays and run plays in the third quarter.  Javier Lujan gained valuable yards on the ground and Quiambao connected with receivers Franklin Babauta Jr. and Andrew Blas to get to the Friar 20-yard line. The Titans looked to put up their first points of the game with a field goal attempt by Pangelinan but his kick hit the goal post and was no good.

Friar head coach Bruce Meno benched Cruz and Naputi for the rest of the game and running back Kein Artero was inserted into the backfield. Artero found some success on the ground and gained two first downs to set up a 31-yard field goal by Abril to extend the Friar lead to 37-0.

The Titans continued to play hard and Quiambao found Pangelinan for a 24-yard gain in the fourth quarter. The pass play helped set up a touchdown pass play to Nico Velez from 25 yards out to give Tiyan their first touchdown of the game. The extra point was no good and the game ended with FD winning 37-6.

Cruz averaged 11.5 yards per carry, rushing for 139 yards on 12 attempts. Cruz praised the Titans for playing hard and sees a major improvement from last season. “We have so much respect for the Titans and their team. They are improving every year and I could already see they are going to do good this year,” said Cruz.

Pangelinan had four catches for 61 yards. Quiambao completed 8-of-15 passes for 121 yards. Lujan led the Tiyan running game with 48 yards on 12 carries. Fred Lumogda rushed for 33 yards and also had five tackles on defense. Donovan Camacho led the Tiyan defense with six tackles and a sack. Bryen Carbullido had three tackles and a sack for the Titans.

Reyes had six tackles and two sacks, Rylan Napoleon had five total tackles and a sack for the Friar defense. Kyler Valencia had a big game in the Friar secondary unit with six tackles.

Phillips completed 5-of-6 passes for 119 total yards and rushed for a touchdown. Naputi had four catches for 112 yards, averaging 28 yards per reception. Abril was 1-1 on field goal attempts and converted 4-of-5 extra point attempts for FD. The Friars will play the Guam High Panthers next week, the Titans will look for their first win of the season against the GW Geckos.

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