SHARKS RUN THROUGH PANTHERS HOME TURF

By Jay Leon Guerrero

The Sanchez Sharks made a huge statement under Friday Night lights with a 20-0 victory over the host team Guam High Panthers in the IIAAG High School Football League. Sharks running back Kamerin Toves had another big game with a pair of touchdowns to help his team improve to 2-0. Toves rushed for 160 yards on 24 carries.

“I’m glad we did really well today and got a good win against the Panthers,” said Toves.  Toves scored on the opening drive from three yards out to put quick points on the board.

The Sharks showed 10 straight run plays in the opening drive with Toves and Jeremiah Sablan taking turns running the ball. The ground game was time consuming, taking off eight minutes in the opening quarter. The Panthers took the field late in the first quarter and countered with three straight pass plays. Panther quarterback RaSean Jacobs scrambled outside the pocket but was unable to find a receiver, forcing the Panthers to punt.

The Sharks started to march downfield late in the first quarter and looked to put more points on the board. The Sanchez drive was cut short after a fumble recovered by Panther Chad Powell gave possesion back to the home team. The Panthers, however, were unable to capitalize and returned the favor after a bad snap caused a fumble which was recovered by Joshua Sablan from the Sharks.

The Panthers anticipated more run plays, but Shark coach Jimmy Naholowaa surprised everyone with a pass play. With all Panther defenders blitzing, tight end Willie Booker found himself wide open and trotted in the end zone from 26 yards out for the touchdown. Quarterback Patrick Salas found Booker wide open to go ahead 14-0.

“It was a good call from the coaches to do the pass play, we caught them off guard,” said Booker.

The Panthers finally found some momentum with Powell finding a hole in the Shark defense for a 48-yard gain. The Panthers continued to roll with Jacobs finding tight end Makoa Bamba who had some room to run. Bamba looked for a big gain but coughed up the football with a fumble after being met by a pair of Shark defenders in the backfield.

The Sharks took advantage of the turnover and Toves found some daylight with a huge 50-yard touchdown to lead 20-0 at halftime after a failed two point conversion attempt. “I’m happy with the way our defense played today. Everyone did their job and we were able to get stops,” said Toves.

Second half

The Panthers started the second half with two quick first downs. Jacobs found receiver Brian Mitchell and Bamba to move into the red zone. The Sharks were able to stop the Panthers deep in their territory and continued to milk the clock with run plays on offense. The game ended with either team scoring in the second half.

Toves, who rushed for 110 yards in the first half, averaged 6.7 yards per carry. Sablan rushed the ball 16 times for 84 yards. Jacobs completed 7-of-13 passes for 84 yards. Bamba accounted for 73 yards on four receptions. Jacobs also rushed for 33 yards, Powell had 49 total yards on the ground to lead the Panthers in rushing.

Jacobs did work on defense as well with a game high nine tackles, Jeylyn Dowdell had seven tackles and a sack for the Panthers. Toves also did well on the defensive end with four tackles, one tackle for a loss.

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