
By Robert Balajadia
The Okkodo Bulldogs picked up a win on Week 1 of the season via forfeit, but Saturday night they earned their first win on the football field after defeating the Tiyan Titans 27-12 at home in the second game of a rare football double-header.
The Bulldogs vs. Titans was originally scheduled for Friday night, but lighting issue forced Friday’s contest to be postponed to Saturday.
Leading the charge for the Bulldogs was running back Conan Baza, who scored his first two touchdowns in his high school football career. The Bulldog defense forced four Tiyan turnovers, which included an opening quarter pick-six from senior defensive back Nicholas Panganiban to give the home team the edge from the jump.
“I felt we had a great chance to win this game, so after the first interception I felt like it gave the team a lot of momentum. But I made a lot of mistakes and I really just wanted to play through that,” said Panganiban on his strong play on the day.
The Bulldogs turned a closely contested first half, with the scored tied six all, into a 21-6 second half sparked by bruising runs.
A holding penalty wiped off a 30-yard run from Ethan Sanchez to get inside the 10, but Baza made good a play later by barreling through the Titan defense for a 25-yard touchdown run in the 3rd. Baza had to fight off three Titans in short space while also dragging a Titan’s defensive back on his legs to get into the end zone. Baza’s touchdown and a successful PAT put Okkodo up 13-6.
The Bulldogs started to create more separation in the 4th quarter after Ethan Sanchez hauled in a 20-yard pass from quarterback Damian Cruz to put Okkodo up 21-6, following a 2-point conversion from Baza.
Tiyan quickly struck back with quarterback John Angoco hitting reciever Trifon Valencia in the back of the end zone for a 15-yard score to cut the lead 21-12.
The Titan’s comeback was short lived as Panganiban turned a muffed punt into chunk yardage on the after touchdown kick-off, bringing the ball to the Titan’s six yard line. Baza added the finishing touches on the run to secure Okkodo’s lead 27-12.
“I knew coach was going to plug me in a lot today because I’ve been getting a lot of reps in practice. I scored my first touchdown ever today and I give all the effort to my team for helping me get it. I made the touchdown’s for my family and my girlfriend,” said Baza.
Baza also came away with a game clinching interception to allow the offense to kneel out the clock.
“I looked at the quarterback and I saw him looking at his receiver in the flat, so I just dove and didn’t really expect to catch it. I’m just happy we won the game,” said Baza on his game-clinching play.
Most football teams were coming off a short week of practice due to the typhoon, and Okkodo was no different. With managing to fit in just one week of practice and no school all week, the Bulldogs just wanted to get on the field.
“We have a talented coach and we just wanted to show him that we could get this win. We played mostly to prove to him and ourselves that we could do it. We’re a young and new team and we have a lot of talent, but we just haven’t been able to show our all.”
Okkodo will play the FD Friars thisSaturday and the Titans will try and slow down the red-hot Southern Dolphins next Friday.
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GPS Sports Calendar
February 2023
- SU
- MO
- TU
- WE
- TH
- FR
- SA
Events for January
1st
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
2nd
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
Events for February
3rd
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
TRITONS BASEBALL INVITATIONAL PLAYOFFS
Events for February
4th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Events for February
6th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
7th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
8th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
9th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
Events for February
10th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
TRITONS BASEBALL INVITATIONAL FINALS
Events for February
11th
Events for February
13th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
14th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
15th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
Events for February
16th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
Events for February
17th
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
Events for February
18th
World Athletics Cross Country Championships
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
Events for February
19th
SPRINT TRIATHLON, PACIFIC GAMES QUALIFIER
MONSTER ENERGY MOTOCROSS ROUND 2
Events for February
20th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
21st
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
22nd
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
23rd
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
Events for February
24th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL QUARTERFINALS
Events for February
24th
Events for February
25th
Events for February
27th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER SEMIFINALS
Events for February
28th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL FINALS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE SEMIFINALS
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS

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