MANHA: COWBOYS RALLY TO DEFEAT ANGELS

By Brandon Kinsella

The Southern Cowboys rallied to defeat the Hal’s Angels 40-35 at Talofofo Field on Sunday in a showdown between the top two teams in the Manha Division. The Angels dominated the first half with running back Tyler Salas scoring all five of his team’s touchdowns on only five attempts and 256 yards, but the young star didn’t play in the second half after throwing up on the field just prior to the start of the second half, which ended his day for safety reasons.

Salas was the first to get on the scoreboard, and the conversion was good, giving his team a 7-0 lead. On an outside handoff to the left Cowboys’ running back Jerome San Nicolas would breakaway and score the Cowboys’ first touchdown.

Both scores were the first given up by each defense on the season. It also was a sign of things to come as it looked like it was going to be a shootout.

Following San Nicolas’ big play, the Angels’ Salas would take over the game scoring two more touchdowns giving his team a comfortable lead at 21-7.

Player of the Game Cowboys Javin Meno kept his team in the ballgame, scoring two touchdowns in the first half. Angels Salas would score once more right before the end of the half, giving his team a 35-21 lead at halftime.

Without Salas in the second half, the Angels would struggle to get an offensive rhythm going. The Cowboys would capitalize as running back Meno showed huge efforts to get his team back in the ballgame. On the Cowboys first drive of the half, Meno was successful in bringing his team all the way into the end zone cutting the deficit to 35-28.

The Cowboys defense came up big on the following drive, as Iziah Green had a huge tackle for loss forcing a fourth down and a punt. The Cowboys would take advantage of good field position and answer right away as runningback Javin Meno broke away for a score on the first play of the drive. The conversion was no good as the Angels clinged to a one-point lead.

The Angels defense tried to hold on and prevent another score from the speedy Meno, but Meno had different plans. He would have a huge run to the outside and was tackled at the ten by safety Elias Aguon. The Angels defense showed great effort in the redzone, but Meno proved to be too fast and would score giving the Cowboys their first lead of the game at 40-35. The Cowboys would fail to convert on the PAT.

Defense would prove to be the deciding factor of the ballgame. The Cowboys defense had several big plays, trying to hold on to keep their lead. On the Angels final possession, Cowboys end Izaih Green had yet another huge defensive stop, sacking the quarterback for a loss of yards. Because of great defense, the Cowboys were able to get the ball back as the clock continued winded down.

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