FOOTBALL BACK IN ACTION, FRIARS EXTEND WIN STREAK TO 58

By Jay Leon Guerrero

The Father Duenas Friars’ quest for a seventh straight ISA High School Football League championship started on Friday night with a 52-0 victory over the Southern Dolphins. It was the season-opener for both teams at the GW Field in Mangilao. 

“It feels good to come out here after over a year off . We still have some things to work on, but we will address those issues by working hard in practices,” said linebacker Vance Meno.

From the opening kick-off, the Friars made big plays and scored 17 points in the first quarter. The Friars recovered a fumble on the first play of the season, which led to the first score of the game, an 11-yard touchdown connection from quarterback Alex Sojo to receiver Daethon Alcantara.

The trademark “maroon wall” took over, forcing negative plays or turnovers in the first half. The Dolphins were unable to find any rhythm on offense, and the Friar offense controlled possession time in the first half.

Sojo ended up throwing two more touchdowns before halftime, rushing for another TD, and kicked a 27-yard field goal to put the Friars up 38-0 at halftime.

“Our job is to look for the openings the defense gives us. We work hard in practice to execute the plays the coaches call for us,” said Sojo. Sojo sat out most of the second half and ended up with 105 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, and a six-yard quarterback sneak score.

The Dolphins were unable to move the chains in the first half but had some success in the second half with quarterback Traven Pangelinan finding Collin Cruz for an 18-yard strike.

Cruz tallied 25 total yards for the Dolphins, who will face the JFK Islanders next week Thursday at JFK. On defense, Southern’s Anthony Bonarrigo had a team-high five tackles. Braven Chaco had three tackles for the Dolphins, two of those tackles were for losses. 

The Maroon Wall came to play Friday night with Tristan Burgos on one side and Colin Ada on the other side. Linebackers Meno and Caleb Murphy clogged the holes and recorded tackles, which prevented big plays from the Dolphin offense.

Meno had a game-high seven tackles, and Burgos had four tackles (three were behind the line of scrimmage). Murphy had 3.5 tackles, an interception, a fumble recovery, and a rushing touchdown.

On offense, running back Zack Muna had 62 rushing yards and a touchdown on seven carries, Murphy tallied 55 yards on five carries. Kicker David Leon Guerrero was perfect on extra point attempts going 7-for-7 for FD.

Other scoring plays for the Friars: Jaron Meno had a five yard reception touchdown, and Lance Muna-Aguon caught a 25-yard touchdown. Hyan Mesa had an interception for the Friars.

“We have a short week, so we are just going to head back to practice and work on improving.”

– Friar Vance Meno

“Like Vance (Meno) said, there are areas we have to work on as a team to improve as the season continues,” said Sojo. “For the rest of the season, we are going to focus on coming out and doing our job on the field”. 

The Friars have won 58 games in a row and look to continue that streak next Thursday versus the Okkodo Bulldogs. 

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