FRIARS CONTROL BIG SHOWDOWN WITH PANTHERS 33-0

By Jay Leon Guerrero

The FD Friars celebrated their homecoming game with a big 33-0 victory over the Guam High Panthers in the ISA Football League. It was a battle of undefeated teams, and the field was stacked with offensive weapons. But at the end of the night, it was the Friar defense that made a huge statement.

Tristan Burgos and Vance Meno anchored the FD defense, which kept the Panthers out of the end zone for the first time this season. The Friars end the regular season with no points score against them.

“We still made some mistakes today, and we will have to address those mistakes on Monday at practice,” said Meno. The Friars committed six turnovers for the game, but the league’s best defense prevented the Panthers from big plays, something they thrived on during the season.

Despite the outcome of Friday’s showdown, both teams will have a bye round for the playoffs.

The Friars improved to 5-0 for the season and will face the winner of the fourth vs. fifth seed playoff game winner. The 4-1 Panthers will face the winner of the third vs. sixth seed game. The ISA playoff first round will start next week.

“To prepare for our playoff game, we are still going to have the same mindset,” said Meno. “Work hard in practice and play Friar football.”

Meno and Burgos each rushed for two goal line touchdowns. Meno had five tackles, three behind the line of scrimmage. Burgos had 5.5 tackles and a strip fumble on defense.

For the first time this season, the Panthers were unable to find the end zone. As a team, the total yardage for the Panthers was 47 yards. Donte Paker led the offense with 33 rushing yards on five attempts.

The FD offense struggled early, committing three turnovers in the first quarter. FD quarterback Alex Sojo had a 16-yard touchdown rush for the first score of the game which came in the second quarter. Burgos later scored off a goal line dive to head into halftime up 14-0.

Zach Muna was instrumental in setting up the touchdowns for FD with Sojo finding him as a receiver for 24 and 41 yard gains. In the red zone, the Friars utilized their defensive power house players to score.

Three insurance touchdowns came late in the game, with Meno scoring two touchdowns in the fourth quarter (both at the goal line) and Burgos also rushing for another score.

Sojo threw nine completions for a total of 130 yards and rushed for 54 yards. Javin Meno had a game-high 72 yards rushing for the Friars. Muna had 122 total yards with 98 receiving yards and 24 rushing yards. 

Cameron Brantley led the Panthers on defense with a game high six tackles. Brantley also had two sacks and forced two fumbles. Judah Alcantara and Matt McNair each recorded an interception for the Panthers.

Hyan Mesa had an interception for FD. The Friars had three sacks with Jovince Meno, Luis Barrett, and Shane O’Mallan recording sacks on defense. 

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