GECKOS TROUNCE DOLPHINS 42-0 WITH SEASON CLOSING

By Paradis Jolie Fejerang

The Southern Dolphins took to the George Washington football field to challenge GW’s Geckos. The cool night ended with a 42-0 loss for the Dolphins with the Geckos making seven total touchdowns and no extra points scored.

With Southern winning the coin toss, the game was in play, though both teams took time to get their footing and focus on making moves without slipping on opportunities.

After some time into a first quarter filled with multiple penalties from false starts to equipment violations, both teams seemed to finally get their head in the game.

Southern’s team seemed to zone in a bit before GW, as the Geckos suffered various missed passes and losing early opportunities to get past Southern’s defense.

Luckily, the GW athletes pulled together early enough to suppress Southern’s spirit, allowing Gecko Justin Sablan to nab the first touchdown of the night.

Already down, Southern’s Mike Jesus was eager to find a way through the GW defense and move his team toward the end zone only to be met with a fired up team of Geckos grabbing their second touchdown of the night from Kaden Apiag.

Finally in the groove, Apiag continued to stand out as an aggressive offensive player in the onset of plays and helping his team to seize two more touchdowns before the second half. The third coming from Rayn Rios through a pass by quarterback Jaydin Duenas with Justin Sablan his second touchdown and fourth overall for the team.

Into the second half, GW received the ball and made their way to the end zone right away and puts the Dolphin defense to work. Southern held off for an impressive amount of time, blocking numerous Gecko attempts to score, but ultimately allowing Justin Sablan to take his third touchdown of the night and making the score 30-0.

Just before the fourth quarter, Raphon Apiag took his turn to receive cheers from the Gecko crowd with the team’s sixth score through a catch into the end zone.

The final touchdown of the night came from an exciting run by Geckos running back Isaiah Hayes starting at just before the 30 yard line.

Though there were less than five minutes of game time left, Southern’s offense made some final flashy advances in Collin Naputi’s receiving run with hops over falling Geckos and squeezing through oncoming defenders that led to Jaden Escuadra taking nearly 50 more yards for the Dolphins before the final game whistle blew.

“We need to work as a family,” player of the game, Justin Sablan, noted on the closeness of his hardworking team. “I’m thankful for all my boys…I feel good, but we still need to work more and improve.”

“[The Islanders] are a good team, but we’ll see who comes out on top,” Sablan shares his excitement for the team’s upcoming matches, saying that he feels good about going up against JFK next week and that the team is hoping for a shot at the championship.

Other Week 4 action

• The Guam High Panthers kept in pace undefeated after cruising past the Islanders 33-6. Aaron Johnson accounted for three TDs (1 rush, 2 pass). Johnson’s TD throws went to Cameron Brantley and Judah Alcantara – both 10 yarders, Johnson finished with 117 total rushing yards on 7 carries. Brantley accounted for 110 yards rushing on only six carries.
• The Okkodo Bulldogs have forfeited Saturday night’s game against the front-running FD Friars. Okkodo had a hard time this week, averaging less than the minimum required players for a game at 25.

NEXT UP

That brings us to the final regular season weekend and the highly-anticipated showdown between the Friars and Panthers Friday night at the GW field. Last season, the two did not meet up as their regular season game was forfeited by Guam High do to safety concerns after a social media fiasco, while the championship game did not happen because of Typhoon Mawar.

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