The Metgot Outlaws held off a late comeback by the Packers to win their season opener 13-12 at the Eagles Field in Mangilao on a hot Sunday afternoon in the opening weekend of the 2023 Triple J GNYFF Football League.
Meanwhile, the Guahan Eagles shut out the Raiders in all three divisions.
Nekhi Freeman scored two touchdowns for the Outlaws to go up 13-0 after three quarters.
With their backs against the ropes, the Packer offense came to life and scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, which nearly forced overtime.
After scoring their second touchdown with 1:39 left on the clock, the Outlaws designed an extra point run to the right side, which was inches short.
“They almost tied the game, and that made me and the team nervous,” said Freeman. “With 1:39 left in the game, we had to go hard.”
The Outlaws needed a first down to run the clock to secure the victory. The Outlaw coaching staff went to Freeman who delivered a nine-yard gain which was good enough for a first down.
Freeman’s first score came in the second quarter after he found a hole in the right side. Speed took over as Freeman scored for a 70-yard touchdown to go up 7-0 after a successful quarterback sneak by Ghesan Gaje.
The Outlaws Jace Escuadra set up the second score with a defensive fumble recovery for 35 yards in the third quarter. Escuadra was pushed out of bounds at the one yard line, Freeman later dove in for the score. After a failed extra point run attempt, the Outlaws were up comfortably, 13-0.
The Packers came out with more aggressiveness in the fourth quarter. After two first downs, Tavion Apatang scored from two yards out to trim the lead to 13-6 after a failed extra point pass attempt.
The Packer defense came up with a huge stop and had a good field position inside three minutes left in regulation.
With 1:39 left, Apatang switched to quarterback and found wide receiver Charles Mendiola in the end zone. Down 13-12, the Outlaws chased Apatang, who reached for the pylon but was out-of-bounds a milli-second early, according to the line official.
“The team needs to work harder, and I’m just going to put in more work to get better moving forward,” said Freeman. Freeman rushed unofficially 14 times for 130 yards.
Sahi Santos rushed for 51 yards on six carries, Apatang had 47 yards on the ground for the Packers.
GAME RESULTS
Manha
Eagles 25, Raiders 0
Packers 25, Outlaws 6
Metgot
Eagles 31, Raiders 0
Outlaws 13, Packers 12
Matua
Eagles 25, Raiders 0
Outlaws 25, Packers 12
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QUICK HITS
Matsuno’s second place finish earned him an invitation to compete in the FCG Junior Golf Championship to be held in July 2025.
A junior at St. John’s, he is also currently leading the IIAAG high school All-Island golf competition, chasing the coveted individual high school golf title.
