PANTHERS SWARM SHARKS 56-8

By Jay Leon Guerrero

The Guam High Panthers had another impressive performance on the football field on a rare Monday Night Football contest in the ISA Football League. The Panther special teams and defense accounted for four touchdowns en route to 56-8 victory over the Sanchez Sharks.

The game was called after the third quarter by the officials with the Sharks trailing by 48 points.

Elijay Ferrell-Ayers had a punt and kickoff return for two touchdowns which totaled 143 yards (71-yard and 72-yard touchdowns). Ferrell-Ayers had another punt return for 61 yards in the third quarter, but the touchdown was called back for an illegal block.

“Our goal on special teams is to get the ball past the 50-yard line. But with my brothers blocking for me, it turned out more than that,” said Ferrell-Ayers.

“When everything is clicking, our confidence is up. We just have to keep working hard in practice, and it will show on the field.”

– Panther Elijay Ferrell-Ayers

The Panther offense was limited due to the scoring by the special teams and defense, but made the most of their opportunities. Freshman quarterback Dante Parker threw two touchdowns (both to Joey Delia for 35 and 59 yards) in his season debut.

“It feels good to come out and play my first high school game. I have to thank my O-Line, my teammates, coaches, and parents for helping me improve every day,” said Parker.

The southpaw quarterback’s first pass was not a good one, a lateral pass to Aaron Johnson that was off target for a safety, but he recovered to put up big numbers. 

“I told Aaron (Johnson) that the pass was my fault, and I regrouped with my line and coaches to get it back, and it showed with 186 yards.” Parker found Johnson for a 28-yard gain in the third quarter.

Baird rushes for 3 TDs

Guam High running back DeShawn Baird also had a big game on the ground with 134 yards and three touchdowns. Baird’s performance was his second straight game rushing over the century mark.

Baird rushed the ball eight times and had 103 yards in the first quarter alone, which included a 69-yard score. Baird’s other two scores were runs for 21 and 12 yards.

Delia did work on both sides of the ball. Delia caught two touchdowns for 94 total yards and also had seven tackles on defense. He also forced and recovered a fumble.

The Sharks found success on the ground but fumbled the ball four times in the contest. Jayvin Gatmay led the Sharlks on the ground with 71 yards, Justin Sablan had 47 yards.

The Sharks scored first via a safety with Daniel Leon Guerrero tackling Johnson in their own endzone.

The Sharks scored in the second quarter with the help of good field position thanks to a 69-yard kickoff return from Gatmay. Sanchez High’s quarterback Kevin Beckwith scored from the one-yard line for the Sharks’ lone touchdown.

The Panther defense scored twice in the first half. Justin Brantley scored on a strip-fumble recovery, and Benjamin Harris blocked a punt and dived on the loose ball in the end zone for a score.

Terrell Rosario from Guam High had a game-high nine tackles and also forced a fumble. Cameron Brantley contributed four tackles and caught a pass on offense for 29 yards. Panther kicker Cameron Wharton made 7-of-8 extra point attempts for the Panthers.

Angelo Dacanay had five tackles, two of which were behind the line of scrimmage, for the Sharks. Diego Cabe blocked an extra point attempt for Sanchez on special teams.

The Panthers (2-0) will play the Tiyan Titans (1-1) next week, and the Sharks (0-2) will look for their first win of the season versus the Okkodo Bulldogs (0-2). 

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