FD SURVIVES SOUTHERN STORM 21-7

By Jay Leon Guerrero

Special teams and defense saved the day for the Father Duenas Friars Saturday night at the GW Field in Mangilao. The Friars improved to 5-0, but the Southen Dolphins came close to dethroning the Friars’ almost decade-long winning streak.

Birthday boy Donte Salas scored on the opening drive for the Dolphins, diving in from 2 yards out to put Southern up 7-0. This sent the Southern sidelines into a frenzy.

Southern was rolling early and stopped the Friar offense on their own 25-yard line after Jaron Meno returned a kickoff 42 yards.

The defenses went back-and-forth, and it seemed like the Dolphins were going to lead by halftime, but a big play by the Friar defense tied the score at 7-7 on the final play just before the break.

Isaiha Arriola recorded a strip-sack fumble, and teammate Chase Artero picked up the fumbled ball and raced down 27-yard for the touchdown.

“We knew Southern was going to be tough today. They have one of the best lines on Guam, so we knew they were going to bring the fire tonight,” said Arriola. 

“For that play, I saw the quarterback run to our right side and saw the opportunity to force the fumble. I looked up and saw Chase pick up the ball score for a touchdown,” said Arriola. 

The Friars got the ball in the second half, and the kickoff was received by Ian Castro at the Friar 33-yard line. Castro ran right, dodged a few tackles, and followed his blockers downfield for the 67-yard kickoff return.

And just like that, in a span of two plays, FD was ahead 14-7.

“Our coaches told us at halftime that we all need to step up. During the kickoff, I followed the blocks provided by my brothers, and the rest was just running,” said Castro.

After the kickoff return, both defenses held it down and forced turnovers. Southern’s Braven Rey Chaco forced a red zone fumble to keep the score within a touchdown late in the third quarter. 

On a fourth-and-short situation, FD’s Tristan Burgos and Lavin Santos combined for a sack to give possession back to the Friars.

With four minutes left in regulation, the Friars were deep in Dolphin territory once again thanks to a big rushing gain by Castro. The Friars failed to advance with Chaco and Damion Quinata making tackles at the line of scrimmage to force a field goal attempt. 

The Friars were unable to covert a 22-yard field goal, which missed just left of the goal post and the game remained at a one-touchdown deficit.

The Dolphins needed yardage with their backs at their own goal line, but a pass play was intercepted by FD’s Noah Duenas. Duenas nearly ran the interception back for another defensive score but was stopped by Salas at the 2-yard line.

The Friars made adjustments and found the end zone with Jaron Meno diving in for the insurance touchdown to go up 21-7.

Castro led the Friars with 42 rushing yards. Daethan Alcantara had one reception for 52 yards for the Friars.

On defense, Burgos and Lavin Santos each recorded seven tackles and shared a sack for FD. Artero had five tackles and recovered a fumble for a touchdown.

Salas had a game-high 52 rushing yards and a touchdown for the Dolphins. Jaden Escuadra had 19 rushing yards for Southern.

Chaco had six tackles for the Dolphins and also forced a fumble. Quinata had five tackles for Southern. The Dolphins drop to 4-1 and will face the Tiyan Titans next week on Saturday at 7 pm.

The Friar victory sets up a showdown with the 5-0 GW Geckos next week Friday at the GW Field. The Geckos have been on a roll lately, and the big game will be one not to miss. Kickoff is at 7 pm! 

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