FIRST QUARTER
Saints punt after picking up a first down. Wolfpack drive 55 yards in five plays. Kainoa Ferreira to Clayce Akeo on a nice back-shoulder throw for a 30-yard TD. Ferreira is doing something unique out of the shotgun, running as if it’s a QB draw, then stopping and hitting his wideouts with bullets. PAC 7, STF 0, 6:33.
Procedure penalties hurting the Saints, who get another first down but stall. Passing game is out of sync, but they’re looking to run 90 percent of the time, it seems.
Nice job by the Saints, forcing a P5 three and out, but the Saints fumble on a handoff exchange. Linebacker Casey Nakamura disrupted the play and recovered the fumble at the Saints’ 28-yard line. Ferreira connects with Travis Kaloa immediately for a 22-yard gain, but the drive stalls and Tyler Fukuroda drills a 21-yard field goal straight down the pipe. PAC 10, STF 0, :48.
SF continuing to struggle with procedure infractions. Six flags for 26 yards as the first quarter comes to a close.
SECOND QUARTER
The Wolfpack stall in their own territory. SF defense playing fairly well. The goal-line stand earlier — P5 was at the 1-yard line at one point before kicking the FG — was impressive. But when the Saints have the ball, it’s too predictable with the procedure flags. They got another one here and now have seven penalties already.
They just ran right for the first time, a 9-yard gain, before that latest procedure call.
Fourth and 6, punter Kyle Savellano runs right nine yards for a first down, and Pono Luis-Mateo breaks off a 34-yard run off the left side. The new QB, Scott McLeod, scores on the next play, a 4-yard keeper. PAT run stopped short. PAC 10, SF 6, 4:57.
Wolfpack need just two plays to go 80 yards. Ferreira launches a bomb to Akeo, who outjumps a defender near mid-field and races to the end zone for an 85-yard TD. PAC 17, SF 6, 4:33.
Saints go three and out before the ‘Pack drives 61 yards in three plays. Ferreira finds Matthew Hallstein for a 33-yard gain down the right sideline, and two plays later he connects with Jarrod Infante in the middle of the end zone for a 6-yard TD. PAT kick is wide left. PAC 23, SF 6, 2:31.
Halftime
Despite the rain, which was a torrent in the late second quarter, Pac-Five is moving the ball through the air. Ferreira is finding receivers deep with single coverage and playing his odds well.
Pac-Five has 220 of its 221 total yards in the first half through the air. Also, no turnovers and just two penalties for 10 yards.
St. Francis has 122 rushing yards and 9 passing yards for 131 total along with one fumble lost and nine penalties for 61 yards.
At Aloha Stadium
Pac-Five (2-0, 0-0) 10 13 x x — 23
St. Francis (2-2, 0-0) 0 6 x x — 6
P5—Clayce Akeo 30 pass from Kainoa Ferreira (Tyler Fukuroda kick)
P5—Fukuroda FG 21
SF—Scott McLeod 4 run (run failed)
P5—Akeo 85 pass from Ferreira (Fukuroda kick)
P5—Jarrod Infante 6 pass from Ferreira (kick failed)
RUSHING—P5:
#24 Royce Angelo 2-3
#15 Ferreira 1-(-2)
SF:
#21 Pono Luis-Mateo 11-80
#3 Destin Pakele 6-18
#28 Siosefa Finau 1-(-4)
#2 Micah Kalei 1-7
#1 Ezra Inayoshi-Dudoit 1-3
#17 Wembley Mailei 1-(-6)
#7 McLeod 5-5
#50 Pensimani Haunga 1-10
Kyle Savellano 1-9
PASSING—P5:
#15 Ferreira 10-21-0-220
SF:
#17 Mailei 0-3-0-0
#7 McLeod 1-5-0-9
RECEIVING—P5:
#20 Matthew Hallstein 2-38
#24 Angelo 1-5
#83 Matthew Lee 1-15
#81 Akeo 4-130
#7 Infante 1-6
#22 Travis Kaloa 1-26
SF:
#14 Samson Kaleikau 1-9
THIRD QUARTER
Big break by the Saints, who block a Pac-Five punt and have the ball at the ‘Pack 12-yard line. Luis-Mateo scores on a 7-yard run. PAT run stopped. PAC 23, SF 12, 9:38.
Another huge opportunity for the Saints. Ferreira is catching fire with two completions, but he throws the ball errantly while trying to avoid a sack and is picked off on a nice diving play by Isaac Crichton at the Saints’ 34-yard line.
After a turnover-free first half, Ferreira has now thrown two picks in his last three passes. This one is intercepted by Roland Merrill deep, close to mid-field, after Ferreira rolled right and threw against his body.
Two plays later, the Saints fumble the ball away and Pac-Five recovers. Ferreira takes a sack on third and 8 rather than throw another pick. P5 punts and SF is whistled for an illegal block during the return.
Wild sequence here. SF fumbles on a run and P5 recovers. Then after P5 punts, the Saints’ Luis-Mateo is stripped of the ball by Spencer Cox. P5 ball on the Saints’ 5. But Ferreira is hurried on the next play and throws another pick, this one by Merrill again on a nice dive. That’s three picks in a stretch of just five pass attempts by Ferreira.
Five plays later, P5’s Nathan Bek recovers another fumble by the Saints. First down, Pac-Five, at the Saints’ 31. The rain and moisture are factors, no doubt, but Ferreira is showing some panic-mode decisions here. Way too much.
FOURTH QUARTER
After even more turnovers, Pac-Five scores on a 6-yard pass from Ferreira to Daven Pila. PAC 29, SF 12, 5:30.
Six turnovers combined by the two teams in the second half.
Make that seven. On third and 11 from the P5 8-yard line, Ferreira throws downfield and is picked off four the fourth time tonight. Ezra Inayoshi-Dudoit returns it 29 yards for a TD. PAT run fails. PAC 29, SF 18, 1:04.
PRE-GAME
6:30 p.m.
Heat and humidity are not factors, for a change, even though El Nino conditions promise to stay with us in the islands through November and possibly December.
No, it’s steady rain that’s a factor tonight at Aloha Stadium. Intermittent lightning and thunder in the general region aren’t a hazard, it seems, so it’s play ball tonight. Kickoff is in 75 minutes.
6:40 p.m.
It’s an interesting time and place for St. Francis football. Their varsity team is still in in a crucial growth stage. They lose their share of players to other private and public schools. Case in point: promising QB Kawika Ulufale is now the starter at Campbell, and though the young Sabers have struggled at times, Ulufale is clearly a well-coached, instinctive playmaker who has a pretty accurate touch.
But the Saints keep trodding on, and though they have just six seniors, they are a contender for the ILH Division II championship. The favorite is probably Damien. Or is it Pac-Five? It’s a tough call.
Pac-Five has not put up the same amazing passing numbers that it did a year ago when Kainoa Ferreira was just a sophomore. But the Wolfpack have been winning their preseason games with defense, and now that the ILH opener is finally here, it’s a major test for both teams — especially with only three teams in ILH D-II. Every game — just four total — is crucial.
Intermediate: St. Francis 26, Damien 0, third quarter.
Intermediate: St. Francis 39, Damien 0, final.
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