GAME NIGHT 10/21: Damien/St. Francis

The Monarchs won the first meeting in an instant classic, coming back from 13 down in the third quarter to score 20 unanswered points and win 20-7. Two weeks ago, the Saints shut out Damien 19-0 to end the ILH first round. Nothing was on the line in that game. Was it a sign of things to come, or were the Monarchs laying low, waiting for this one?

Kickoff is 3 p.m.

Q&A: St. Francis coach Kip Akana

ST. FRANCIS SAINTS (7-3)
Head coach: Kip Akana
Saints roster

VS.

DAMIEN MONARCHS (8-2)
Head coach: Eddie Klaneski
Monarchs roster

at Aloha Stadium
St. Francis (8-3) 8 0 0 7 — 15
Damien (8-3) 0 6 8 0 — 14

StF—Shepherd Kekahuna 32 pass from Bubba Akana (Scott McLeod pass from Akana)
DMS—Akila Arecchi 76 blocked field goal return (kick failed)
DMS—Marcus Faufata-Pedrina 5 run (Arecchi pass from Faufata-Pedrina)
StF—McLeod 48 pass from Akana (Lachmann Atoa kick)

RUSHING—St. Francis: Jonan Aina-Chaves 21-102, Matt Dacuycuy 6-23, Tyson Shimabukuro 1-4, Kekahuna 1-3, Akana 3-(minus 13). Damien: Faufata-Pedrina 18-65, Keoua Kauhi 10-20, Pomai Kim 1-4, Logan Lauti 5-(minus 1), Apramo Sulu 1-(minus 3).
PASSING—St. Francis: Akana 8-22-1-161. Damien: Faufata-Pedrina 13-25-0-144.
RECEIVING—St. Francis: McLeod 3-87, Kekahuna 3-51, Samson Kaleikau 1-15, Atoa 1-6, Aina-Chaves 1-2. Damien: Jarvis Natividad 4-35, Arecchi 3-46, Lindon Sevilleja 3-33, Lauti 2-24, Kim 1-6.

Damien runs a reverse on the kickoff and Arecchi brings it out to the 42. 1:02 to go. Damien with two timeouts. Second down and Faufata-Pedrina with a perfect throw over the defender to the sideline and Arecchi hauls it in. 21 yards to the 37. Holy cow what a throw and catch. Illegal formation on Damien. Faufata-Pedrina finds Lauti for 13 yards. Timeout Damien with 23 ticks on the clock. Monarchs have one left. Ball at the 29 of St. Francis. Another epic finish between these two. Faufata-Pedrina runs for 4 to the 25. Clock stops on the first down. Damien spikes with 13 seconds left to save its final timeout. Just a wild play as Faufata-Pedrina eludes multiple sacks and is finally tackled at the 27 but the clock is down to 2, 1….clock stops with ONE SECOND LEFT as Damien gets a timeout in. I think that was the right call there. One second left. Ball on the 27. No timeouts. DEEP BALL IS KNOCKED AWAY. BALL GAME. WE WILL DO THIS AGAIN NEXT FRIDAY.

Saints ball on their 14 with no timeouts. 2:43 to go. DRAMA. Aina-Chaves for 8 to the 22. Stuffed for no gain. Clock running. Third-and-2. Aina-Chaves stuffed in the backfield but SOMEHOW he spins out, picks up 4, and gets the first down. Timeout Damien as there was some confusion. Quick pass to Kekahuna and he turns it upfield and gets 11 to stop the clock on the first down. Ball on the Saints 37. Pass to Sammy Kaleikau for 15. DEEP BALL TO SCOTT MCLEOD AND HE GRABS IT. TOUCHDOWN SAINTS ON THE 48-yard TD PASS. Penalty after the TD though and the Saints will have to try from the 18. Makana Poole tries the 35-yard extra point and Matthew Faufata-Pedrina blocks another. Flag is thrown but the kick was blocked so I don’t think there can be roughing. All sorts of crazy going on. They do call roughing the kicker. Ball moves to the 9. Lachann Atoa has to kick it because Poole is hurt and it’s GOOD. Saints lead 15-14.

Damien ball at its 49 with 3:50 to go. Saints with one timeout. St. Francis uses its final timeout with 2:58 to go. Damien facing a third-and-5. This is the game right here. Faufata-Pedrina throws the slant over the middle and it’s broken up by Makana Poole. Great play to save the first down and maybe the game. Damien will punt.

Great punt coverage by Damien and the Saints will start on the 18. A hold kills the drive as Akana loses 1 on third-and-long. St. Francis has to punt.

Two Faufata-Pedrina runs and it’s third-and-5. Quick pass to Arecchi is low. Damien will punt.

Aina-Chaves with a 14-yard jaunt to the 31. Quick throw to Kekahuna who has a big gain but hurdles a defender. Obvious penalty and not the first time St. Francis has been called for that this season. Now it’s third-and-12 at the 33 and the pass is incomplete. Fourth-and-12. Saints burn a timeout they might need later. 7:41 to go fourth-and-12 at the 33. They go. Akana flushed out to his left and has to throw across his body. Incomplete. Monarchs ball.

Aina-Chaves fields the punt on a hop and cuts through about four Monarchs and is GONE. 58-yard punt return for a TD but a flag comes out midway through. Illegal blindside block on the Saints’ Sione Lolohea, who has had a couple of untimely penalties in this game. Saints ball on the Damien 45.

Saints stop two runs for no yards and then force an incompletion. Damien goes three-and-out.

Saints second-and-6 at the Damien 16 to start the fourth quarter. Saints whistled for holding. JT White with the pick in the end zone as there was some confusion with the receiver who stopped. Monarchs ball on their 16.

Saints start on the 35 after kick out of bounds. Quickly third down but the Saints offense finally gets the big play out of the passing game as Akana hits Scott McLeod over the middle for 39 yards to the Damien 20. END 3.

Damien starts on its 36. Faufata-Pedrina fires a strike to Arecchi for 14 yards to midfield. QB draw on third-and-8 and it’s a perfect call as Faufata-Pedrina is untouched for 8 yards before sliding. First down. Faufata-Pedrina sneaks it for 3 yards on third-and-1 but illegal formation is called on Damien. Big penalty. Bad snap and Faufata-Pedrina manages to get 4 but is stopped 2 yards short. Fourth down and Damien will go. QB draw and Faufata-Pedrina gets 4 to move the chains. Faufata-Pedrina hits Natividad for 9 and Sevilleja for 12 and it’s first-and-goal at the 5. Faufata-Pedrina up the middle. Touchdown Monarchs on the 5-yard run. Faufata-Pedrina to Arecchi for the 2-pointer. 14-8, 1:40.

Quickly third-and-9 for the Saints. Pass over the middle is high. Three-and-out.

Damien ball at midfield. Converted running back Tyson Shimabukuro with a tackle for loss to make it third-and-7. Faufata-Pedrina runs for 6 but is stopped short by Wembley Mailei. St. Francis whistled for a personal foul after the play and it’s a first down. Saints call timeout. Damien will go fourth-and-2 at the St. Francis 18. Sione Lolohea shoots in for the tackle for loss on fourth down and Damien turns it over.

St. Francis kicks from its 25 after a penalty at the end of the first half. And of course there’s a penalty on the kickoff and the refs have to usher a St. Francis player away. St. Francis’ Isaac Kaleikau whistled for taunting.

Saints come out and do jumping jacks on their side staring at Damien sideline. This will get interesting.

HALFTIME BOX
at Aloha Stadium
St. Francis (7-3) 8 0
Damien (8-2) 0 6

StF—Shepherd Kekahuna 32 pass from Bubba Akana (Scott McLeod pass from Akana)
DMS—Akila Arecchi 76 blocked field goal return (kick failed)

RUSHING—St. Francis: Jonan Aina-Chaves 14-70, Matt Dacuycuy 5-19, Akana 1-(minus 12). Damien: Marcus Faufata-Pedrina 7-24, Keoua Kauhi 5-9, Logan Lauti 2-(minus 2).
PASSING—St. Francis: Akana 2-8-0-34. Damien: Faufata-Pedrina 7-12–0-69.
RECEIVING—St. Francis: Kekahuna 1-32, Aina-Chaves 1-2. Damien: Jarvis Natividad 3-26, Lindon Sevilleja 2-21, Arecchi 1-11, Lauti 1-11.

Damien with some short passes, four to be exact, to get to midfield. They tried to set up a hook-and-ladder play at the end but they fumble. Halftime.

Shiloh Kaeo with a TD-saving tackle or else Aina-Chaves returns the kickoff to the house. Saints ball on the Damien 48. Saints call timeout facing third-and-7 with 1:03 to go. Screen to Aina-Chaves only goes for 2 as Damien declines a St. Francis penalty. Punt.

St. Francis ball at midfield. Saints on the doorstep after two explosive runs by Aina-Chaves. Injury timeout as OL Maika Fernandez is shaken up for St. Francis. He looks OK and wants back in but has to sit out a play. Third-and-4 at the 14. Akana overshoots McLeod and it’s fourth down. Saints line up for a 31-yard field goal and it’s BLOCKED by Matthew Faufata-Pedrina. Akila Arecchi on the return and he is gone. 76-yard block field goal return for a TD. XP no good. 8-6, 1:49, Q2.

Damien ball at its 11 after a booming punt. Kaleo Neves comes flying for a tackle for loss for the Saints defense and it’s third-and-12. Timeout Monarchs. Faufata-Pedrina finds Logan Lauti but he’s tackled a yard short. Punt.

Saints ball on their 36. Third-and-5 after two runs. Deep ball is dropped and should have been caught. Punt time.

Bad punt and Damien will start on the Saints’ 44 after a 20-yard punt. Fourth-and-2 after an 8-yard pass to Jarvis Natividad. Pass out to the flat is dropped. Turnover on downs.

Saints starts on their 20. Quick three-and-out.

Monarchs ball on the St. Francis 46 after a short punt. Damien faces third-and-9 to start second quarter. Damien three-and-out.

Saints ball on their 20. Deep shot is a great throw by Akana but an even better play by DB Kellen Robins-Beers to break it up. DB Akila Arecchi and Tristan Blair stop Aina-Chaves for a loss. Incomplete and Saints are three-and-out.

Damien starts on the 37 after a 27-yard kick return. Quickly third-and-7 but QB Marcus Faufata-Pedrina converts the first third down faced on a 9-yard pass to Lindon Sevilleja. A false start forces a third-and-9 at midfield. Faufata-Pedrina flushed out to his left, cuts back in, eludes a couple of defenders and gets 10 to move the chains. Great play by the QB. Another third-and-long and Faufata-Pedrina has an open receiver but it’s dropped. Monarchs punt.

Short kick returned out to the 43. Good starting field position for St. Francis. Junior Bubba Akana at QB. Seven straight runs move the ball to the Damien 10 but a hold forces St. Francis to call its first pass and Akana is sacked by Braeden Halili. Third-and-28 at the 32 and Akana hits Shepherd Kekahuna over the middle who spins his way out of a tackle and is in the end zone. 32-yard TD pass and it’s 8-0 after the pass from Akana to Scott McLeod for 2.

Damien wins the toss and defers to the second half. Saints ball first.

TEAM CAPTAINS
St. Francis: Scott McLeod, Wembley Mailei, Taka Lautaha, Fia Mafua Jr.
Damien: Marcus Faufata-Pedrina, Akila Arecchi, Aisaac Unga, Shiloh Kaeo