Jake Holtz’s poise, power spark No. 10 Damien over Radford

The deep stuff doesn’t seem to be a problem for Damien quarterback Jake Holtz.

After spending much of the summer traveling to basketball camps and tournaments, the 6-foot-4 senior showed that his arm strength is good as ever on Thursday night. In a 34-12 win over Radford, No. 10 Damien showed that Holtz can make a defense pay dearly.

Holtz hurled three TD passes — 43 yards to Makanale‘a Meyer, then 57 and 16 yards to Jarvis Natividad. On his final play of the game, he found Natividad for an 88-yard gain, then left with a sore right hip.

He could have tucked the ball away and run safely out of harm’s way, but Holtz is showing immense focus in the pocket. At least with the deep ball. He finished 12-for-23, missing some open teammates on intermediate routes, but the Monarchs will live with it. Though Radford sacked him four times, he proved to be a lethal weapon on the run, scoring on a beautifully executed RPO keeper, 55 yards through the secondary.

Holtz finished with 70 yards on nine carries in addition to 257 passing yards.

Holtz joined Marcus Faufata-Pedrina as the only Damien quarterbacks to throw for 250 or more yards in a single game more than once, and put up the school’s fourth-best total in a single game. Natividad covered 161 yards on only three catches for third on the program’s yardage tally.

“It feels way better than last year, our experience last year. The team just feels different this year. I feel it’s going to be a good year,” he said.

Next week, a showdown with D-I powerhouse Waipahu awaits at Farrington’s Skippa Diaz Stadium. Damien won the matchup in 2018, 13-10, at Waipahu.

“It’s going to be a good one. Last year it was a good battle,” Holtz said. “I expect it to be a battle again.”