Guam tops Kubasaki, picks up rare DODDS win
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CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa - Lorden Aguon helped the Guam High Panthers end a seven-year, eight-game streak of futility Saturday against DODDS opponents.
Aguon rushed for two touchdowns and passed for another and the Panthers led from start to finish, upending last year’s Far East Division I runner-up Kubasaki, 28-12.
“I’m so proud of these boys,” said coach Jacob Dowdell, whose Panthers – Guam island champions in 2010 and runners-up last year – improved to 5-0 this season.
But more importantly, after losing their previous five games to DODDS opponents off-island and three Far East Division I semifinal games from 2005-07, Guam High showed it could compete with its DODDS brethren, Dowdell said.
“These guys played so hard and showed commitment,” Dowdell said. Not wanting to play a running clock under mercy rules as they did in a 2010 visit to Kadena, “these kids said they didn’t want to come here and lose. They wanted to play hard and bring it back to Guam.”
Aguon tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Austy Hines, and ran for 4- and 5-yard scores to give the Panthers a third-quarter cushion. But the Dragons (2-1) got 230 yards on 22 carries and a second interception-return touchdown in as many weeks by junior Jarrett Mitchell and kept it close at 20-12 early in the fourth quarter.
Joshua Foronda ended the Dragons’ hopes and sealed the contest by scooping up a fumble and taking it 42 yards to the end zone.
Guam High got the victory despite losing running back Terry Geller to a broken leg in the first quarter. Kubasaki was also missing a handful of its starters, along with head coach Fred Bales, who was hospitalized earlier this week with a leg infection.
“They (Panthers) played an amazing game,” Dragons assistant coach Tony Alvarado said. “Their offensive line protection was incredible.”
Too many mistakes, such as the fumble that Foronda turned into six points, doomed the Dragons, Alvarado said.
“We’re still a young team and we can’t make mistakes like that against a good team coming in here like that,” Alvarado said, adding that the theme for this week’s practice will be finishing. “We have to finish.”
Kadena visits Kubasaki at 7 p.m. Friday, while Guam High hosts Father Duenas Memorial at 7 p.m. Saturday.
