Things learned, observed in Pacific high school football Week 5.0
Published: September 23, 2012
Musings, mutterings and the occasional schmahts as Dave Ornauer wonders how things could really be in a perfect world, then reminding himself that imperfection is truly the spice of life and creates the sort of debate that forever changes the face of Far East football:
-- Guam High on the outside looking in: Can there be any doubt now, any doubt, that Guam High deserves to be in the DODDS Pacific Far East Division I football title conversation?
Following Saturday’s 28-12 victory at Kubasaki, there’s no question the argument could be made. Known as the best on island since 2007, Lorden Aguon (two touchdown runs, one TD pass) and the Panthers led a team that went all the way to the D-I title game last year from start to finish, then celebrated on Kubasaki’s home field like it was 1999. The first win for the Panthers over a DODDS Pacific opponent in nine tries, six of those games played off-island.
Call this a statement game. Despite all the obstacles that would have to be overcome to get Guam High back into the Far East playoff picture, the Panthers left a calling card at midfield on Kubasaki’s Mike Petty Stadium pitch: “We’re ready to play for the ‘ship. Call us when you want us back.”
Yes, the Panthers still are bound by their commitment to Guam’s Interscholastic Football League, which means they’re playing at least two IFL playoff games in October. That’s what messed up the Far East regular-season schedule last fall, when everybody had to front-load into August and September the games that counted toward the playoffs, which forced Kadena to sit for four weeks between its playoff games. Heck, Kadena didn’t have a homecoming last year.
Yes, this season, the Panthers upset by a 19-8 score a George Washington team that is clearly a shell of its former island-champion self, particularly after the Geckos lost for the first time in school history to Okkodo 13-0. Yes, Guam High caught a banged-up Kubasaki squad without its head coach, who was hospitalized last week with a leg infection. And boy, do the Panthers need to come up with a way to negate the likes of Kubasaki’s speedster Jarrett Mitchell (230 yards, 22 carries, second interception-return touchdown in as many games).
Cast all that aside, though. Banged up, shell of your former self, you still have to bring it to the table. To reunite Guam High with the rest of the DODDS Pacific football world … there has to be a way. There has to be. Nothing that can’t be overcome by finding reasons to do things, instead of excuses not to.
To start with, let’s remember, Guam High is part of the DDESS Guam system. Last I checked, DODDS and DDESS each fall under the DODEA umbrella, which makes them family.
Just as the George Washingtons, John F. Kennedys, Okkodos, the American School In Japans and Christian Academy Japans and so on are invited guests in DODDS Pacific Far East Tournaments, so, too, is Guam High an invited guest in the Independent Interscholastic Athletic Association of Guam, and need to observe certain protocols and appreciate everything that goes with being an invited guest.
They’ve looked at the scheduling alternatives that could conceivably bring Guam High back under the DODDS playoff umbrella:
-- Committing to both an IFL and DODDS regular-season schedule would mean hop-scotching between the two commitments, forcing each to honor blackout dates in which Guam High could or could not play IFL or DODDS games in certain weekends, particularly the IFL playoffs for the reasons stated above.
-- Sticking with strictly an IFL schedule would mean that Guam High could only play a DODDS team once per season, when the Panthers and a DODDS Pacific team have a corresponding bye.
-- Committing to strictly a DODDS schedule would be feasible from a DODDS standpoint. But what kind of political fallout would that engender among IIAAG and IFL elders? Some of whom, I’m told, were very reluctant to admit Guam High into its folds in the first place.
Would there be fallout?
I had a lengthy conversation with Guam High coach Jacob Dowdell about that subject; he seems to believe the fallout wouldn’t be nearly as bad as some make it out to be.
Of course, there’s no way we’ll ever find out as long as DODDS Pacific athletics leadership and its IIAAG counterparts never get together and try to work something out. Reasonable conversations between reasonable men – and I know Don Hobbs and Martin Boudreau to be reasonable folks – can lead to reasonable solutions. If they want my help in facilitating a meeting, I’d be happy to. Or perhaps DODDS could invite Boudreau to video conference with the Far East athletics council when it next meets in May.
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Sidebar to this: I conversed this afternoon with a former Pacific Daily News staffer and the idea came to mind: Should Guam High run the table and win the IFL, take the Panthers and whichever team wins the DODDS Far East D-I title and hold a postseason winner-take-all DODEA Far East championship game on Nov. 24. Stage it in the temperate weather of Guam, at Wettengel Field or some other suitable off-base venue so hundreds, perhaps thousands could attend. What say?
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-- Put a handle on the ball!: It’s a theme that coaches beat into their players’ heads week in and week out: Take good care of the football. Putting it on the ground or throwing it to the other team simply has no side benefit, other than giving the opponent, especially a pedigreed one such as Yokota, every last chance to pull away and leaving you gazing at the short end of the scoreboard.
That was certainly the case Saturday at Seoul American’s Sims Field, where the host Falcons coughed up the ball four times and threw one pick to the Panthers, who did like any good football team is supposed to: turn the takeaways into points. Jacob Davis recovered two fumbles for Yokota, which the Panthers turned into touchdown passes, Stanley Speed’s 20-yarder to Morgan Breazell and Marcus Henagan’s 27-yarder to A.J. Leake.
And the Panthers were their usual dominant selves on the ground, 249 yards on 32 attempts. And they only threw an economical four times. But all three completions went for six points, including Speed’s big-play 63-yarder to Cody Trask. And two Yokota rushing TDs came on lengthy plays, Raymond Butler’s 78-yarder and a 53-yard scamper by Breazell.
Sort of out of character for a team that generally buries the ball down opponents’ throats. And though Seoul American only managed 83 yards on offense, I really liked what I saw in Ronald Dogan (66 yards, eight carries), a sophomore speedster who runs like Mitchell, but with a bit more power; Mitchell’s a better cutter. Each has great field vision and knows when to hit the hole, bounce it outside and keep those legs pumping.
-- Mustangs stampede in Eagles country: Now, that’s more like it. ASIJ’s offense put forth a balanced attack and took much better care of the football in the Mustangs’ 48-18 romp at Robert D. Edgren on Friday at Eagles Field. Coach Craig Karnitz did his best to spread the wealth, and succeeded. Henry and Wills Wallrapp each ran for touchdowns as did Ken Yajima, while David Hernandez tossed a pair of TD passes to Drogan James. This lot looked much like its old self in the Jardine era, which has given way to the Hernandez era. Call it his coming-out party.
What I really liked out of Edgren, aside from the continued great play from that dangerous pass-catch combo of Tristan Jefferson to Louis Murphy and Khalil Williams, was the move coach Blaine Miller made in the third quarter to work on overall team depth.
ASIJ was starting to pull away, the game meant nothing in the DODDS Japan or Kanto Plain or Far East Division II standings. So, Miller decided to give his sophomore and freshmen players some playing time, develop some depth both for the Eagles’ Division II battles with Zama American on Oct. 5 and 19, but also for the future, when the Jeffersons, Murphys and Williamses leave.
-- Trojans on the rise, “Thunder and Lightning” reunited: They’d already won their last two games without him, so you can imagine how much better Zama American will be now that the other half of the Trojans’ “Thunder and Lightning” running-back tandem, Mitchell Harrison, has been reunited with backfield mate Andre Encarnacion. The reunion paid immediate dividends as Zama won its third straight rallying for a 14-13 triumph over Nile C. Kinnick.
They each scored a touchdown, Harrison in the first quarter and Encarnacion with seven minutes left, and combined for 133 yards on 29 attempts. Harrison also got his share of action on defense as well.
“I think he provided a spark for us,” said Trojans coach Steven Merrell. They’d lost 20-6 in the season opener at Naval Air Facility Atsugi on Aug. 24, and nothing, as they say, is as sweet as vengeance.
It also tells me that those Zama-Edgren games are going to be nail biters, given Kinnick’s narrow 19-16 escape at home over Edgren the next week. Expect the Eagles and Trojans to go at it, hammer and tongs, in their October matchups.
One difference in the outcomes of the Aug. 24 and last Friday’s games was which team was more successful in finishing drives. On Friday, that was Zama. While Kinnick made things happen last month, they made too many mistakes that ended up costing the Red Devils in the fourth quarter. Quinton Holden and Dustin Wilson still showed it out on offense, while Alex Banks and Dakota Rogers racked up double-digit tackles on defense. But they’re going to have to do far better when Yokota comes to town on Friday.
-- Youthful Korea D-II teams show promise: One intriguing matchup on Saturday involves Edgren visiting Daegu High. That will be a battle of teams that employ variations of the zone-read spread option, the visiting Eagles emphasizing more pass plays, while the host Warriors spend more time on the ground with it.
While Daegu should have its hands full with the aforementioned Edgren passing crew, the Warriors will employ a whole batch of rushing weapons at the Eagles. Led by Ronald McLean’s 181 yards on 20 attempts, the Warriors racked up 368 rushing yards on 52 carries as Daegu pulled away late to beat Osan American 26-15 on Friday at Kelly Field. The Daegu defense is quite opportunistic, especially from the outside edges.
Osan’s double-wing attack is showing good promise, and it’s tough at times to figure which back has the ball, E Jay Bashaam, T.J. Busano or Tim Ampa. Kenny Mack-Stewart, back healthy after a lengthy knee-injury recovery, possesses a good, strong arm.
These two teams are greenhorn on paper; about 60 percent of each roster never has touched a football before this season. Most on each team are freshmen and sophomores. While Zama and Edgren might possess the superior weaponry and might hold the cards for an all-Japan D-II title-game meeting on Nov. 10, you could see an all-Korea turnabout next year.
