ILH Football
Monarchs edge Wolfpack, 27-21, rally to second win in a row


  



Fri, Sep 10, 2021 @ Aloha Stadium [ 7:30 pm ]


Final 1 2 3 4 T
Damien (2-5-0) 7 7 6 727
PAC-5 (2-5-0) 14 0 0 721
Ezekiel Rodrigues 156 yd 2 TD
Sylas Alaimalo 119 yd 2 TD
Pono Sales 50 yd 1 TD

HALAWA — Sylas Alaimalo ran for two touchdowns and threw for another score to lead Damien to a 27-21 win over PAC-5 in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu football game at Aloha Stadium Friday night. 

The Monarchs erased a 14-point first-quarter deficit to record their second come-from-behind victory in as many weeks to improve to 3-0. 

Alaimalo ran in a 29-yard touchdown run with 3:35 left and Rustyn Ah Yat kicked the ensuing extra point to give Damien the lead for good. 

PAC-5 got the ball back with 3:30 to play, but was unable to get beyond its own 35-yard line and eventually turned it over on downs. Damien regained possession with 40 seconds remaining and Alaimalo took a kneel down to run out the clock. 

"It's all about the mindset," Alaimalo told Spectrum OC16's Jimmy Bender in a postgame interview. 

"All we gotta do is stay calm under pressure. Our boys did what we had to do and we came out with the win; shout out to my boys," said Alaimalo, a freshman utility player for the Monarchs. 

Alaimalo's first trip to the end zone, a 1-yard TD run, got Damien on the baord with just 32 seconds left in the opening quarter, but came after PAC-5 had taken a 14-0 lead. 

Greg Yamamoto | SL    Purchase image

Joshua Arcayena's 3-yard TD run, followed by Ezekiel Rodrigues' 99-yard scamper to pay dirt less than two minutes later gave the Wolfpack a 14-0 lead with 5:07 to play in the first quarter. 

Damien pulled even at the 1:11 mark of the second quarter on Alaimalo's 21-yard scoring strike to Pono Sales, followed by Ah Yat's extra point. It took its first lead of the game on Jayven Chinen-Zablan's 49-yard interception return for a touchdown. 

But the Wolfpack did not go quietly. Rodrigues found the end zone from 29 yards out with 7:39 to play and the ensuing PAT put them ahead, 21-20. 

Damien had 244 yards of total offense, including 184 rushing, to PAC-5's 301 total yards and 275 rushing. 

Both teams saw key players unable to continue due to injury in Monarchs' starting quarterback Jensen Tanele and Wolfpack running back/linebacker Joshua Arcayena. 

"That's that mindset, just next man up," said Alaimalo, who took over at quarterback after Tanele was forced to exit the contest. "My coaches believed in me, I believed in myslef, we do what we did."

Alaimalo finished with 22 carries for 119 yards. He also threw for 60 yards on 4-of-7 passing.

Rodrigues ran for a game-high 156 yards and Arcayena carried 14 times for 98 yards.

Braeden Faurot made eight tackles, Kahiau Young seven and Jayce Pedro five  — including three tackles for losses and one sack — to lead Damien's defensive effort. 

Daymian Lapitan and Arcayena tallied eight tackles apiece for PAC-5 defensively. 

The Monarchs will face Saint Louis II Friday at 5 p.m. at Aloha Stadium, while the Wolfpack will take on Iolani in the 7:30 p.m. nightcap in Halawa. 





Show your support

Every contribution, no matter the size, will help ScoringLive continue its mission to provide the best and most comprehensive coverage of high school sports in the state of Hawaii and beyond.

Please consider making a contribution today.

ADVERTISEMENT


IMAGE GALLERY



MORE STORIES

18th edition of Goodwill Softball Classic set for June 1-2

Round robin play begins at 9 a.m. Saturday at Sand Island, and both third place and championship games...

KSH's Santos delivered on the mound, at the plate; Kapaa's Furtado continued hit parade at states

The junior lefty from D2 baseball state champion Kamehameha-Hawaii was tabbed Most Outstanding Player,...

HHSAA announces 2024 Hall of Honor inductees

Twelve student-athletes from 10 different schools and representing four of the state's leagues make up...

MIL no ka oi - Baldwin, Maui declared Division I co-champs

Game called in the third inning as rain causes safety issue; both teams go home champions in first ever...

Kamehameha-Hawaii topples Damien to claim first state title since 2016

The Warriors blasted eight hits for a nine-run first inning to run-rule the Monarchs to win their first...

Maui shuts out Saint Louis to reach Division I finale for first time since 2017

Nicholas Nashiwa's two-out, RBI single to left, the Sabers' only one of the game, proved to be the difference...