ILH Football
Saint Francis sprints past PAC-5, 45-13


  



Fri, Oct 7, 2016 @ Aloha Stadium [ 5:00 pm ]


Final 1 2 3 4 T
Saint Francis (5-3-0) 0 12 13 2045
PAC-5 (2-5-0) 0 0 6 713
Ryan Johnson 176 yd 1 TD
Kaimanuwai Akana 72 yd 1 TD
AJ Ulufale 24 yd 1 TD
Tyson Shimabukuro 133 yd 1 TD
Grey Ihu 116 yd 1 TD
Micah Kalei 31 yd

HALAWA — This was nothing like the first go-around.

Tyson Shimabukuro rushed for 133 yards and a touchdown to lead Saint Francis to a 45-13 thumping of PAC-5 before a crowd of about 1,200 fans at Hawaiian Tel FCU Field at Aloha Stadium Friday night.

The Saints, who are ranked fourth in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Division II Power Rankings, pounded out a season-high 396 rushing yards en route to their third consecutive win. They improved to 4-2 overall and pulled even with idle-Damien at 3-1 atop the Interscholastic League of Honolulu standings.

"This was really big," said Shimabukuro, who averaged 8.9 yards per carry Friday. "I feel like we have a lot of momentum going into next week if we have to play PAC-5 next week."

Because Saint Francis and Damien finished tied for first in the ILH standings after the completion of the double-round robin first round, a card draw was conducted after Friday's game to determine who would receive the top seed and a bye in next week's postseason tournament.

Damien won the card draw and will be the No. 1 seed. Saint Francis will take on third-seeded Pac-Five at 6 p.m. Thursday, with the winner going on to face the Monarchs.

Just two weeks ago, the Saints had to rally from a 20-0 deficit to come away with a hard-fought 30-27 win over the Wolf Pack.

This time around — after a scoreless first quarter — it was all Saint Francis.

The Saints took a 7-0 lead with 7:37 left until halftime when Chris Vanisi powered past several PAC-5 defenders on a 23-yard touchdown run to cap a 17-play drive that covered 83 yards and took more than seven minutes off the clock.

The drive started deep in Saint Francis territory when safety Micah Kalei picked off Ryan Johnson's pass in the end zone and returned it 17 yards.

"I just stayed in that one area because I knew the quarterback was going to throw it in that area, so I stayed right there and I just saw the ball coming toward me and I just got that ball," said Kalei, a 6-foot, 180-pound senior.

The Saints picked up five first downs on the scoring drive alone. Three times they converted on third downs — including Vanisi's TD run on 3rd-and-6 — and once on a 4th-and-2, when Destin Pakele picked up three yards behind right guard to move the chains.

"That was one of our best series of the game," Saint Francis coach Kip Akana said. "We were able to convert first downs, not shoot ourselves in the foot with penalties and we want to see more of that."

Ezra Inayoshi-Dudoit hauled in a 16-yard pass from quarterback Bubba Akana 19 seconds before halftime to make it a 12-0 lead. The play was set-up by Kalei's 31-yard punt return along the left sideline four plays prior.

"I just saw a big opening on the left and when I see an opening I just go for it and attack it," Kalei said.

Five plays into the third quarter, Shimabukuro bounced outside on a 39-yard touchdown run to give the Saints a three-score lead.

PAC-5 got on the board with 1:47 left in the third quarter on Johnson's 24-yard TD pass to Grey Ihu, but Saint Francis' Sefa Finau returned the ensuing kickoff 52 yards for a score.

The Saints added three more touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The Wolf Pack managed a 1-yard TD run by AJ Ulufale for their only other score.

Ihu caught seven passes for 116 yards in the loss. Johnson threw for 176 yards on 15-of-31 passing.

PAC-5 was held to minus-16 rushing yards and was just 3 of 11 on third downs. Only one of its 14 first downs were by rush and it allowed three Damien sacks, two by Destin Pakele.

"I feel like our defense trained really hard for this in practice every day and I feel like they came through," said Shimabukuro, who went over 100 rushing yards for the third consecutive game. "Our defense is the best defense in D2."

The Saints had 251 rushing yards after halftime. They averaged 9.7 yards per carry with nine different ball carries, led by Shimabukuro's 15-carry effort.

Akana's team entered the weekend averaging 134 rushing yards per game. It had 145 in the first half alone.

"Offensively, that's our strength, that's our identity," Akana said. "We had to run the ball and mix in a throw or two to keep things off-balance, but a lot of those yards came off some big plays. We're pleased with the performance of the offensive line and the running backs. It's been a work in progress and tonight our offensive showed up, our running backs showed up and luckily we were able to control the game that way."

Penalties were an area of concern for Saint Francis, which was flagged 18 times for 175 yards, including eight personal fouls.

The ninth-ranked Wolf Pack, who were coming off a 50-49 triple-overtime loss to Damien last week, fell to 2-4 overall and 0-4 in ILH games. They have allowed a combined 165 points in their last four games — all losses.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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