Receiver Akila Arecchi caught two touchdowns, including the game-winner with two minutes, 11 seconds left in the game, and passed for another on a gadget play to help the Monarchs topple the Saints. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Fri, Sep 15, 2017 @ Farrington [ 6:00 pm ]

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Damien

27

Saint Francis

20

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Damien (10-4-0)	0	0	13	14	27
Saint Francis (8-4-0)	0	12	8	0	20

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Kaimanuwai Akana 159 yd 1 TD

Marcus Faufata-Pedrina 129 yd 3 TD

Jonan Aina-Chaves 122 yd

Marcus Faufata-Pedrina 57 yd

Scott McLeod 39 yd 1 TD

Lindon Sevilleja 53 yd 2 TD

KALIHI — After a listless first half, Damien scored three unanswered second-half touchdowns to rally by Saint Francis, 27-20, Friday night at Skippa Diaz Stadium at Henry Kusunoki Field.

"Our boys played with so much heart," Damien coach Eddie Klaneski said. "I'm so proud of these guys. Amazing, amazing how those guys fought through and came back. Unbelieable. Credit to those players who showed a lot of tough heart and greatness. Unbelievable."

Receiver Akila Arecchi caught two touchdowns, including the game-winner with two minutes, 11 seconds left in the game, and passed for another on a gadget play to help the Monarchs win a thriller in the Hawaiian Electric Game of the Week.

"It's just amazing," Arecchi said. "Our boys just came together. Nobody turned on each other. We went into the locker room hyping each other up. It's just a great feeling."

The Monarchs, No. 5 in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Division II Power Rankings, moved into sole possession of first place in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II race at 3-0 (5-1 overall), a game ahead of the Saints (4-2, 2-1), who are ranked No. 3.

"There's a lot of things we have to work on, but this sure feels phenonmenal," said quarterback Marcus Faufata-Pedrina, who passed for 129 yards and three TDs.

With the game tied at 20, quarterback Marcus Faufata-Pedrina scrambled out of pressure and fired a high pass to Arecchi, who was at the 3. The 5-foot-6 Arecchi leaped to catch the pass, spun around toward to end zone to snap the 20-all game. Shiloh Kaeo, a defensive lineman, booted the PAT.

The Saints took the ensuing kickoff and started at their 38 with 2:05 left. They made two first downs to reach the Damien 34. But four incomplete passes later, including a spike to stop the clock on first down, the Saints lost the ball on downs with 16 seconds left. Faufata-Pedrina took a knee to run out the clock.

Damien, which trailed 12-0 at the half, received the second-half kickoff and fielded a squib kick at its own 48. Five plays later, Faufata-Pedrina tossed a lateral pass to Arecchi on the right side, where he hit a wide open Lindon Sevilleja for a 23-yard TD with 9:25 in the third quarter to pull the Monarchs to 12-7.

"We've been practicing that a couple weeks and we felt that it was there," Kleneski said of the play. "It was something that sparked our offense. We didn't really do anything all game. Kila made a great throw and (Sevilleja) made a great catch."

Saint Francis responded quickly, needing just two plays to cover 63 yards on Bubba Akana's 32-yard TD pass to Scott McLeod with 9:05 in the third. Akana hit Sammy Kaleikau on a pass for the 2-point conversion to make it 20-7.

But Damien bounced back later in the quarter when Faufata-Pedrina's 11-yard TD pass to Arecchi. Kaeo missed the PAT to keep it 20-13.

Damien nearly gave Saint Francis momentum after the Saints recovered a muffed punt at the Damien 18. But two penalties set the Saints back to the 25. A 43-yard field goal by Lachmann Atoa missed, as the Monarchs breathed a sigh of relief.

Damien made Saint Francis pay for not capitalizing on the turnover. The Monarchs marched down 80 yards - aided by a personal foul against the Saints - before Faufata-Pedrina connected with Sevilleja for a 16-yard scoring pass. Kaeo's PAT tied the game at 20 with 7:04 left in the game.

Damien's defense stiffened despite Saint Francis taking over after the ensuing kickoff at the Saints' 41. The drive died at the Damien 42, where the Saints punted to the Damien 17 with 5:40 left in the game.

Faufata-Pedrina used his legs to rush for 39 yards on four carries in the seven-play, 83-yard drive that ended with his TD pass to Arecchi to complete the comeback.

The first half was another story.

Damien had seven series in the first half, punting five times and losing the ball on downs twice. It managed just one first down.

Both teams struggled early with their offenses, but Saint Francis broke the ice late in the first quarter, taking advantage of runs of 34 and 23 yards by RB Bubba Aina-Chaves to set up Matt Dacuycuy's 6-yard TD run with 1:51 left in the first half. Akana tried to run the 2-point conversion but was stopped to keep it 6-0.

Damien possesed the ball just 38 seconds on its next possession and punted to the Saints, who started at their 28. Six plays later, Akana hit Kaleikau on a 17-yard TD pass with 31 seconds left. Again, a run on a the 2-point conversion failed, but Saint Francis took a 12-0 lead into the half.

"We just continued to work," Klaneski said. "We went into the halftime and we just said that we have to put it together on offense. We saw some things that we could do, but we weren't executing in the first half."

Although all of Damien's scores resulted from pass plays, it was its running game that kept drives alive. Take out Faufata-Pedrina's five sacks (for minus-32 yards), he rushed for 89 yards. Running backs Keoua Kauhi and Logan Lauti combined for 74 yards (28 and 46, respectively).

"We grinded on them," Klaneski said. "We started to get a little bit of running game. As you could see toward the fourth quarter, we kind of wore them down. I think they were a little more tired than we were."

The two teams meet again Oct. 7.