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The epic four-part conclusion to the St. Francis and Damien rivalry in 2017 goes down in five days with everything on the line.
St. Francis senior Scott McLeod caught the game-tying 48-yard touchdown pass with 1:10 remaining and a wild sequence of two penalties and a blocked extra point that didn’t count ended with backup kicker Lachmann Atoa booting the final point from 26 yards out to give the Saints a 15-14 win over the Monarchs for the ILH second-round championship on Saturday at Aloha Stadium.
St. Francis (8-3) and two-time defending champion Damien (8-3) will play for the fourth time on Friday evening at Aloha Stadium for the overall league title and berth in the Division I state tournament.
The Saints have won the past two meetings after Damien rallied from 13 down in the second half to win by a touchdown in the first game.
“We preach to the boys that we play four quarters and when the final whistle blows you check the score,” St. Francis coach Kip Akana said. “(Damien) is a championship team and today they played like champions. If we expect to dethrone them we need to cut down on penalties, don’t turn the ball over and continue to play four quarters.”
The Saints scored on their opening drive on a 32-yard touchdown pass from Bubba Akana to Shepherd Kekahuna but were held scoreless for the next 41 minutes of game time.
With the ball on their own 14 with 2:43 to go and no timeouts, the Saints needed six plays to go the length of the field.
After two completions put the ball on the Damien 48, Akana found McLeod in one-on-one coverage and threw a perfect deep ball that the 6-foot-2 receiver hauled in for the touchdown.
“I was just thinking, ‘throw it to my best receiver’ and he’ll probably catch it and score,” said Bubba Akana, who threw for 161 yards. “(McLeod) means a lot. You can just throw it up and he’ll catch anything. That’s why we trust him the most. That’s why we went to him.”
A penalty after the touchdown pushed the extra point back to the 18-yard line. The Saints brought out Makana Poole to attempt the kick, but it was blocked by Matthew Faufata-Pedrina, who earlier blocked a field goal that was returned 76 yards for a touchdown.
Faufata-Pedrina was called for roughing the kicker despite getting the block.
“I didn’t see the tip, but he came in full head and shoulders into the kicker’s legs,” head official Cal Evans said. “Normally it’s arms extended. That’s a danger to the kicker and he was down.”
Poole was hurt on the play and St. Francis had to go to its backup kicker, Atoa, who calmly nailed the extra point to give the Saints the lead.
“I was trusting myself,” Atoa said. “I was a little bit nervous, but I did it for our team because it was our game. That one was to make us win and I was just strong enough to do it.”
Damien got the ball back one final time, starting a drive on its own 42 with 1:02 to play.
Quarterback Marcus Faufata-Pedrina, who gave the Monarchs their first lead on a 5-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, hit Akila Arecchi near the sideline for a 21-yard gain.
With 13 seconds remaining, Faufata-Pedrina eluded multiple sack attempts and nearly scrambled away, but was taken down. Damien had a timeout left and got it called with one second left, allowing for one final play.
Faufata-Pedrina lofted a pass to the back corner of the end zone, but it was batted away by Kekahuna to end it.
Damien coach Eddie Klaneski declined comment after the game.
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