Low lifts Damien over Pac-Five

For a half, the Pac-Five Wolfpack kept it close, but they couldn’t find a way to stop Samson Low in the second half. 

The 5-foot-9, 148-pound senior rushed for season bests of 177 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries as the Damien Monarchs rallied from a 14-point first-period deficit to a 42-28 victory at Aloha Stadium.

Damien (4-4) will play defending champion ‘Iolani in the ILH Division II second-round final next week. If Damien wins, the two would play again for the league’s berth in the state D-II tournament.

Low scored on runs of 2, 37 and 11 yards. Dallas Labasan passed for 171 yards and two TDs. One went to 6-5 senior wide receiver Kapi’ina King to give Damien the lead for good late in the first half. 

Sophomore Kainoa Ferreira passed for 311 yards (22-for-54) and two touchdowns. His go-to receiver, Tsubasa Brennan, pulled in 12 passes for 208 yards and a touchdown. The 6-1, 170-pound senior finished the year with 88 receptions for 1,160 yards and 11 TDs. 

Damien overcame 12 penalties for 131 yards, including 101 in the first half. They finished with 449 yards of total offense, including 278 yards on 49 rushes. 

Pac-Five (2-6) got within 35-28 on a 1-yard run by Brennan, who lined up at QB in a wildcat formation. But Damien shut down the ‘Pack after that with interceptions by Jarin Manuel and Kana’i Picanco. An 8-yard TD run by Low with 1:10 left sealed the playoff win. 

P5–Grey Ihu 17 pass from Kainoa Ferreira (Riley Asuncion kick)

P5–Tsubasa Brennan 39 pass from Ferreira (Asuncion kick)

DMS–Samson Low 2 run (Elijah Brown kick)

DMS–Low 37 run (Brown kick)

P5–Trevor Yee 10 run (Asuncion kick)

DMS–Kaeo Arakaki 14 pass from Dallas Labanon (kick failed)

DMS–Kapi"ina King 20 pass from Labanon (Labanon run)

DMS–Labanon 1 run (Brown kick)

P5–Brennan 1 run (Asuncion kick)

DMS–Low 8 run (Labanon kick)

RUSHING–P5: Ferreira 5-10, Yee 8-45, Brennan 3-5, Jarrod Infante 1-9. DMS: Brown 7-21, Dutch Clayburgh 10-50, Labanon 11-30, Low 21-177 

PASSING–P5: Ferreira 22-54-2-311. DMS: Labanon 12-17-1-171. 

RECEIVING–P5: Sean Kinel 4-56, Grey Ihu 1-17, Brennan 12-208, Yee 1-0, Jarrod Infante 2-10, Daven Pila 1-15, Travis Kaloa 1-6. DMS: King 6-57, Austin Ballesteros 1-23, Ian Lundberg 1-9, Kana’i Picanco 2-61, Arakaki 2-21.