Scott McLeod hauled in two touchdown passes, including a game-clincher with 3:09 remaining, to lift St. Francis over Pac-Five 35-21 on Friday night at Aloha Stadium.
The regular-season-opening win gave the Saints a step up in the ILH Division II race. It took some clutch passing by Bubba Akana, who found the 6-foot-2, 220-pound McLeod sparingly through the contest. McLeod was clutch, though, in the red zone.
St. Francis made big adjustments at the half, with the score tied at 21. Tyler Fukuroda, who was 9-for-11 for 168 yards and two TDs by the break, was limited to 4-for-22 passing with 33 yards and three picks in the final 24 minutes.
The first half featured back-to-back kickoff returns for touchdowns — 94 yards by Pac-Five’s Kaikea Gonsales, followed by a 60-yarder by Wembley Mailei that gave the Saints a 14-7 lead. The Wolfpack drove 65 and 76 yards for touchdowns as the teams were tied 21-all at halftime.
The Saints were opportunistic, capitalizing to score touchdowns following two Wolfpack turnovers.
During Pac-Five’s opening series, Makana Poole sacked Fukuroda and Kaleo Neves recovered the ball at the Pac-Five 6. On fourth and goal, Akana spiraled a 3-yard TD pass to McLeod for a 6-0 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff, Gonsales returned the ball 94 yards for a TD, giving the ’Pack a 7-6 lead.
The next kickoff was returned by Mailei 60 yards for a TD as the Saints led 14-7.
Pac-Five drove 65 yards in seven plays, scoring on a 23-yard back-shoulder, sideline pass from Fukuroda to A.J. Ulufale, tying the game at 14 with 5:01 left in the first quarter.
The Saints’ second big break came in the second quarter when Gonsales muffed a bouncing punt and Dayton Leong recovered. Two plays later, Akana found Sammy Kaleikau for a 12-yard TD pass, and the Saints led 21-14.
Pac-Five answered with a 76-yard march. It started with a 13-yard loss on a bad shotgun snap, but Fukuroda connected with Jett Uechi for an 81-yard gain. That set up a 12-yard TD pass from Fukuroda to Uechi, tying the game at 21 with 5:50 to go in the first half.
From there, it was St. Francis’ defense in control. The Saints went ahead on a 33-yard scoring strike from Akana to Lachmann Atoa with 5:46 left in the third. Moments later, Dayton Leong tripped Fukuroda in the end zone for a safety, increasing the lead to 29-21. St. Francis put the game on ice with a 5-yard TD pass from Akana to McLeod.
Click here to see more photos of the game between Saint Francis and Pac-Five.
