By Jay Leon Guerrero
Tristen Treltas Martinez scored two touchdowns to lead the Packers to a 24-0 victory over the Raiders in the Triple J GNYFF Matua Division at the Eagles Field in Mangilao Saturday afternoon.
The Packers found their rhythm in the second quarter, scoring all their points in the decisive quarter to improve to 3-2 in their division, their third straight win.
Jodi Castro got things started on the first play of the second quarter, scoring on a 47-yard run. After a 4-and-out series by the Raiders, Martinez pushed the score to 14-0 on a 42-yard rush.
On the last play before halftime, Packer quarterback Jayson Parr looked to go for a deep pass, but the Raider linebackers blitzed. Parr executed a Patrick Mahomes-esk style shuffle-pass to Martinez, who broke a few tackles and sprinted to the end zone for a 54-yard score.
“They were supposed to throw it. I saw my quarterback got caught up, so I yelled for the ball,” said Martinez. Parr pitched the ball 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage, avoiding three Raider defenders and Martinez broke free for the score on the broken play.
Martinez, who is also celebrating his 14th birthday, will remember his special day with over 100 yards in total offense and two touchdowns.
Packer kicker Jude Kelly made all three of his two-point conversion kicks to help build a 24-0 lead at halftime.
The Raiders made adjustments and moved the chains to start the third quarter with three first downs. Noah Pocaigue, Kai Cruz, and Lance Dalmal Jr. all ran separately for first downs to get into the red zone for the Raiders.
The Packer defense was stingy, and a couple of tackle-for-losses forced a change of possession on fourth down.
A last attempt at a Raider score was shut down by a sack by the Packers’ Joseph Mesa to end the game.
The Packers will have a big test next week against the undefeated Eagles on Saturday.
“They are a really good team, but we are going to practice hard this week,” said Martinez.
“Right now, we are at a good place. We just have to continue to push through,” said Castro. “Next week, our defense has to lock it down, and we we have to gain more yards (on offense) to put up points.”
Castro rushed for 62 total yards, Martinez had 100 yards of total offense.
For the Raiders, Pocaigue had 32 rushing yards, Cruz added 24 yards.
In the Manha division, the Packers defeated the Raiders 14-6. The Metgot Packers also got the victory, defeating the Raiders 12-0. The Raiders will look to bounce back next week versus the Cowboys.
OTHER GAMES
In the other Saturday matchup, the Southern Cowboys easily handled the Barrigada Crusaders in all three divisions: 41-0, 40-6, 27-7.
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