By Jay Leon Guerrero
The quest for a ninth straight ISA Football Championship started Saturday night at the GW Field for the Father Duenas Friars Football team, kicking off their season with a 37-0 victory over the JFK Islanders.
The ongoing record is now at 73 straight wins.
Different year, same strategy for the Friars. The “Maroon Wall” cleared the path for the FD running backs and the FD defense forced turnovers.
Tristan Burgos anchored the defense for the Friars, leading the team in tackles with six and forced a fumble. The defensive tackle also got into the mix on the offensive side, rushing for a nine yard touchdown in the first quarter.
“It feels good to finally be back on the field again,” said Burgos. “We lost a lot of good guys last year, but I’m confident our guys will do well this year.”
The Islanders had trouble moving the chains in the entire contest, struggling with penalties and blocking. Steven Concepcion accounted for the most rushing yards with eight total.
On defense, Javier Cruz led the team in tackles with six total. Dan Mansapit was also active on defense with five tackles.
Dallas Moore forced a fumble, and Alex Jurong had a fumble recovery for the Islanders.
The Friar offense featured 11 different ball rushers. Head coach Bruce Meno gave the ball to different running backs for the entire contest to get their first game reps in.
Leading all rushers was FD’s Javin Meno, who accounted for 90 yards on nine carries. Jaron Meno, Kaynin McIntosh, Ian Castro, and Isaiha Arriola all rushed for touchdowns for FD on opening night.
The FD defense held the Islanders to negative yardage, scoring a safety, a sack, two forced fumbles, and two interceptions for the game.
Tomu Sawada had the sack/safety in the third quarter. Landon Aguon had the QB sack, Burgos and Christian Manglona recorded the forced fumbles, and Hyan Mesa and Daniel Salas had the interceptions for the Friars.
“It’s feels good to have the win, but we still have room for improvement,” said Javin Meno. “For the rest of this season, we are looking to play the best in our ability and working hard to get better.”
The Friars will look to keep things rolling next week on Saturday versus the Sanchez Sharks. The Sharks were also supposed to play Saturday night but forfeited against the Southern Dolphins. The Islanders will look to get their first victory against the Tiyan Titans on Friday.
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