AGANA HEIGHTS, Guam – With all the injuries his team has suffered over the course of the week and during Friday’s game, Jacob Dowdell must have felt like part-coach and part-chess master, the way he was adjusting his lineups.

The Guam High coach spent much of Friday’s 21-7 loss to league-leading George Washington shifting players to different positions, some of which they’d never played. Three different players lined up at quarterback, for instance.

But the Panthers (0-5) managed to stay even with the Geckos (4-0) deep into the third quarter before George Washington pulled away to tighten its grip on first place in the Interscholastic Football League.

“We were playing mix and match all night … (which) showed so much resilience in this team,” Dowdell said. “They have really learned how to play. To go up against a team 20 seniors heavy, the way we played, I was very pleased.”

Lewis Harris scored the Panthers’ only touchdown, on an 85-yard pass from Kaimana Bamba, who was 2-for-5 for 108 yards. Tripp Chaurette took most of the reps under center, going 7-for-11 for 57 yards.

On defense, senior Dante Baines, starting at linebacker for the first time, had 10 tackles, as did sophomore defensive end Donovan Johnson. “They really showed it out tonight,” Dowdell said.

Next for the Panthers is their regular-season finale Saturday at Southern. “I think we’ll go in there and get our first win,” Dowdell said.

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