MANGILAO, Guam — In any of the past five seasons, coach Brandon Miller would be taking his Guam High Panthers into the Interscholastic Football League playoffs riding a two-game losing streak.

But unlike those past five seasons, in which the six league teams faced each other once, Guam High will get a second crack at each, since the IFL is conducting a double round-robin regular-season schedule.

“We’ve seen each other once. Now, we know what we have to do,” Miller said after the Panthers closed the first half of the season on a down note, falling 22-0 to four-time defending champion George Washington.

Kyle Reyes and Mitchell Quinata ran for touchdowns on the Geckos’ first two possessions. Joel Atenta capped GW’s scoring with a 67-yard fumble-return touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

The Panthers’ brightest light was defensive end Ryan Ford. The senior transfer from Rota High in Spain recorded a league season-high 10 tackles, one for a 12-yard loss.

The Panthers (2-3) fell into a third-place tie with John F. Kennedy, which Guam High beat 23-0 in the opener on Sept. 1. The Panthers visit the Islanders on Friday trying to right the ship; they’ve lost two straight after winning two of their first three.

The big thing the Panthers must work on is execution, Miller said. Twice in Saturday’s contest, Guam pushed deep into Geckos’ territory, only to come up empty.

“Most of it is us,” Miller said. “We’re beating ourselves. We didn’t get it done. We just couldn’t get on the board.”

Zama braves rain, chill to host first cross country meet

CAMP ZAMA, Japan – Junior Andrew Quallio remained unbeaten in four meets this season, setting the pace with a time of 17 minutes, 59 seconds in the first invitational cross country meet hosted by Zama American High School for teams in Japan.

Japan’s six Department of Defense Dependents Schools joined six Tokyo-area international schools, with 104 varsity and 139 JV runners braving cold, wet conditions.

Trey Sauls of Yokota (18:41) finished second in the boys race, run on a 3.1-mile road, hill and dirt trail course, starting and finishing at the high school. Nako Nakatsuka of Sacred Heart won the girls race in 22:11.

In the team standings, American School In Japan won the girls race with 38 points, while Christian Academy In Japan (58) won the boys race.

“The course was a bit slower and tougher,” Zama coach and meet organizer Mitchell Moellendick said. “All in all, it was a good meet. We had a lot of people out despite the weather. The kids said they liked running a different course” than the 2.9-mile boys and 2.1-mile girls trail at Tama Hills Recreation Center.

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