For Guam High football coach Tom Hildreth, the game Sept. 17 at Ramsey Field in Upper Tumon still resonates clearly.
On a gooey, rain-soaked surface, the Panthers held Simon Sanchez scoreless in the first half before Guam High “shot itself in the foot,” Hildreth said of several mistakes by his young charges. The Sharks capitalized for two late touchdowns and won 14-0.
Hildreth said he hopes the Panthers can make the most of their second chance as the Interscholastic Football League playoffs get underway Saturday.
“We did a good job defensively,” he said. “We just made some mistakes that led to their scores."
But Hildreth and his assistant coaches also got a “good look” at the Sharks, he said.
“We know what their tendencies are on defense so we know what we can do on offense,” he said. “We would like to think this time around will be better than the first time.”
No. 5 seed Guam High (1-4) will battle No. 4 Simon Sanchez (2-3); the winner takes on two-time defending league champion George Washington (5-0) in the Oct. 15 semifinals at a site to be determined.
Southern (0-5), the only team Guam High beat this season, 2-0 on Sept. 24, faces John F. Kennedy (3-2) in the other quarterfinal. The winner meets league runner-up Father Duenas Memorial (4-1) in the other semifinal.
To earn a semifinal spot, Hildreth said, he and his coaches have a game plan: Attack the Sharks between tackles, with Ashton Adams going up the gut and quarterback Cameron Yecki firing short tosses over the middle.
“The defensive short middle is open for them,” he said. “They like to load it up on the ends. If we can go inside the tackles and throw over the middle, we’re looking at doing some of that.”
One change Hildreth plans is to veer from the platoon system that ensured some players didn’t have to play both offense and defense.
“We didn’t always have the best athletes at every position,” he said, adding that by now, “most every athlete is in good shape.”
Hildreth has experimented over the season with a few offensive looks, settling recently on the triple option. Executing it is something else; Hildreth said a key to beating the Sharks will be giving Adams some running room.
“If he can get free and start roaming into the secondary, look out,” Hildreth said of Adams, whose 43-yard run led to Guam High’s lone touchdown in Saturday’s 34-8 loss to JFK. “He’s an animal. You get him open, he’s tough to bring down.”
That Guam High gained a season-high 193 yards a week ago “shows how well we’ve come along,” Hildreth said.
Still, five turnovers led to a pair of Islanders touchdowns and proved Guam High’s undoing.
“That will kill you,” Hildreth said. “If we can … cut down on our mistakes, I’d like to think” the Panthers could win.
Beating the Sharks — only the second playoff victory in school history — would be a “huge step, not only for our players but also for our skeptics. We have a good team. Our kids, they need to get it together and show they can do this.”
Far East standings and schedules
Japan Football League
W L Pct. PF PA
Yokota 3 0 1.000 157 7
Nile C. Kinnick 2 1 .667 21 64
Robert D. Edgren 1 2 .333 20 76
Zama American 0 3 .000 12 63
Friday, Oct. 7
Robert D. Edgren at Nile C. Kinnick, 7 p.m.
Yokota at Zama American, 7 p.m.
Guam Interscholastic Football League
W L Pct. PF PA
George Washington 5 0 1.000 159 17
Father Duenas 4 1 .800 98 49
John F. Kennedy 3 2 .600 89 37
Simon Sanchez 2 3 .400 46 100
Guam High 1 4 .200 22 112
Southern 0 5 .000 19 116
Postseason
Saturday, Oct. 8
Quarterfinals
Guam High vs. Simon Sanchez, time/site TBD.
Southern vs. J.F. Kennedy, time/site TBD.
DODDS-Korea League
W L Pct. PF PA
Seoul American 1 0 1.000 29 12
Osan American 1 1 .500 39 53
Taegu American 0 1 .000 23 27
Saturday, Oct. 8
Taegu American at Seoul American, 2 p.m.
Okinawa Activities Council
W L Pct. PF PA
Kadena 0 0 .000 0 0
Kubasaki 0 0 .000 0 0
Friday, Oct. 14
Kadena at Kubasaki, 7 p.m.
Dave Ornauer's Top 10, Week 6 outlook and Week 5 honors
The Top 10
The Top 10 teams in the Stars and Stripes’ 2005 Far East high school football ratings, with records through Oct. 1, points and week’s rating, as compiled by Dave Ornauer of Stars and Stripes sports. Ratings are based primarily on teams’s win-loss records, quality of wins, strength of overall roster, point differential, team and individual statistics, strength of schedule and strength of leagues. Maximum rating is 500 points:
Record Pts Pvs
1. Yokota (Japan) 3-0 452 1
2. George Washington (Guam) 5-0 448 2
3. Father Duenas (Guam) 4-1 424 3
4. Seoul American 1-0 420 4
(tie) American School In Japan 4-0 420 5
6. Kadena (Okinawa) 0-0 412 6
7. Kubasaki (Okinawa) 0-0 396 7
8. John F. Kennedy (Guam) 3-2 380 8
9. Simon Sanchez (Guam) 2-3 352 --
10. Osan American (S. Korea) 1-1 336 --
**Dropped out — Nile C. Kinnick, Taegu American.
Week 6 outlook
Friday
Japan
Nile C. Kinnick 10, Robert D. Edgren 7
Yokota 22, Zama American 8
Saturday
South Korea
Seoul American 20, Taegu American 10
Simon Sanchez 17, Guam High 11
John F. Kennedy 18, Southern 6
Last week: 5-1, .833; Season: 21-6, .778.
Week 5 grid honors
Yokota-Doug Bloom 7-for-8, 180 yards, 2 TDs; Anthony McNeill 52 yards, 5 carries; 92-yard kick-return TD.
Kinnick-Lorenzo Abernathy 88 yards, 12 carries; Jeff Galang 7-for-15, 57 yards; 1-yard TD run.
Osan American-Will Rapoza 209 yards, 2 TDs, 17 carries; Carlos Albaladejo 55-yard game-winning halfback option TD pass.
Taegu American-Kory Grammer 112 yards total offense, 40 yards, 5 carries, 72 yards, 6 catches; Daniel Pressley 9-for-18, 125 yards; Ryan Clack 8 tackles.
Guam High-Ashton Adams 65 yards, 43-yard TD run, 12 carries; Josh Carpenter 8 tackles. Tom Strahan 7 tackles.
