(Stars and Stripes)

AGANA HEIGHTS, Guam – Noah Harris rushed 8 yards for the game-winning touchdown with 8 seconds left as Guam High edged Far East Division I champion Humphreys 20-14 on a rainy Saturday at Panthers Field in the first meeting between the teams.

“This was a slugfest,” Panthers longtime assistant coach Greg Jacobs said of the contest. Harris’ game-deciding TD was set up on an interception by Braylin Rutland.

The game was scheduled after Guam High was told by the Guam league that it didn’t qualify for the island playoffs because it had forfeited two regular-season games, including an Oct. 4 game against Simon Sanchez that they couldn’t play due to the government shutdown.

Officials from DODEA’s Pacific West district, which includes Guam High, arranged the showdown between the teams, calling it the Inafa’maolek Game, inafa’maolek being a Chamoru word for “to make good.”

“Winning this game is a great way to prove that we can play with the best teams,” Jacobs said, adding that based on Saturday’s outcome, Guam High “absolutely” belonged in the island playoffs. “This win will show that the best teams did not play for the island championship.”

While the Panthers (4-3 overall) beat the Blackhawks (4-4), Guam’s regular-season champion George Washington Geckos shut out Father Duenas Memorial 7-0 at Geckos Field, ending the Friars’ nine-season streak of winning island championships, which dated back to 2014.

“Guam High should have been in the playoffs. The shutdown was not their fault,” said Blackhawks coach Reggie Meno, who hails from Guam.

“Guam High needed this game. I give them kudos for the way they played and the way the coaching staff kept them together” after being shut out of the playoffs, Meno said.

Harris finished with 65 rushing yards and two touchdowns, while Rai Johnson had 115 receiving yards, including a 75-yard touchdown catch from Braden Flinn, for the Panthers.

John Campos ran 15 yards for a first-half touchdown for the Blackhawks and Marek Allen 10 yards for a second-half score. The game was tied when Harris burst over for the game-winning TD.

The Blackhawks were missing a handful of starters injured during Humphreys’ 9-0 win last week at Kubasaki in the D-I final. Others had academic obligations over the last week at school “so we couldn’t have full practices,” Meno said.

“That Humphreys team is no joke,” Jacobs said of the Blackhawks, who led 7-6 at halftime. “If they had a full week here, it might have been a different outcome. Hats off to them. If they played in this league, they would cause teams a lot of problems, including us.”