AGANA HEIGHTS, Guam – After starting out slowly in the first half, Guam High’s “big three” of Solomon White, Avery Fernandez and Juan King Jr. powered the Panthers to victory in the island’s third-place game for the third time in four years.

Fernandez forced a fumble that King converted into one of his three touchdowns, “opening the floodgates,” coach Jacob Dowdell said, to a 26-0 victory over John F. Kennedy on Friday at Panthers Field.

“We came out flat in the first half, but then, we really stepped up,” Dowdell said, adding that Fernandez’s fumble-forcing hit “changed the flow of the game.”

King went on to add two scoring runs, finishing with 186 yards on 15 carries in his final game as a Panther. White was 12-for-20 for 175 yards and added 95 yards on 12 attempts.

Fernandez paced the defense with 17 tackles and rushed seven times for 35 yards. Joe Sili and Makoa Bamba each had six tackles and Dowdell’s son, Jaylyn, had two sacks.

It’s become a regular thing for the Panthers to win what Dowdell has taken to calling the island’s “D-II title,” having taken the third place game last year and in 2013 and 2012. Guam holds one league title, won in 2010.

“I’m very excited for us to finish well,” Dowdell said. “I’m very pleased with the way we played and fought all year long.”

The island season concludes with Saturday’s Bamboo Bowl, pitting defending champion Father Duenas at second-place George Washington; kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Gecko Field.

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