Prep Game Of The Week – 10/15/14

FOOTBALL
DAMIEN vs. PAC-FIVE
OCT. 18, 2014 @ 4:45 P.M. @ ALOHA STADIUM

Chris Hart

CHRIS: It’s high school football, so anything can happen now that we are in the playoffs. On paper, Pac-Five and Damien look kind of even. When you look at the regular-season blowout losses the Wolfpack have suffered in the ILH, you have to throw out the Division I opponents. And can I say something here?

Honestly, if the ILH is so concerned about safety for their student-athletes, should they even be playing these DI vs. DII games? But that’s a whole other subject we can discuss later. Pac-Five is young, with about 24 sophomores on the team. But head coach Kip Botelho has some talent to work with. His QB, Kainoa Ferreira, is a two-time Enterprise Rent-A-Car Player of the Week finalist who has had a couple of outstanding games this year. I see Pac-Five pulling out a close one and moving on — 31-28, Wolfpack!

Gary Dickman

GARY: The first round of the ILH DII playoffs is a rematch of the last game of the regular season. Neither Damien nor Pac-Five have outstanding win-loss records, but that’s a bit deceiving. It’s simply tough for these schools to compete against the bigger DI schools. But the Monarchs have shown improvement this season, winning two of their first three games against

DII opponents. Their defense has been the key, giving up only 12 points a game in their DII victories. To beat Pac-Five, they’ll need to maintain that effort and slow down a great QB in Kainoa Ferreira. On offense, Damien QB Dallas Labanon has thrown 10 TD passes, five of them to WR Kapiinaokala King, who averages 17 yards a catch. Damien relies on two RBs to get the job done, Kepono Kawaakoa and Samson Low. I have faith in head coach Eddie Klaneski, and I see the Monarchs winning a very tight game, 24-21.

Tune into the Sports Animals
Chris Hart and Gary Dickman
Weekdays, 3-7 p.m.