Eagles top Typhoon, 22-13

TINIAN—Using a steady stream of short runs to the left and right of their mammoth offensive line, the Express Electronics Eagles defeated the Tinian Typhoon, 22-13, in the first ever regular season match of the Commonwealth Football League under the lights at Tinian Municipal Field Saturday night.

Soni Pomee nearly reached the century mark for the Eagles as the bruising back racked up 94 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, while Semisi Paongo carried the lion’s share of the load with 76 hard yards on 17 carries.

After a fruitless first half, the Eagles found a play that worked for them and they stuck with it the rest of the way as their virtually unstoppable running game totaled 270 yards on 54 attempts.

Pomee averaged 6.7 yards on the ground every time he took the ball, and Paongo was good for 4.5 when he ran behind the tackles, while CFL leading rusher Stan Iakopo finished the day with 71 yards on 12 attempts for an average of 5.9 yards per carry.

Quarterback Dane Lizama methodically directed his team down the field on the ground as he only went to the air 12 times for 25 yards on two completions. As powerful as the Eagles were on paper, they were unable to generate any points in the first half. They looked to have an easy night on the carpet-like field when Luka Tapua’ialupe took the ball 72 yards for a touchdown on their first offensive play, but they were dismayed when it came back on a pair of fouls.

The same problems plagued the Typhoon offense, but their defense answered the call.

Typhoon head coach Andre Winston opted to go with someone knew under center as Anthony “Ton” Borja was commissioned to captain the ship, but they fumbled away their first play of the game to give the Eagle prime real-estate on their 34 yard line.

Their defense held, and two drives later gave the Typhoon the advantage as cornerback Blake Manibusan intercepted Lizama’s pass and ran it back 80 yards into the end zone before getting mobbed by his teammates. On the next play, P.J. Borja became the first player in 2005 to successfully kick an extra point to give Tinian a 7-0 led midway through the second quarter.

After holding the Eagles on two drives and picking up an interception, middle linebacker Keith Nabors reeled in Lizama’s third INT of the game and took it 30 yards for a touchdown, but a flag away from the play erased the points and kept the Eagles’ drive alive in the closing moments of the first half.

The Eagles made the most of the 15-minute break as Lizama directed a 64-yard drive down field for a score on 13 consecutive running plays that was capped by Semisi Paongo’s 1-yard touchdown. Paongo broke the plane on the subsequent two-point conversion to give the Eagle an 8-7 lead midway through the third.

While the Eagles did their damage on the ground, the Typhoon did their damage through the air as Borja overcame penalties and inconsistent play to answer with a 66-yard touchdown drive that was highlighted by a 54-yard strike to Ringo Reyes for the go-ahead score in front of the hometown fans.

The Tinian faithful had more reason to believe their club would emerge victorious when big man Joseph Pangelinan recovered a Pomee fumble with three seconds remaining in the third, but a high snap over Borja’s head on the next play gave the Eagles the ball on the Typhoon three yard line.

After Paongo got the Eagles close, Lizama plunged across the goal line on a quarterback keeper for a 14-13 lead. Paongo’s conversion attempt failed and the typhoon set out to erase the one-point deficit.

Tinian gave the ball back on downs after four incomplete passes, and Lizama went back to work on the ground to lead the Eagles on a 61-yard drive that culminated with Pomee’s 37 touchdown scamper that extended their lead to seven points. Charleston Aiken made it a two-possession game for the Typhoon when he caught Lizama’s pass in the end zone for the two-point conversion to give the Green Machine a 22-13 advantage.

The Typhoon threatened on their next drive as Steve Mendiola electrified the crowd with a 35-yard run, but Borja was incomplete on all four of his final pass attempt to give the Eagles the ball with only seconds remaining.