American Football: Philippine Punishers learn plenty in loss to Guam All-Stars
The Philippine Punishers were the ones punished for their defensive errors as they stumbled to the visiting Guam All-Stars last Saturday at the ASCOM field in Taguig.
Guam quarterback Will Williams threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more as Guam prevailed 44-0 in the exhibition match.
“We made so many mistakes” bemoaned Punishers head coach Tim Beasley. “We missed so many tackles, and one guy killed us. Hats off to Williams; what an outstanding Football player.”
Williams rendered the crowd slack-jawed with his Michael Vick-esque scrambling and pinpoint passing. Several plays in particular stood out.
On a fourth and one with the game still scoreless early in the first quarter, Guam coach Angel Calugay decided to go for the first down instead of punting.
Williams kept the ball off the snap, outfoxed several defenders, broke free, and scampered in 44 yards for the opening score. The two point conversion was no good.
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Then just before the half, leading 20-0 and with the end zone a good thirty yards distant, Williams' center snapped the ball high over his head. The 21-year old somehow recovered the ball, and from fully twenty yards behind the line of scrimmage, evaded a phalanx of Punishers defenders, found some daylight, and ran all the way inside the Punisher ten yard line where he was finally brought down.
On the next play he found wideout Chris Camacho in the corner of the end zone to make it 26-0. Another two point conversion made it 28-0 at the half.
At the beginning of the second half Williams was again victimized by a high snap, but once again the Punishers overcommitted, and the Guam QB produced a carbon-copy of his previous effort, only this time he went all the way. Williams jinked and juked from well behind the line of scrimmage for another six points with a breathtaking forty-yard run.
A 45 -yard TD pass to Camacho as time expired was the final act of Williams' virtuoso performance.
Williams also played safety on defense and was Guam's placekicker and punter. Guam only traveled with a roster of seventeen players.
But in spite of the defeat, several Punishers shone.
Defensive lineman JP Suarez sacked Williams twice, and Dino Teves was also was credited with one QB sack.
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Wide receiver Khalil Tan produced a 35 yard gain with a catch and run off a pass from Punisher QB Mike Hoese in the first half, the Punisher's longest play from scrimmage.
Hoese found Jai Merchant with an 18-yard completion also in the first half that gave the Pinoys a crucial first down with the game still in the balance.
Merchant played running back, kick returner, and safety on defense.
The Punisher defense also stuffed the Guam All-Stars with a valiant goal line stand at the end of the first quarter; denying the Guam running back a touchdown on a fourth down play and forcing the visitors to turn the ball over on downs just yards from the end zone.
Trailing just 12-0 at that point, the game was still on, before more Williams heroics put the contest out of reach.
Williams was born in Georgia but raised in Guam. He is set to play Football in a community college in San Diego in the coming school year.
“We kept biting on their head bobs instead of looking at the hips” explained Beasley on why the Philippine defense gave up so many easy yards with iffy tackling.
Beasley said that the Guamanians were much more experienced, since the players were the All-Stars of Guam's Budweiser League. Although it was a tough loss, he claimed it was an eye-opener for the younger players.
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“We need more than one practice a week to work on our fundamentals” said the coach, who, with a headset, also served as the game announcer for the match, calling out the names of the players who made tackles and scores on the public address system.
After the game the Guamanians and the Filipinos gathered together in the middle of the field to shake hands and say a group prayer. Afterwards the Guam All-stars faced the crowd and said in unison “Thank you Philippines.”
This is only the second loss for the Punishers in five games. Their first defeat was also to Guam. They are slated to play the Hong Kong Cobras in August, a team from Shanghai in September, and Saipan in October.
Although several players are overseas-born Pinoys and even foreigners like American Steve Smith and Aussie Dave Mouatt, the overwhelming majority of the players are born and raised in the Philippines and played in the recently-concluded four-team developmental league of the American Football Federation of the Philippines, which Beasley founded.
Follow Bob on Twitter @bhobg333.
