Ngeskebei rallies Chiefs over Barbarians

Powered by a determined offense and an unrelenting defense, the Shell Chiefs managed to score 14 unanswered second half points to topple the mighty Miller Barbarians, as the Commonwealth Football League kicked off its fourth season with a bang at the CPA Airport field.

After a slow start, Chiefs’ quarterback Clasley Ngeskebei rallied the Chiefs from an 8-point deficit to victory by scoring two touchdowns on the ground. Ngeskebei went 8-for-22 for 141 yards through the air with a pair of picks, and accounted for 49 yards on the ground as well.

“Being on a good team with a lot of boys that show up for practice. This team right here, we’re just more focused on winning, and I just put it together because I’m the quarterback and they want me to put it together. I’ll tell you what man, I don’t even know what to say. It’s my first win on Saipan, so I’m taking it to the house for sure,” he said.

Ngeskebei’s favorite target of the day was wide receiver Bryant Moors. Moors brought in three receptions for 62 yards, including a 38-yard catch and run. Luka Tapuaialupe also had a catch for 32 yards, while Jeff Boyer reeled in three for 24 yards. Boyer also churned out 10 hard yards on the ground for the Chiefs, while teammate Charleston Aiken ran for nine.

“It feels great. I mean the guys worked really hard. For a while there we weren’t really clicking, but once we settled down, found the offense, and found the running game, it worked for us. We knew it would,” said Boyer.

The Chiefs would certainly like to forget the first half, and in particular, they would like to pretend that the first quarter never even happened. After losing four fumbles, surrendering a touchdown, and allowing a two-point conversion, the Chiefs found themselves in a difficult situation. In the second quarter, they were able to steady the ship by clamping down on the Barbarians with their defensive.

Shell’s defense allowed Miller quarterback Plasido Tagabuel two completions in 13 attempts for just 14 yards in the air. Tagabuel scrambled 11 times for two yards, but the three-headed running attack of Roy Kaipat, Chong Won, and John Wabol combined for 53 yards.

Dominic Reyes was a key part of the defense for the Chiefs, as he had four tackles, had an interception and pair of sacks for the squad. Teammate Chico Reyes blocked a punt and had a solo sack, while Juan Kapileo and Bruce Berline each had a half of a sack. Jered Lutu and Joe Ocampo each picked off a Tagabuel pass attempt, and Fasefulu Tigilau recovered a fumble.

In the second half, the Chiefs’ defense was winning most of the battles in the trenches, and their offense looked to their quarterback to make something happen. Ngeskebei dove across the goal line on a third quarter scramble to get the Chiefs on the board, but they still trailed the black and gold when they failed to convert the two-point attempt.

The Chiefs turned to their quarterback for some points again in the fourth quarter, as Ngeskebei ran into the end zone untouched to give his team the 12-8 lead. Aiken put the icing on the cake when he converted the two-point attempt to make the score 14-8.

“I just had to do what I had to do. That’s what coach said, ‘If the pass ain’t there, then do what you do’ like a Michael Vick kind of thing. You know, we were a little slow in the beginning, but as time went on we put it together. We talked to each other, and we pumped each other up. We were like ‘We’ve gotta do this man. We’re down—this is the third quarter,’ so we got it together and we came out on top,” said Ngeskebei.

The running game was about even for both teams, with the Chiefs rushing for 51 yards and the Barbarians 46, but the white-clad warriors out-passed the black and gold, 141-16. The ugly stat of the game was that the teams combined for 31 penalties for 240 yards.

“Obviously both teams are very rusty. There are a lot of penalties out there and it looks like they really have a long way to go before they can get their teams looking good,” said CFL chairman of the board John Blanco.

The heart pounding action of the CFL continues next Saturday, Sept. 25, when the visiting Miller Barbarians return to the CPA Airport field to take on the Verizon Nitro at 10am.