Typhoon surge past Barbarians, 12-6

The Tinian Typhoon stormed across the channel to hand the Barbarians an opening day defeat to kick off the 2005 season of the Commonwealth Football League on Saturday at the CPA Airport Field on the strength of its defense and timely plays from the offense.

Less than stellar stats filled the post-game tally sheets as the two teams combined to tally 16 yards of penalties in excess of their offensive output in the first week, but offense was not the key for either team on Saturday as the Typhoon emerged with the win despite racking up a mere 37 yards of total offense.

Juanis King did just enough to earn the victory as the Typhoon quarterback finished the day 1-for-14 through the air for 24 yards and spent most of the day scrambling for his life in the backfield to the tune of 14 rushes for a negative gain.

Four of Tinian’s ball carriers accounted for zero or negative gains for a total of 13 yards, but Steve Mendiola experienced some measure of success with 23 yards on nine attempts.

Running was not much of a problem for the Barbarians as they racked up 83 yards on the ground led by Syl Teregeyo’s 38 yards on five attempts and Eugene Sablan’s 30 yards on seven rushes.

Though Plasido Tagabuel used his legs to fight for freedom behind his line, he managed to complete 6-for-17 attempts for 80 yards in the opener.

After starting out with a pleasant first half, the gods of football turned the gridiron into a swamp by giving the Typhoon a dose of their namesake, and the weather seemingly helped the Tinian defense as the Keith Nabors-led squad tightened up to allow just 40 yards in the second half.

The weather was a welcome omen for Typhoon head coach Andre Winston as it came when they had a six-point lead in hand.

“It was good for us because we scored on our aerial and as the rain came down we worked on our running game—which needs work,” he said

After a scoreless first half, the Barbarians started the third quarter by holding the Typhoon and with Teregeyo ripping of a 28-yard punt return almost to the midfield stripe, but they squandered the field position on the next play as Blake Manibusan picked off “Plas Pass” and took the ball 60 yards to the end zone for the first score of the game. Jack Aldan’s extra point attempt failed and the Tinian squad held a 6-0 lead.

The teams traded possessions and the Typhoon ended their forward progress by retreating with a slew of penalties that led to the Barbarians gaining the edge in field position. The Black and Gold capitalized with Tagabuel’s biggest strike of the day when he connected with Alison Kaipat for a 40-yard touchdown pass that knotted the game at six apiece.

Another penalty-ridden drive forced the Typhoon to punt once again in the fourth quarter, but Tinian regained possession when Manibusan picked off his third pass of the day and returned it to the 24-yard line.

One play later King completed his only pass of the day when he hit wide receiver Ringo Reyes in the end zone for what turned out to be the game’s final score.

The Barbarians battled back and threatened late in the fourth, but the Tinian defense tightened the screws as Phillip Long blew up Eugene Sablan with what CFL chairman Clyde Lemons called a slobber knocker.

“I saw the plan forming. It was kind of easy because the quarterback was leaking plays by making looks. I knew it was coming my way, blasted the fullback out of the way, and did my duty—knocked him on his behind,” said Long.

The hit separated Sablan from his helmet and sent a message that the Typhoon was for real. The rain began to intensify and on the very next play Long intercepted Tagabuel’s pass.

The Barbarians had one last chance to tie the score when they got the ball back with less than three minutes remaining, and they almost did when Teregeyo took the ball 82 yards down the field for a touchdown, but the celebration was short lived when the officials brought the ball back with an illegal block in the back call.

The win came as a relief for veterans such as Nabors who have invested time and effort to bring respectability to the team that has struggled in the past. The spiritual leader said that he was happy with the way that his team rallied together to pull of the win.

“It was a whole team effort—offense, defense, special teams. It was good out here—our first game getting on the field. It was a good game all around,” he said.

Nabors said that the win will give the Typhoon some momentum as they game plan for the Shell Lightning next Saturday, and said that they will be playing with a brand new perspective when they take the field.

“Oh definitely, the Typhoon never started the season undefeated. We got that!”

Manibusan echoed Nabors’ thoughts and said that the team will have its share of practice this week in advance of this weekend’s match-up with the Shell Lightning, but the unofficial player of the game was still enjoying the moment with his mates after picking up the win.

“I felt great with my team—one heart, baby,” he said.

Winston said that he wasn’t all that concerned with the way that the team got the “W” but just happy that they have a win under their belt already.

“I’m just happy for our team and the effort they displayed. It’s been a long hard battle as far as sponsorship, practices, and fundraising. For everybody coming together and produce this win it means a lot, and means that all the hard work paid off this summer,” he said.

Winston said that the offense will have some work to do if they plan to be a contender in the league, but that he knows they will be able to count on their team defense to carry them through until they catch up.

“As always defense is our bread and butter right now. Special teams and offense is something that we try to key on in practice as much as possible because we want all three phases of the game covered…to compliment our complete football team,” he said.

On tap for the Tinian squad is a day of rest before they return to the field to ready for the Shell Lightning next week, and the players know that they have plenty of running to do before the morning kickoff.

“The main thing is that we are going to review our mistakes, the good things we did this week, try to look at the different teams to see the different offensive and defensive formations and set up a game plan together to compliment any team we play,” said Winston.

The game plan might be bolstered with a little intimidation next week as Long said that the Typhoon might be able to get the respect they have sought since their winless days in the first three CFL seasons.

“It feels good. I think we’re going to command some respect in the league with our team this year especially with our defense. We’re going to put some work on our offense in the practices this week and we should be ready for next Saturday,” he said.