Lee, Islanders open with 48-37 victory

By Kyle Sakamoto
Advertiser Staff Writer

New team, new league, same old result for Cal Lee.

Cal Lee made his debut as the Hawaiian Islanders head coach last night at Blaisdell Arena. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

Darnell Arceneaux completed 9 of 21 passes for 180 yards and four touchdowns, and the Islanders overcame a slow start to beat the expansion Green Bay Blizzard, 48-37. The season opener for both teams was watched by a paid attendance of 2,247.

"The players practice hard and everybody worked real hard and they weren't going to let this game get away from them," said Lee, who compiled a 241-32-5 record during a 21-year career at Saint Louis School. "It's a real credit to the entire team how they hung in there."

Green Bay took an 18-9 lead four minutes into the second quarter before the Islanders got going. The Islanders scored a safety when defensive lineman Morrie Roe sacked backup quarterback Ramon Robinson in the back of the end zone and tied the score at 18 when Arceneaux connected with Nian Taylor on a 45-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the Islanders' ensuing possession with 6:27 left before halftime.

"It took us a little while to figure out what they were doing and make some adjustments," Islanders defensive coordinator Doug Semones said. "A couple of the guys out there weren't used to the speed of the game. We had a couple of guys who hadn't played before so they had to kind of figure it out."

After a 20-yard field goal by the Blizzards' Matt Swartz, the Islanders took their first lead at 25-21 on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Arceneaux to Taylor with 3 seconds remaining before halftime.

The Islanders' largest lead was 42-30 on a 4-yard run by Josh "Zeus" White with just under five minutes remaining in the game.

"We're an expansion team and that's not an excuse," Green Bay coach Jose Jefferson said. "I thought we played against them very well and did the things we needed to do to be successful. We had a lot of mental errors and against a team like Hawai'i you can't do that."

Green Bay responded with a 43-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Aulenbacher to Nick Johnson with 28 seconds remaining to cut its deficit to 42-37. Swartz's on-side kick went out of bounds and the Islanders iced the game with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Arceneaux to Taylor with 3.7 seconds remaining.

"We wanted to get Cal Lee his first win, we didn't want to give him a first loss," Taylor said. "He's been winning all his life so we're happy to get a victory."

Green Bay scored touchdowns on its first three possessions and led by nine points early in the second quarter following a 3-yard run by Terry Foster. Aulenbacher completed all seven of his passes in the first quarter for 88 yards and two touchdowns, but was yanked in favor of Robinson on the Blizzards' first possession of the second quarter.

The Blizzard soon lost the momentum and their lead.

"We have to get a feel for the tone of our team," Jefferson said. "Right now the first thing I could have done is what I did — to play Ramon Robinson and Ryan Aulenbacher to see who responds. We have Ryan Aulenbacher that's 10 for 12 in the first half, and Ramon who's 4 of 9. That kind of tells you something."

Taylor caught four passes for 94 yards and three touchdowns and Islanders teammate Darrell Jones made five catches for 86 yards and a touchdown.

Arceneaux, who played three seasons under Lee at Saint Louis in the mid-1990s, wasn't extremely accurate, but he averaged 20 yards per completion.

"Basically, he gave me all the opportunities I have now," said Arceneaux, who played at the University of Utah. "I want to show some appreciation for everything he's done for me. I want him to start off on the right foot and I'll do everything in my ability to make this work."

The Islanders will play at the Quad City (Iowa) Steamwheelers next week.

• • •