Posted on: Sunday, August 1, 2004

Islanders' season ends with 58-38 loss

Advertiser Staff

The Hawaiian Islanders ended their arenafootball2 season last night with no playoff berth and their largest margin of defeat of the season.

The Islanders were eliminated from the postseason earlier in the day and then were blasted by the Bakersfield Blitz, 58-38, before 7,078 at Centennial Garden.

The Islanders (8-8) lost six of their final nine games to miss the six-team National Conference playoffs by one game.

Last night's 20-point loss eclipsed the Islanders' mark for margin of defeat, set on April 30 at Bossier City, La., when they lost 61-42.

This season was a disappointment for the Islanders, who finished 11-7 in 2003 and won the West Division championship.

"Once you set the bar high and win the (West) championship, anything less than winning it is going to be disappointing," Islanders head coach Cal Lee said. "The guys knew last year winning the championship wasn't enough; we needed to go even further."

The Blitz (11-5) last night secured the No. 2 seed in the playoffs and a first-round bye. They clinched the West Division title last week after the Islanders lost to the Central Valley Coyotes.

The turning point last night occurred early in the second quarter when Islanders fullback Vai Notoa couldn't score on fourth-and-goal from the 1.

"That was very big. Any time you get inside the 5 and don't score you give the defensive unit a big lift," Lee said. "We should have scored."

The Blitz struck quickly when Chad Elliott hit Eric Mahanke on a 35-yard pass to put Bakersfield up 21-13.

Ed Romo's ensuing kickoff hit the iron of the end-zone rebound net and Mahanke caught the carom at the Islanders' 7. All kickoffs, missed field goals and passes off the nets are live balls. Receiver Steve Wofford then scored on a 7-yard run to put Bakersfield up 28-13.

"The kickoff is one of those things in this game," Lee said. "If you give your opponents opportunities to score you're fighting an uphill battle."

Islanders fullback Chauncey Ako lost a fumble inside the Blitz 5 early in the second half, which led to a 19-yard pass from Elliott to Wofford and a 44-20 Bakersfield lead.

Anthony Arceneaux and Gabe Amey, the Islanders' second- and third-leading receivers, missed the game with injuries. Former starting quarterback Darnell Arceneaux had to line up at the offensive specialist position.

"Anytime you lose two guys like that it hurts your offensive output," Lee said. "Nonetheless you have to play when guys can't play. You need guys to fill in."

Elliott completed 14 of 19 passes for 222 yards and five touchdowns. The Islanders' Shawn Withy-Allen was 18 of 28 for 206 yards and threw three TD passes to Nian Taylor.