Islanders romp past Coyotes, 70-42

By Kyle Sakamoto
Advertiser Staff Writer

Islanders' defensive specialist Joshua Robinson leveled Central Valley's Kenyatte Morgan after a short gain in the first quarter of last night's arenafootball2 game at Blaisdell Arena. The Islanders won, 70-42. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

The stat sheet showed he didn't do much in the second half, but that was because of the added attention he got from the Coyotes' defense.

Arceneaux tied a franchise record by accounting for 30 points — all in the first half — and the Islanders scored 17 consecutive points to start the second half in a 70-42 arenafootball2 victory over Central Valley at Blaisdell Arena.

"Records are cool, but it's all attributed to the team," he said.

The Islanders (6-4) moved into a first-place tie in the West Division with the Bakersfield Blitz, who lost to the Memphis Xplorers, 59-31, last night. Central Valley (Fresno, Calif.) fell to 1-9.

"We played with a lot of emotion and we needed this win to be honest," said Islanders head coach Cal Lee, whose team snapped a two-game losing streak.

Arceneaux caught four touchdown passes from older brother Darnell Arceneaux, and had a 56-yard kickoff return for a TD 1:13 before halftime to tie the scoring record held by three others. Anthony Arceneaux has five kickoff returns for touchdowns this season — all over the past three games. He also has 17 touchdown catches this season

"Time after time, he's so consistent," Lee said. "He's done that week, after week, after week, whether it's catching the ball or running it back."

Anthony Arceneaux had four kickoff returns for 150 yards in the first half as the Islanders took a 33-27 lead into halftime.

"The coaches have a lot of confidence in me to handle the kicks and it's my obligation to take at least one back a game," Arceneaux said.

He also had five catches for 91 yards in the first half.

"We had great protection this game so Darnell had time to go through his reads," Anthony Arceneaux said. "We've been working a lot, the timing is a little bit better."

In the second half, Anthony Arceneaux had no receptions and one kickoff return for 12 yards.

But Islanders receiver Nian Taylor was able to haul in two touchdown catches after halftime from Darnell Arceneaux, who completed 13 of 22 passes for 225 yards and six touchdowns.

"Our defensive coordinator (Doug Murray), we talked about taking (Anthony Arceneaux) out in the second half," said Fred Biletnikoff Jr., who made his head coaching debut for Central Valley last night. "It was one of those things, if you focus too much on one guy, other guys are going to beat you. Hawai'i has a few weapons across the board."

On the first drive of the second half, the Islanders settled for a 21-yard field goal by Kimo Naehu to go up 36-27.

The Coyotes gambled on their next possession by going for it on fourth-and-one from their 14. Frank Borba, who was making his starting debut for the Coyotes, appeared to hit LaMonte Jones on a quick slant over the middle, but Islanders defensive specialist Desmond Maul stripped him for an incomplete pass. On the next play, Darnell Arceneaux hit Taylor on a 14-yard touchdown pass with 8:22 remaining in the third quarter.

On the next drive, Borba threw behind JaJuan Huddleston over the middle and Islanders defensive specialist Joshua Robinson intercepted the ball and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown to make it 50-27 with 1:19 remaining in the third.

In the fourth quarter, Islanders linebacker Robert Kemfort had an interception and Maul returned one 36 yards for a touchdown to make it 63-34 with 2:33 remaining.

"You turn the ball over two times in a quarter, you take your offense off the field two times and put Mr. (Darnell) Arceneaux on the field two more time, they're going to get the result they need," Biletnikoff said.

The Islanders are 3-0 against Central Valley this season, and their two largest margin of victories have come against the Coyotes. The Islanders won at Central Valley, 68-35, in the first game of the season March 27, and prevailed at the Blaisdell, 45-40, on April 24.

"We played a lot more physical this game then we did our past two losses," Anthony Arceneaux said. "The coaches emphasized that a lot this week and they challenged us in practice to play more physical and attack them a little bit more."

Biletnikoff, the son of the Oakland Raiders Hall of Fame receiver, took over this week after Cree Morris resigned as Coyotes head coach on Tuesday.

The Islanders will host the San Diego Riptide Saturday night.

Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8041.