On third-and-goal from the 2 with a little more than five minutes remaining, San Diego quarterback Kane Claunch threw a pass intended for Jesus Reyes, who was running an out pattern to the right side.

The overthrown ball bounced off the side of the end zone rebound net and fell into the hands of wide receiver Dwight Carter, who was uncovered while Reyes and two Islanders defensive backs went into the end zone wall. The score gave the Riptide a 61-53 lead.

All passes, kickoffs and missed field goals off the end zone rebound nets are live.

"We both went that way, it was a good read, but the (8-yard) end zones are so short it just bounces off and I was just sitting there," said Carter, a former University of Hawai'i standout. "If no one else is going to catch it, why not me?"

The play began promisingly, but ended in disappointment for Islanders head coach Cal Lee.

"When (Claunch) threw it, from my angle, it was going out of bounds," Lee said. "I was relieved when the ball was in the air because I knew (Reyes) couldn't get it, and lo and behold I didn't know it was going to hit the iron. Lucky for them somebody was there in the right place at the right time."

San Diego defensive back Nakoa McElrath intercepted a pass from the Islanders' Darnell Arceneaux on the ensuing possession, and Riptide kicker Rich Ehmke booted a 30-yard field goal to put San Diego up 64-53 with 37 seconds remaining.

But the game was far from over.

Arceneaux completed a 33-yard touchdown pass to Nian Taylor with 12.4 seconds remaining, but the two-point conversion pass failed to make the score 64-59.

Taylor recovered Kimo Naehu's on-side kick at the Islanders' 17 with 11 seconds remaining.

Islanders' Aaron Smith lunges for extra yards against three Riptide defenders in the second quarter.

"You're real proud of the way they played right to the very end," Lee said of his team. "It shows a lot of character. Not too many teams show that kind of character."

The Islanders (6-5) fell a game behind the Bakersfield Blitz for first place in the West Division of arenafootball2. The Blitz beat the Central Valley (Fresno, Calif.) Coyotes, 33-26, last night.

San Diego (5-5) has won four straight games.

The last time San Diego and the Islanders met three weeks ago at the Blaisdell they set an af2 combined scoring record in a 91-77 San Diego victory.

Last night, Claunch completed 18 of 26 passes for 274 yards and six touchdowns. Four of his scoring passes went to Carter, who was a Warrior from 1998-'99.

Carter caught eight passes for 144 yards and scored touchdowns the first three times he caught the ball. But the final touchdown was the most remarkable.

When told teams don't usually get lucky bounces in visiting arenas, Carter said: "This ain't my visiting arena. I'm from out here, this is my home."

The Islanders committed two turnovers in the second half and failed to retrieve a San Diego kickoff off the end zone rebound net, which was recovered by the Riptide's Ryan Smith.

"The kids played hard, played well when they had to make plays and that's the difference," San Diego head coach Darrel "Mouse" Davis said. "You don't have to make a whole bunch of them, but you need to make some when you need them."

The Islanders' Anthony Arceneaux failed to score on a kickoff return for the first time in four games. He returned five for touchdowns over the last three games, including three against San Diego on May 28.

"You can't get them all," said Anthony Arceneaux, who finished with three returns for 52 yards. "Every play you want to make something happen and take it to the house. I tried."

Darnell Arceneaux completed 21 of 36 passes and set Islanders' franchise records with 341 passing yards and seven touchdown passes.