High school football: 1-2 punch lifts Panthers over Spartans

MURRAY — West took advantage of the elusive running of Misitana Afeaki and Anetipa Vaisagano as the Panthers rolled to a 35-14 victory over host Murray here Friday.

Both running backs rushed for more than 100 yards and two touchdowns apiece as they led their team to victory. Despite the Panthers' success on the ground, head coach Justin Spencer said his team has its work cut out.

"We'll take this win and run," Spencer said. "I'm disappointed in my guys because I don't feel they played with intensity or focus. I'm proud of Murray. They played their hearts out."

Afeaki was West's go-to guy for much of the night. He rushed for 119 yards on 24 carries, with touchdown runs of five and 12 yards. Vaisagano added 180 yards on 11 carries, including a 61-yard touchdown run and a 79-yard sprint that set up his own one-yard score.

"Afeaki played a good game for us," Spencer said.

At the end of an otherwise uneventful first quarter, Vaisagano took off on his 61-yard score to cap a five-play, 80-yard drive with 14 seconds left in the period. Not 10 seconds later, Murray quarterback Dee Hamala fumbled the ball away at the Spartans' 5, and Afeaki scored on the next play as time expired, giving West a 14-0 lead going into the second quarter.

Hamala and the Spartans answered with an impressive drive midway though the second quarter. After taking over at their 30, the Spartans marched 70 yards in 12 plays to pull to within 14-7. The touchdown came on Hamala's 16-yard pass to Julian Moore.

Hamala accounted for the majority of Murray's offense. He completed 18 of 44 passes for 183 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also carried the ball 16 times for nine yards, figures that were skewed by six sacks that accounted for minus 26 yards.

It only took two plays for Vaisagano to march the Panthers' 80 yards for a 21-7 lead. He sprinted 79 yards on the drive's first play and then went up the middle for the touchdown.

Afeaki scored on a 12-yard run two minutes into the fourth quarter for a 28-7 West lead.

Hamala pulled it to 28-14 when he hooked up with Keaton Flitton for a 20-yard touchdown pass with 5:43 to play, but that was as close as it would get. On the next Murray series, Hamala was intercepted by Nico Soliz, who returned the ball 39 yards to the Murray 1.

Quarterback Chance Abrath, who completed three passes on 11 attempts for 37 yards, called his own number for the one-yard run with 1:36 to play.

Spencer said he wants to see his players perform at a higher level, now that they are comfortably jockeying for playoff position.

"Our No. 1 goal is making the playoffs," Spencer said. "We're going to watch the film from this game and we need to get better."

He said he was most disappointed in penalties. Officials called the teams for a combined seven personal foul penalties.

"Stupid penalties. They've been our Achilles' heel all year," Spencer said.