High school football: Olympus squeezes past Panthers

Olympus took advantage of 13 West penalties that cost the Panthers 98 yards and survived an attempt at last-minute heroics as the Titans snuck away with a 7-6 non-region win at home on Friday.

"It's a win," Titans head coach Mike Smith said with a shrug. "Our kids played hard and their kids played hard. That's a good team and I think there were penalties on the part of both teams that cost us both opportunities."

Oly quarterback Spencer Harris accounted for the bulk of the Titans' 247 offensive yards. Harris tossed nine completions on 18 attempts for 110 yards and he carried the ball 22 times for 78 yards.

Harris gave his team a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter when he hit Nick Johnson from 17 yards out. His pass, which came with 20 seconds left in the quarter, capped a 10-play, 64-yard scoring drive for Oly.

The Titans survived several attempts at a Panthers comeback, but they blew a few chances to put the game away as well.

Midway through the second quarter, West took over at the Olympus 31. Four plays and 24 yards later, The Panthers found themselves looking at a first-and-goal from the 10. Misitana Afeaki, who finished with 148 yards on 23 carries, pushed his way to the 5, then to the 4, and finally down to the 2 on consecutive plays.

West elected to go for it on fourth down and Afeaki was stuffed at the line of scrimmage, giving Oly the ball at its own 2.

Oly missed a key chance to extend its lead in the third when Harris led the Titans on an impressive drive. Starting at his own 28, Harris led Olympus all the way to the Panthers 8. He then hit Spencer Lindsley for a three-yard pickup, but Lindsley fumbled the ball away and West recovered.

West caught a break when Oly muffed a punt and Eric Takenaka recovered at the Titans 26. The play came with just over three minutes to play.

West drove down the field and found itself looking at fourth-and-goal from the 2 with 44 seconds to play. Quarterback Chance Abrath rolled to his left and found Tevita Fangupo in the end zone to pull to within a point with 38 seconds to play.

Electing to go for the win instead of overtime, West sent Abrath out on the two-point try. Abrath this time rolled right, threw to the middle of the end zone, and watched as his pass was batted down by the celebrating Olympus defensive backfield.

"Our kids made the play," Smith said. "We just told them to make a play. High school football is a game of momentum. That momentum can go back and forth and they definitely ha it. We defended that last play very well."