By: Anthony Don T. Marca
The Philippine Punishers dominated the game against Hong Kong
Cobras, 32-12, in their exhibition match held at Happy Valley Sports Ground,
Hong Kong last August 25.
The country’s American Football team got a total of five
touchdowns and one conversion as they punished the Cobras, disregarding the
latter’s home court advantage.
Leading the charge of the Punishers was University of Santo
Tomas’ Mel Calletor, scoring a touchdown off an interception.
“He [Calletor] had a couple of key
receptions that kept a few of the offensive drives alive, and recovered
fumbles,”
said Punisher coach Tim Beasley.
Their five touchdowns were composed of two runs by Quarterback
Nico Faller and Running Back William Yeh, two interceptions by Calletor and
Stanley Ha, and a complete pass to another Thomasian stand-out, Terence Marca.
Bad luck caught up, still another Thomasian, Josh Castro as he was
hit in the middle of the second quarter resulting to a knee injury.
“A big shout out to the Punishers for winning the game against
the Hong Kong Cobras,” said Beasley on a post in his Facebook account. “It
was a tough, draining game both mentally and physically for the Punishers.”
Only 12 members were able to make the trip; coach Beasley,
Calletor, Marca, Castro, Faller, Yeh, Jai Merchant, Steven Smith, JM Manlangit,
Christian San Juan, Evan Baylon and Paul Harris.
Although experienced man-down, the Philippine-based team did not
endure disadvantage, making every possession count.
Alex Mallari, a Filipino migrant in Hong Kong and plays for the
Cobras, switched uniforms to aid the roster-scarred Punishers along with Ha.
Both teams have already met in the field before, having almost the
same result with the Punishers prevailing. Prior to this out-of-country match,
they have defeated the Beijing Guardians, 14-0, held also at the home of the
opponent.
These exhibition games serve as preparation for the still-in-talks
Asia-Pacific League with the Philippine team committing already along with
Guam.
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