AHS leads in Island Bowl wins over Encinal
The Island Bowl, Alameda’s annual gridiron battle between the Alameda High School Hornets (7-2) and the Encinal High School Jets (4-5) was established in 1955. This year marked the 69th meeting between the two rivals, with the series record tied at 33-33-2, and was held at Alameda High School’s Thompson field on Friday, November 8.
In front of a bountiful crowd of energetic Alamedans, the Alameda High Hornets overpowered the Encinal Jets 42-7. Encinal’s Jets had held the Island Bowl title from 2018-2022, but the Hornets victory made it back-to-back titles, and pushed the series record to 34-33-2, breaking the tie.
“An overall accomplishment, they battled hard and prepared all week…when things are tough you keep progressing, their record shows that it’s really an accomplishment for the group,” said AHS Hornets assistant coach, Brian Mulder.
“I’m just so proud of the team, they’ve been working so hard this season…and they really put it together this week,” the Hornets head coach, Robin Morris, echoed. he noted how impactful this victory was for the East End of Alameda, and how they had been targeting this matchup all season long.
Alameda High entered the bowl game with a four-game-win streak, while Encinal had secured back-to-back wins leading up to the big game. That gave both teams momentum going in hoping to close-out the regular season with a victory over their island-city rival.
The first quarter and start of the second quarter were a defensive battle, as neither team gave any leeway. Encinal led the defensive assault with three sacks in the first quarter, one courtesy of defensive end Marco Garcia. Although the Jets displayed an intense pass rush, their offense was stalled by Alameda High’s defense forcing punts and turnovers on downs. The back-and-forth defensive affair led to a scoreless first quarter.
However, with 3:30 left in the half, the Jets were flagged and forced to punt from deep in their own territory, giving the Hornets excellent field position. Set up in the red zone, a swing pass from Hornets quarterback Casey Koga-Dean to wide receiver Kirk Humbles III scored the first touchdown of the game. Alameda High’s defense fought off Encinal’s offense for the remainder of the second quarter and the Hornets went into halftime up 7-0.
But the second half placed the stakes. The third quarter started like the second, until the closing minutes when a throw by Jets quarterback Geezy-Kyle Reyes was picked off by Hornets defensive back Kirk Humbles III in Jets territory. AHS capitalized on the turnover and crossed the endzone with a run from running back Christian DeGuzman, putting the Hornets up 14-0 going into the final quarter of action.
The jam-packed fourth quarter started with a sequence of interceptions thrown between the rivals. A total of three consecutive picks were tossed, starting by Hornet linebacker Connor Stack, followed by Jets defensive back Deji Salaam, and ending with Hornet defensive end Trevor Kapowich. AHS took advantage of this turnover battle and increased their lead 21-0 with a rushing touchdown from running back Landyn Cole.
Encinal’s next possession was a punt that was returned for a touchdown by Hornets returner Jayden Sullivan. With the score now AHS up 28-0 over Encinal, the Jets needed to create some kind of momentum. On the Hornets kickoff, Jets returner Alexander Marston ran the football 60 yards to the endzone. Marston’s return gave the Jets their first points of the game and, with the extra point, cut the score 28-7.
As quickly as the kickoff return brought energy to Encinal’s efforts, the momentum dissipated. On the next play, AHS took Encinal’s kickoff inside the red zone. The Hornets rushed for another touchdown giving Cole his second of the game, and increased their lead to 35-7 over Encinal.
After the Jets made their fourth interception of the game—the second caught by Humbles III—AHS was forced to punt. However, Encinal botched the punt return, the Hornets recovered the football and made their way up to the Jets one-yard-line. AHS pushed the lead to 42-7 with a rushing touchdown from offensive guard Haydn Arndt and shortly thereafter, claimed the victory.
“These kids worked hard all year,” said Hornets assistant coach Devin Nash. “They deserve this win, they earned this win. Kudos to the kids,”
Despite a slow start offensively for the Hornets, they were able to get it buzzing and get the win. “We just had to slow it down, keep our composure, not get tied up in the moment, and do what we did all year long—play together,” said Hornets head coach Morris.
It was a different story for the Jets who started off well defensively, and unfortunately couldn’t shift into gear offensively. “Our offensive line struggled against their defensive linemen and there are things we can correct on defense,” said Encinal’s head coach, Derrick Lyons.
The Encinal High School Jets finished the regular season 4-6 in third place of the Shoreline League (3-2) and seventh place in North Coast Section Division 5 conference. The Alameda High School Hornets finished the season 8-2 as Shoreline League Champions (5-0) and third place in North Coast Section Division 2 conference.
Contributing writer Gabriel Caraballo covers local sports for the Alameda Post. Contact him via [email protected]. His writing is collected https://alamedapost.com/Gabriel-Caraballo.
