PALOS VERDES ESTATES — Quarterback Ryan Rakowski finished with 300 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Palos Verdes to a 47-6 rout of ‘Aiea of Hawaii in a nonleague game Friday.
It was a play on the opening drive that showed the Sea Kings were up to the challenge levied by the Palos Verdes coaching staff after the team was shut out in their opening game.
On fourth-and-2 from midfield, PV coach Guy Gardner called a play the offense had been running since Monday’s practice.
“We came in on Monday wanting to get back to the fundamentals and we got a test right out of the gate,” Gardner said after PV’s Week 0 loss to Serra. “Let’s go run our most basic run play with the most basic fundamentals on fourth and 2. And what a great time to do it.”
Andrew Habif picked up 15 yards on the play, setting the tone for PV’s offense. On the next play, Rakowski and Morley Boyd connected for a 36-yard pickup that set up Habif’s 1-yard touchdown run.
“I saw they were in a cover-four look and the safety was back,” Rakowski said. “Morley and I have a good connection. I knew he’d take it upfield and make a good play.”
All signs pointed to ‘Aiea (2-2) responding. After picking up 22 yards on a fake punt at the 47-yard line, ‘Aiea got inside the PV 5-yard line before Nick Yakubik recovered a fumble at the Sea Kings 2.
Four plays later, Rakowski called his own number, finding a hole before scampering 76 yards upfield for a PV touchdown and a 13-0 advantage with 3:59 to play in the opening quarter.
“I saw their defensive end crash and I saw the opportunity to run,” Rakowski said. “I lowered my shoulder, came out of the pile and took off.”
Gardner has seen firsthand what a weapon Rakowski can be, not only with his arm, but his legs as well.
“When (Rakowski) can get outside, he’s always looking to throw first and that’s a tribute to being a very good QB,” Gardner said. “But on that play, if you can get outside, you can make yourself a threat where you can run.”
PV (1-1), on its way to racking up 420 yards of offense, wasn’t done there. After its defense forced ‘Aiea to punt, Rakowski found a wide-open Jalen Flowers for a 31-yard TD that gave the Sea Kings a 20-0 first-quarter lead.
Flowers finished with 43 receiving yards and was also part of a defensive unit that held ‘Aiea to 76 total yards in the first half while forcing five turnovers. Flowers finished with four tackles.
“We saw on film (‘Aiea’s offense) ran a lot of rifle (formation),” Flowers said. “As (defensive backs), we knew we had to trigger that hard and everyone had to rally to the ball.”
After its defense forced another punt on the ensuing drive, Rakowski capped an 80-yard drive with a 10-yard TD pass to Drew Moulton, extending PV’s lead to 26-0. Moulton added a second-half interception.
Kaviani Carlson pounced on a fumble on ‘Aiea’s fifth play on the ensuing drive, setting up Rakowski’s 50-yard TD pass to Boyd that made it 33-0. Rakowski threw for 180 yards in the first half before finishing with 202. The junior quarterback, who added 100 rushing yards, completed 13 of 14 pass attempts.
But it was a play before Rakowski’s day was over that showed his ability to make things happen when the pocket collapses.
Jace Demoss, who added 1 1/2 quarterback sacks, recovered a fumble on ‘Aiea’s first play of the second half.
Three plays later, Rakowski dished the ball to Habif before being taken down. Habif (41 yards, two TDs) finished the play with a 12-yard scoring run to put PV ahead 40-0.
“(Rakowski) is definitely a quarterback you want to play with. The play isn’t over with him,” Flowers said. “If he’s almost getting sacked, he’ll definitely make a man miss. The receivers have to be aware.”