Father Duenas Memorial School win 2024 combined interscholastic league

[December 22, 2024 – Harmon, Guam] The Father Duenas Memorial School Friars defeated the John F. Kennedy High School Islanders 2-1 to claim the first combined Interscholastic Boys High School Football League crown since 2019.

Story below written by Matt Weiss for Guam Daily Post:

Ever since the Guam Department of Education chose to remove itself from the Independent Interscholastic Athletic Association of Guam and manage its own sports consortium, it had been several years since soccer teams from the island’s public schools and private schools competed in the same league.

But during Saturday afternoon’s Interscholastic Boys High School Football League championship game, a league coordinated by Guam Football Association, teams from the two school systems united in incredibly entertaining and equally competitive soccer games at GFA’s National Training Center in Harmon.

In the championship game, the Father Duenas Memorial School Friars defeated the John F. Kennedy High School Islanders 2-1.

“JFK brought us a really good game. All the coaches prepared us for this,” said FD’s David Del Carmen. “Thank you, guys, for combining schools.”

In the third-place game, the St. John’s School Knights beat the Southern High School Dolphins 3-2. In the bronze medal match, the Knights’ Justin Li’s hat trick lifted St. John’s to a podium finish.

In one of the most competitive championship soccer games ever played on Guam, the powerhouse Friars edged the determined Islanders by a single goal.

Early in the first half and with the game knotted in a scoreless tie, Father Duenas’ Hyunwoo “Sunny” Kim drilled a perfectly placed corner kick to Del Carmen who one-timed it out of the air past JFK’s goalkeeper Renz Reburiano.

“All props to Sunny. We’ve been working on that all season,” Del Carmen said. “Big thanks to him.”

Later in the first half, as regular time expired but two minutes of added time remained, the Islanders’ CJ Sablan lofted a pass to Tariq Butler in front of Father Duenas’ goal. Butler, on a heads-up play, headed the ball straight down onto the artificial turf and toward the goal. Gabe Cruz, who was in the right position and at the right time, tapped the ball past FD’s goalkeeper Zach Calvo.

After returning from the halftime intermission, the Islanders began dominating play. And as Del Carmen suffered an injury and was carried off the field by Friars head coach Keith Dickson and a teammate, opportunity and momentum favored the Islanders.

A short time after Del Carmen’s departure, Sablan drilled a 30-yard strike that Calvo ripped out of the air. Soon after Sablan’s on-goal shot, Sablan, from about 40 yards out, blasted a shot that carried just over Calvo’s goal.

Then, after a corner kick from JFK, momentum swung back in the Friars’ favor.

On a play where FD’s Kian Rivera assumed possession, the Friar passed to Kim who raced from the right, past a defender, and drilled the low, hard shot that proved to be the game-winner.

“I show you what is me. And I am just happy,” Kim said.

Later in the half, Sablan nailed a free kick barely over Calvo and the crossbar. Then, after several missed attempts from Father Duenas, where a shot from 30 yards out by Mason Manibusan tattooed the crossbar and another bounced off the goalkeeper and stayed out of the net, the Islanders went on the offensive.

From about 35 yards out from Calvo’s goal, JFK’s Logan Wood rifled a shot mere inches above the crossbar.

With both teams’ scoring attempts thwarted, where inches separated JFK from tying the game or the Friars from increasing their lead to two goals, Del Carmen returned to the field. There was no way he was not going to be on the field when the final whistle sounded.

“I couldn’t sit out my last game. I wanted to give it all I’ve got,” Del Carmen said.