KAPALAMA — Brenan Furtado ran for 124 yards and a touchdown to help Damien escape a tightly contested Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II game against Word of Life, 20-7, last night at Kamehameha's Kunuiakea Stadium.

The Monarchs improved to 5-1, 2-1 in the ILH. Word of Life fell to 2-4, 0-3 in league play.

Most of Furtado's yards came on a 92-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter that closed the scoring.

"It was a hard-fought game," said Damien coach Wally Aina. "We were lucky to come out of this one alive. (WOLA) came to play and it was a battle all the way."

All of the Monarchs scores came on rushes. Quarterback Stanton Pilialoha carried on a keeper around the left end for a 37-yard touchdown that made it 7-0 with 4:34 left in the first quarter. The play capped a nine-play drive that covered 77 yards.

The Firebrands answered with a 16-play drive that covered 66 yards, only to fumble at the Monarchs' 1-yard line on fourth-and-goal.

"That long drive — they dragged us 99 yards and we just picked it up at the 1-yard line, when it counted," said Aina.

After Pilialoha got the Monarchs some working room with a 3-yard quarterback sneak, he tossed a lateral to Josh Asuncion, who made at least four WOLA players miss on his way to a 96-yard touchdown run. However, the extra point was no good and Damien led 13-0 at the half.

WOLA scored its first points since Sept. 5 when fullback Kala'i Bustos broke through with a 2-yard touchdown run on another fourth-and-goal. Jana Tanouye's PAT made it 13-7 after three quarters.

The Firebrands manufactured another long drive — this one for 15 plays and 58 yards — but again, came up short on fourth-and-goal from the Damien 9.

On the Monarchs' ensuing drive, Furtado took a handoff from Pilialoha on second-and-18, cut back to the right, turned the corner and raced 92 yards to pay dirt.

Furtado was held to 32 yards on 15 carries before the touchdown. He ran for 200 yards and five scores against Pac-Five last week.

"He had such a great game against Pac-Five and those 200 yards were hard-earned yards, so we knew we had to contain him. But, you know, they have other weapons, too, and that hurt us," said WOLA coach Joe Onosai.

"We saw that if we run a counter with Brenan that the linebacker was dropping off on it and Brenan, if you get him some space, he's real dangerous and that's exactly what happened on that counter," said Aina. "Once he gets out there, he's a helluva of a runner. But, no doubt, he's not flying under the radar anymore."

DAMIEN (5-1, 2-1) 7 6 0 7 — 20

WORD OF LIFE (2-4, 0-3) 0 0 7 0 — 7

Dam — Stanton Pilialoha 37 run (Makana Ka'anoi kick).

Dam — Josh Asuncion 96 run (kick failed).

WOLA — Kala'i Bustos 2 run (Jana Tanouye kick).

Dam — Brenan Furtado 92 run (Ka'anoi kick).

RUSHING — Damien: Furtado 16-124, Kawika Anders 1-8, Pilialoha 6-32, Asuncion 1-96, team 2-(minus 4). WOLA: Branson Silva 3-6, Ryan Alvarado 9-35, Max Mower 17-65, Bustos 8-18, Jacob DeKneef 8-28, Gabe Miller 10-42, Justin Poe 1-(minus 2).

PASSING — Damien: Pilialoha 8-14-0—46, Anthony Tuitele 0-3-0—0. WOLA: DeKneef 0-3-0—0.

RECEIVING — Damien: Ka'anoi 3-19, Furtado 2-14, Asuncion 1-3, Ikaika Mokiao 1-4, Anders 1-6.