The Word is out.

But when Pac-Five finally figured out the razzle-dazzle offense of the inaugural Interscholastic League of Honolulu varsity game for Word of Life Academy, reality set in. The Wolfpack, behind the record-setting passing of junior PJ Minaya, rallied from a 28-14 first-quarter deficit to turn back the Firebrands, 48-28, last night at Aloha Stadium.

Minaya smashed two records and came shy of another. He was 36 of 50 for a record 513 yards. His seven touchdown throws were one shy of Saint Louis' Timmy Chang's record. He beat the previous ILH high of 432 yards set by Pac-Five's Neil Rose and the OIA high of 481 by Andrew Kamanao. Also, his 36 completions beat Rose' 31.

"We always knew he was a player," Pac-Five coach Kip Botelho said. "I'm proud of our guys. Offensively, we moved the ball."

Minaya had TD passes of 65 and 4 yards to Darin Kamealoha, 37, 32 and 70 yards to London Amorin, 24 to Jordan Doi and 27 to John Hanson.

And the Wolfpack (2-2 overall, 1-0 ILH) appreciated every one of those scores as they held off the upstart Firebrands, who had a number of players going two ways. Pac-Five used the pass — 51 of them in all — to wear down WOLA by stretching the field. That eventually caught up to the Firebrands.

"We just ran out of gas," WOLA coach Joe Onosai said.

But the first quarter was another story.

It took just 59 seconds before WOLA gave up its first score of the regular season, when Minaya hit Kamealoha on a 65-yard pass on the second play from scrimmage.

But the Firebrands, with their double-wing alignment and misdirection plays, scored four touchdowns on their first 11 plays from scrimmage in the first quarter in taking a 28-14 lead. Quarterback Jacob DeKneef scored his school's first ILH TD on a 45-yard run. After Pac-Five regained the lead on a 37-yard TD pass from Minaya to Amorin, WOLA took an onside kick at the Wolfpack 49, setting up Max Mower's 45-yard TD run.

The Firebrands returned the favor with an onside kick of their own, recovering it at the Pac-Five 40, where Ryan Alvarado scored on a 40-yard run on first down on a double-handoff play to make it 21-14.

A failed punt that resulted in a 12-yard loss on a pass play set up the Firebrands at the Wolfpack 29. Three plays and two penalties against Pac-Five later led to Mower's 3-yard TD run to make it 28-14 after Jane Tanouye's PAT.

"They're tough up front." Botelho said of WOLA. "Our guys were having trouble with the counter treys. Defensively, the coaches made some adjustments, figured that out."

From then, the Wolfpack returned with five unanswered TDs. Two before the half tied the game at 28. Three in the second half sealed the game.

Mower became his program's first to rush for the century mark with 111 yards on 17 carries. Just a season ago, he played for Pac-Five.

"It was rough," Mower said. "They're a good team, but it was fun. A lot of friends out there."

The Firebrands entered the game having attempted just four passes in their three nonleague games. When they started falling further behind, they had no choice but to air it out toward the end. Quarterback DeKneef was 3 of 6 for 26 yards.

The Firebrands also had seven sacks, three by Gabe Miller and two by Ben Siania.

WORD OF LIFE (2-2, 0-1) 28 0 0 0 — 28

PAC-FIVE (2-2, 1-0) 14 14 13 7 — 48

Pac—Darin Kamealoha 65 pass from PJ Minaya (Brendan Sagucio kick)

WOL—Jacob DeKneef 45 run (Jana Tanouye kick)

Pac—London Amorin 37 pass from Minaya (Sagucio kick)

WOL—Max Mower 49 run (Tanouye kick)

WOL—Ryan Alvarado 40 run (Tanouye kick)

WOL—Mower 3 run (Tanouye kick)

Pac—Kamealoha 4 pass from Minaya (kick failed)

Pac—Amorin 32 pass from Minaya (Amorin pass from Minaya)

Pac—Jordan Doi 24 pass from Minaya (Sagucio kick)

Pac—Amorin 70 pass from Minaya (pass failed)

Pac—John Hanson 27 pass from Minaya (Sagucio kick)

RUSHING—Word of Life: DeKneef 7-33, Ryan Alvarado 8-57, Max Mower 17-111, Josh Ramos 5-4, Vega McKenzie 3-13, Kalai Bustos 4-19, Branson Silva 2-4.

Pac-Five: Minaya 9-(minus 55), Kamealoha 2-12, Armando Cayabyab 1-0, Chalson Bailton 2-(minus 1)

PASSING—Word of Life: DeKneef 3-6-0—26, Alvarado 0-1-1—0.

Pac-Five: Minaya 36-50-1—513. Kamehaloha 1-1-0—(minus 12).

RECEIVING—Word of Life: Cody Bailey-Young 1-8, Mower 1-17, Alvarado 1-1.

Pac-Five: Amorin 11-194, Kamehaloha 11-123, Doi 6-92, Dylan Gomez 4-50, Hanson 2-40, Cayabyab 1-11, Bailton 1-2. Kaimi Kahehailua 1-(minus 12).

'IOLANI 27, DAMIEN 21

'Iolani can at least be assured of some security at quarterback.

Junior Jarrett Arakawa completed 19 of 29 passes for 300 yards and three touchdowns to help the Raiders outlast the Monarchs last night in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II season opener at Aloha Stadium.

With Arakawa behind center, the Raiders (3-1 overall, 1-0 ILH) were able to use the athletic Kela Marciel, last year's starting quarterback, at receiver. But mostly, Arakawa's performance gives 'Iolani depth at QB.

"It still gives us options and that's what we're looking at," 'Iolani coach Wendell Look said of having both available to play quarterback.

Look was pleased with Arakawa's outing.

"He was pretty sharp, made pretty good decisions all around," Look said. "For the first time in an ILH game for a long time, I thought that was an impressive start right there."

Arakawa threw TD passes of 4 yards to Keenan Hoohulu, 77 yards to Brandon Ball and 39 yards to Trevyn Tulonghari.

But his best play came while the Raiders were trying to milk the clock. On fourth-and-3 at the Damien 21 with 52 seconds left, Arakawa's hard count drew the Monarchs to an encroachment that gave 'Iolani a first down, ending any hope of a Damien rally. Arakawa took a knee on the next two plays to drain the clock.

"We do that all the time in practice," Damien coach Wally Aina said of preparing for hard counts. "But the kids played their hearts out. Who knows what 15, 16, 17 year olds are going to do?"

The Raiders took a 21-0 lead after linebacker Carl Gibson returned an interception 24 yards for a TD with 1:21 left in the half.

An interception by Damien's Andrew Morgan set up the Monarch's first TD, a 6-yard run by Brenan Furtado with Makana Ka'anoi's PAT pulling Damien to 21-7.

Arakawa's third TD pass of the game to start the fourth quarter increased 'Iolani's lead to 27-7.

The Monarchs made it interesting with two fourth-quarter TDs to pull within six.

Ball led all receivers with 118 yards on five catches for 'Iolani.

Damien's Tuitele passed for 151 yards, 101 of them to receiver Ka'anoi, who had eight catches. Furtado led all rushers with 136 yards on 20 carries.

'IOLANI (3-1, 1-0) 14 7 0 6 — 27

DAMIEN (3-1, 0-1) 0 0 7 14 — 21

Iol—Keenan Hoohuli 4 pass from Jarrett Arakawa (Andrew Skalman kick)

Iol—Brandon Ball 77 pass from Arakawa (Skalman kick)

Iol—Carl Gibson 24 interception return (Skalman kick)

Dam—Brenan Furtado 6 run (Makana Ka'anoi kick)

Iol—Trevyn Tulonghari 39 pass from Arakawa (kick failed)

Dam—Ka'anoi 35 pass from Anthony Tuitele (Ka'anoi kick)

Dam—Tuitele 1 run (Ka'anoi kick)

RUSHING—'Iolani: Arakawa 2-0, Kellen Imada 22-97, Ammon Baldomero 2-6, Kela Marciel 1-(minus 4), Team 2-(minus 15).

Damien: Tuitele 11-50, Furtado 20-136, Kawika Anders 5-13.

PASSING—'Iolani: Arakawa 19-29-1—300.

Damien: Tuitele 17-27-2—151.

RECEIVING—'Iolani: Tulonghari 4-71, Hoohulu 3-27, Marciel 4-59, Brandon Ball 5-118, Kevin Barayuga 2-19, Travis Muraoka 1-6.

Damien: Furtado 5-18, Ka'anoi 8-101, Josh Asuncion 2-6, Anders 1-15, Austin Dawson 1-11.