In a historic quarterback matchup as far as Hawai‘i high schools are concerned, it was Tua Tagovailoa who outdueled Marcus Mariota on Sunday as the Miami Dolphins defeated the Washington Commanders 16-13 in overtime in Madrid, Spain.
The matchup between the Dolphins and Commanders featured a pair of starting quarterbacks from Saint Louis in Tagovailoa and Mariota, the first time an NFL matchup featured two starting quarterbacks from the same Hawai‘i high school.
Sunday's game took place in front of 78,610 at Bernabéu Stadium, home of Real Madrid, one of the world's iconic soccer clubs.
Tagovailoa completed 14 of his 20 passes, while Mariota went 20-for-30 with 213 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
In the fourth quarter, both teams turned the ball over on downs at the opposing 1 yard line. Washington kicker Matt Gay missed a 56-yard field goal late in the fourth, paving the way for overtime.
Mariota threw an interception in the first play from scrimmage in overtime, allowing Miami to win on a 29-yard Riley Patterson field goal.
The Commanders dropped to 3-8, losing their sixth straight game. Meanwhile, the Dolphins improved to 4-7, gaining their first winning streak of the season. Both teams will be on bye next week.
"All these trials and tribulations that we're going through I think ultimately is going to build us better, and we just have to kind of take it on the chin," Mariota said after the game. "It is what it is. We're not where we want to be, but the only way that we can dig ourselves out of it is learning from these mistakes and learning from these games."
Although Mariota was not asked about Tagovailoa in his postgame press conference, Tagovailoa was asked about Mariota. He acknowledged the two shared a moment following the game but chose not to share more details.
"I got a chance to speak to him after the game," Tagovailoa said of Mariota. "I told him great job, great seeing him. More of things he wanted to share with me that I really appreciated that I won't share here."
Mariota and Tagovailoa both expressed gratitude towards being able to play the NFL's first game in Spain. When asked where else he'd like to see the NFL hold a regular season game for the first time, Tagovailoa couldn't miss a chance to pitch a trip back home.
"Hawai‘i," Tagovailoa said. "Just go play in Hawai‘i. I think that'd be pretty cool."
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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
