Campbell tunes up for Leilehua with rout of Waipahu

Terell Johnson made the most of his six carries in the first half of Friday’s OIA Division I playoff opener against visiting Waipahu.

The Campbell running back covered 116 yards and scored three touchdowns in those six attempts and the eighth-ranked Sabers raced past an undermanned Waipahu team 56-0 in the OIA Division I first-round playoff game.

Campbell (6-2) missed out on a first-round bye with a loss to Farrington last week that left the Sabers third in the OIA Blue. Campbell took control early against the Marauders and face No. 7 Leilehua, the OIA Red’s second seed, in a quarterfinal game next week.

"Every game from now on is a championship game — to me, that’s the only way we can look at it," Campbell coach Amosa Amosa said.

"I’m glad we got to play this week, get that loss out of our system and hopefully we can continue to build from tonight. … We’re very aware of what Leilehua can do with Coach (Nolan) Tokuda and their group."

Before turning their attention to Leilehua, which has a bye this weekend, the Sabers made sure to take care of business in the first round and scored on their first six offensive possessions while the defense fueled the rout with seven takeaways (three fumbles, four interceptions).

Campbell safety Solomon Matautia contributed to the outburst with a 75-yard punt return for a touchdown in the first quarter and snagged two interceptions to set up scoring drives.

Campbell led 21-0 less than five minutes into the game and Johnson capped the next three drives with touchdown runs of 20, 25 and 43 yards as the Sabers took a 49-0 lead into halftime.

"I didn’t want to take them lightly," said Johnson, who finished with 130 yards on nine carries. "It’s playoff time and we can’t lose any steps. We have to keep working."

The second half went quickly with the running clock in effect. Waipahu, which qualified for the postseason as the OIA Red’s sixth seed, ended the season at 1-7. The Marauders were down to 31 players for the playoff game due to injuries and academics.

Campbell scored twice in a 27-second span to take control after its first two possessions. Austin May opened the scoring with a 4-yard run and the Sabers got the ball back two plays later when Isaac Kelly recovered a fumble at the Waipahu 26.

Ezra Savea completed a wide receiver screen to Jayce Bantolina, who slipped through the pursuit for a touchdown. 

Matautia’s punt return pushed the lead to 21-0 at the 7:10 mark of the first quarter and Johnson provided the next three scores.

"With Austin and TJ, both of them bring different style of running to our offense," Amosa said. "They have been a big help to ease some pressure off our quarterback."

Camp–Austin May 4 run (Kona Reiny-Aloy kick)

Camp–Jayce Bantolina 26 pass from Ezra Savea (Reiny-Aloy kick)

Camp–Solomon Matautia 75 punt return (Reiny-Aloy kick)

Camp–Terell Johnson 20 run (Reiny-Aloy kick)

Camp–Johnson 25 run (Reiny-Aloy kick)

Camp–Johnson 43 run (Reiny-Aloy kick)

Camp–Anthony Pablo 6 run (Reiny-Aloy kick)

Camp–Jenesus Tago 8 run (Reiny-Aloy kick)

RUSHING–Waipahu: Lariyah Fuentes 6-18, Blaise DeAsis 1-(minus 3), Jacob Anae 5-(minus 5), Gavin Marques 4-(minus 8). Campbell: Johnson 9-130, May 9-48, Savea 1-10, Tago 4-9, Hunter Santana 1-1, Noah Esprecion 2-(minus 1), Pablo 7-(minus 7).

PASSING–Waipahu: Marques 4-19-3-15, B. DeAsis 1-4-1-7. Campbell: Savea 5-10-0-122, Pablo 2-4-1-20.

RECEIVING–Waipahu: Abraham Contado-Gandaoli 3-10, Storm DeAsis 1-7, Kobie Russell 1-5. Campbell: Bantolina 3-81, Javal Medlin 2-46, Kameron Carino 1-10, Reiny-Aloy 1-5.