Rico Rosario rushed for 190 yards and two touchdowns to power No. 5 Waianae in a 49-6 runaway win over Kaiser at Raymond Torii Field on Friday night.
Rosario carried the ball a mere 14 times as the Seariders spread the wealth and kept the ball on the ground most of the night. Waianae improved to 3-1 in OIA Blue play (4-1 overall), doing its best to forget about last week’s loss at No. 1 Kahuku.
“First of all, I’d like to thank the Lord up above. Second, I want to thank the O-line for executing and finishing their blocks,” said Rosario, who capitalized and then broke multiple tackles, racking up big yards-after-contact production.
“Rico ran hard and he broke some tackles. I’m proud of him,” Seariders coach Walter Young said. “We tried to stay balanced offensively.”
Waianae finished with 295 rushing yards. Jaren Ulu passed the ball just eight times, completing five, including two TD passes to Jerusalem Tootoo and one to Isaiah Freeney.
“It’s good to bounce back with a win. It’s good for our kids and their spirit, a sense of pride,” Young said. “We did the job as a team. Offensively, defensively, everybody was able to play. We got some special teams plays. The team thing is what we look for.”
Kaiser fell to 1-3 in conference play (2-3 overall), employing numerous two-way starters.
“They work very hard and they compete. Their effort is always there and they’ve got a lot of fight in them,” Cougars first-year head coach Arnold Martinez said. “I’m proud of them no matter what the scoreboard says. Waianae played strong. They have great running backs and they’re going a long way.”
Trouble started early for the visiting Cougars. On the second play from scrimmage during the opening series, quarterback Kainoa Torres lost control of the shotgun snap in the end zone. The fumble was recovered by Waianae’s Harry Ioane for a touchdown.
The ensuing pooch kickoff was recovered near the left sideline by Waianae’s Braden Ayala at the Kaiser 34-yard line. After a 24-yard pickup by running back Javen Towne, Ulu lofted a perfect spiral to the left corner, where Tootoo hauled the ball in for a 19-yard touchdown. Waianae led 14-0 with 9:53 left in the opening quarter.
After a Kaiser punt, the Seariders drove 55 yards in seven plays for another score. Rosario rumbled in for a 3-yard TD with 4:38 to go in the first quarter.
Kaiser struck on its next possession. On third-and-10, Torres launched a bomb to Keoni Pangan, who caught the ball in stride and raced to paydirt for an 84-yard touchdown.
Waianae answered in similar fashion. Ulu launched deep down the left sideline to Freeney, who wrestled the ball away from a defender and went 76 yards for Waianae’s fourth TD.
Skyler Kaleiohi’s 76-yard punt return to the end zone was called back for an illegal block, but the Seariders pounded away in the trenches for an eight-play, 70-yard scoring drive. Rosario picked up 32, 13, 5 and 14 yards to help set up another Ulu-to-Tootoo touchdown toss. The 12-yard strike on a post pattern upped the lead to 35-6 with 9:16 left in the second quarter.
Towne’s 4-yard run up the middle increased the lead to 36 points before halftime.
Rosario powered one more Waianae drive after halftime, gaining 14, 17 and 31 yards before his helmet fell off. He took a mandatory break, returned and scored on a 9-yard run early in the third quarter, the final points of the game for either team.
