Nanakuli escapes Waialua

The Nanakuli Golden Hawks escaped from Waialua on Friday night with a slim 22-14 victory over the last-place Bulldogs in OIA White football.

Despite five lost fumbles, including two that were returned for touchdowns, Nanakuli gained a playoff spot by finishing with a 5-3 conference record. The Golden Hawks join Kaiser, Radford and Kalaheo in the OIA White bracket.

Trailing 22-8 with less than a minute left, Waialua stormed back when Tala Fuatiga recovered a Nanakuli fumble and bolted 17 yards for a touchdown. Fuatiga capped a monster night on that play. It was his third fumble recovery of the game and second for a score.

"The first (fumble recovery TD) amazed me, because as a defensive player, you never think it’s going to happen," Fuatiga said. "And then the second one brought us one step closer to coming back and winning."

The Bulldogs’ 2-point-conversion pass failed, but they were within eight points with 52 seconds to go.

An onside-kick try, however, went into the arms of Nanakuli’s Tryson Vincent, virtually ending the game and ending the season for Waialua (0-9, 0-7).

"Let’s put it this way, if we play like that against (a team like) Kaiser, it’s going to be a long night," Golden Hawks coach Skippy Lopes said. "Waialua took it to us almost the whole game. We almost blew it."

After a scoreless first quarter, the Golden Hawks broke through for an 8-0 lead when Chazz Troutman hit Lansen Liki with a 15-yard TD pass and Nyenoa Ulangca-Kauwelo ran home the 2-point conversion.

Fuatiga’s 10-yard fumble return, which came after Troutman’s wild pitchout that hit the ground, put Waialua on the board, and Xavier Repello’s 2-point run tied the game at 8.

"Tala hustles at practice," Waialua coach Lincoln Barit said. "We teach the kids to keep on working and working and the ones that do that, then good things will happen to them. Tala is always hustling."

Nanakuli went ahead 16-8 with an 80-yard drive, capped by Eric Au Hoon-Kaawa’s 2-yard touchdown run up the middle in the third quarter.

Another 80-yard drive led to the Golden Hawks’ last TD — a 44-yard bomb from Troutman to Brandon Felisi that made it 22-8.

"We were kind of sloppy in the first half," said the speedy Felisi, who rushed for 167 yards on 23 carries, including a 53-yard jaunt. "On that (touchdown) play, the corner was sitting in a zone and on the inside, so I beat him on the outside."

"We’ve got to start playing better as a team," Lopes said. "We haven’t been jelling."

Kalaheo 50, Roosevelt 14

Christin Johnston rushed for 153 yards and a touchdown as the Mustangs dominated the Rough Riders to clinch a White playoff berth.

Makena Johnston added another 85 yards on the ground for Kalaheo.