Hurd, Campbell pull away from Aiea

A surprise formation helped Aiea keep the ball out of Campbell quarterback Isaac Hurd’s hands early in Friday’s OIA Red West game.

Once the Sabers adjusted to Na Alii’s wing-T look, Hurd took advantage of the opportunities provided by the defense and No. 9 Campbell pulled away to a 28-7 win.

After Aiea drove 89 yards in 11 plays on its opening possession, Campbell allowed just five first downs the rest of the game. Hurd then did his part by running for two touchdowns in the second quarter and throwing for two scores in the fourth, both to Galuega Castro.

Hurd finished the game with 204 yards passing and 93 rushing.

"They came out with that wing-T and kind of threw us off-guard," Campbell coach Amosa Amosa said. "I’m glad our defense is doing a tremendous job for us this year.

"Once they settled down and understood what they were trying to do, everything worked out."

Aiea began the game in the tightly bunched double-tight-end formation and Derryl Ogawa-Staples’ diving reception on a third-and-9 play highlighted Na Alii’s opening possession.

Elijah Tausaga was the first of three quarterbacks to take snaps for Aiea and ran the option effectively, keeping the ball up the middle for a 10-yard gain to the Campbell 3. Terrence Lauti gave Na Alii the lead with a blast up the middle to cap the drive that chewed up 5 minutes, 4 seconds.

"We wanted to do a little bit of what Waianae did to us (last week) and keep Campbell off the field," Aiea coach Wendell Say said. "The strategy worked in the beginning; we moved the ball down and scored and the defense played well."

Na Alii again put together a time-consuming drive on their next possession but stalled at the Campbell 35.

"It was a matter of aligning right," Amosa said of adjusting to the scheme. "We told our kids, ‘Make sure you’re in the right gap, that’s a tackle not a tight end,’ all those little things. So we had to make sure we’d match up with what they were trying to do. Our defensive coordinator, Wes Pacheco, and our defensive staff did a great job adjusting."

Hurd got the Campbell offense rolling early in the second quarter. A 19-yard completion to Kainoa Perry on a third-and-13 play extended a drive that Hurd ended two plays later with a keeper from the 1.

After the Campbell defense forced a punt, Hurd’s 38-yard pass to Keola Himan led to Hurd’s second touchdown run of the game.

"Some of the passes he made were just unreal because we had guys right there and he put it in places only his guys could catch it," Say said.

After a scoreless third quarter, Hurd moved the Sabers deep into Aiea territory with a 34-yard run. He then fired a strike to Castro for a 19-yard touchdown.

A 45-yard dash down the sideline later set up a 2-yard touchdown pass to Castro to account for the final margin.

"Once in a while we’ll call something for him, but he has the freedom to do what he feels like he needs to get done and part of that is using his feet to his advantage," Amosa said.