Leilehua’s passing game was in high gear Saturday night in a 50-7 romp over Kailua in the season opener for both football teams at Aloha Stadium.
Quarterback Kalanimoku Pauole had plenty of time to find his receivers most of the night. When he was pressured, he moved out of the pocket or scrambled to find open men. It all added up to a 326-yard, two-touchdown performance for the senior.
Toma Savea, Randy Neverson and Tyreek Keough all caught long balls for touchdowns in the first half for Leilehua, which marched to a 38-7 halftime lead.
"We really established our running game and that caused Kailua to stack the inside and go 1-on-1 with our outside receivers, and that really was the reason we scored on those long passes," Leilehua coach Nolan Tokuda said.
The Surfriders went to the running game early, but got stuffed for negative yardage eight times in the first half against the Mules’ stubborn front led by defensive end Eli Soga and linebacker Devin Gray.
Overall, Leilehua held Kailua to 109 yards from scrimmage and forced the Surfriders to punt nine times.
Kailua starting quarterback Noah Auld was not feeling well, according to first-year head coach Joseph Wong, and was replaced by Tristan Futa late the first half. Both had their struggles against the fearsome Leilehua defense.
"The team kept battling," Wong said. "We need to tighten up on offense and have better communication on defense."
Clifton Rodrigues scored the Surfriders’ only touchdown in the first half, intercepting a Pauole pass and running down the sideline 52 yards to the end zone.
Rodrigues also had a fumble recovery for Kailua.
"I was thinking about the team," Rodrigues said about his scoring play. "It was not a selfish thing. It doesn’t matter what happens to me. We want to win."
The big plays continued for the Mules in the second half as Ikaika Piceno went off left tackle and sped to the end zone for a 71-yard touchdown early in the third quarter that made it 44-7.
Piceno finished with 126 yards on 11 carries, and Savea had 175 receiving yards on five catches.
The Mules, despite the rout, missed three extra-point kicks.
"I like the way our defense played," Tokuda said. "We took care of the tackling issues that hurt us in the scrimmage against Mililani. Offensively, I was proud of our running game."
Pauole credited his offensive line for his 326-yard passing night.
"Without them doing their job, it wouldn’t have happened," he said. "It let us get in the groove."
At Aloha Stadium
| KAILUA (0-1, 0-1) |
0 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
— |
7 |
| LEILEHUA (1-0, 1-0) |
9 |
29 |
12 |
0 |
— |
50 |
Lei—Safety, Kailua punt snap out of end zone.
Lei—Toma Savea 66 pass from Kalanimoku Pauole (MacKenzie Crowley kick)
Lei—Randy Neverson 41 pass from Pauole (Ikaika Piceno run)
Lei—Piceno 3 run (kick failed)
Kail—Clifton Rodrigues 52 fumble recovery return (Colin Kubota kick)
Lei—Tyreek Keough 74 pass from Pauole (Anterrio Gainwell pass from Piceno)
Lei—Piceno 71 run (kick failed)
Lei—Paul Enos 15 pass from Anthony Ugalino (kick failed)
RUSHING—Kailua: Jimmy Dean Crowell 18-15, Tristan Futa 5-14, Noah Auld 4-6, Martin Tigilau 2-4, Christian-Taylor Scheer 1-(-3). Leilehua: Piceno 11-126, Ugalino 2-44, Neverson 3-22, Pauole 2-16, Mark Ferido 3-7, Jensen Cassium 2-7, Beau Jaeger 1-5, Ryan Fuller 1-(-4), Jadan Gilliland 1-(-5).
PASSING—Kailua: Tristan Futa 5-13-2-66, Noah Auld 2-4-0-7, Tigilau 0-2-0-0. Leilehua: Pauole 10-17-1-326, Ugalino 3-3-0-28.
RECEIVING—Kailua: Kaimana Lono 4-30, Matthew Gaspar 2-30, Mario Lagazo 1-13. Leilehua: Savea 5-175, Keough 3-87, Neverson 2-64, Enos 1-15, Cassium 1-7, Gilliland 1-6.
FRIDAY’S LATE RESULT
NO. 7 CAMPBELL 35, CASTLE 13
At Castle
| CAMPBELL (1-0, 1-0) |
14 |
6 |
9 |
6 |
— |
35 |
| CASTLE (0-1, 0-1) |
0 |
6 |
0 |
7 |
— |
13 |
Camp—Austin May 25 run (Kona Reiny-Aloy kick)
Camp—Jayce Bantolina 34 pass from Abiel Taito (Reiny-Aloy kick)
Cast—Micah Halemanu 19 interception return (kick failed)
Camp—Terell Johnson 70 run (kick failed)
Camp—safety
Camp—Jenesus Tago 5 run (Reiny-Aloy kick)
Camp—Alika Bantolina 37 pass from Anthony Pablo (kick failed)
Cast—Chad Figueroa 15 pass from Stephen Lee (Laura Tyler kick)
RUSHING—Camp: Johnson 11-148, Abiel Taito 9-46, Kona Reiny-Aloy 5-41, May 7-38, Noah Esprecion 2-22, Tago 2-10, Hunter Santana 1-1, Anthony Pablo 2-(-8). Cast: Stephen Lee 5-25, Willie Ewaliko 1-15, Ryan Mohika 3-7, Quinn Aquino 2-(-2).
PASSING—Camp: Taito 10-23-1-107, Pablo 2-2-0-41. Cast: Lee 25-44-3-173, Ewaliko 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING—Camp: J. Bantolina 5-69, Keola Himan 3-24, A. Bantolina 1-37, Tago 1-11, Johnson 1-4, Jerone Masiclat 1-3. Cast: Figueroa 6-49, Keanu Furtado 6-41, Bee 3-33, Aquino 3-8, Logan Madrona 2-4, Isaiah Lewis 1-15, Bryson Aiwohi 1-8, Mike Schenk 1-8, Mohika 1-6, Lalio Kewae-Aiko-Tilton 1-1.
Junior Varsity—Campbell 36, Castle 0
