Moanalua mounts furious comeback to top Kailua

Moanalua’s hopes to host an OIA playoff game were all but dashed early in the fourth quarter Saturday night in Kailua.

Down 27 points to winless Kailua, Na Menehune stormed back with four touchdowns over the final 7 minutes, 18 seconds to pull out a 34-33 thriller over the Surfriders.

Jason Sharsh caught the go-ahead touchdown with 31 seconds left and quarterback Kawika Keama-Jacobe threw three touchdown passes in the final 3:03 as Na Menehune (3-3, 3-3 OIA Blue) took over sole possession of fourth place in the division with a shot to host an opening-round playoff game in two weeks.

"Just when everybody thought it was done, it wasn’t done," Moanalua coach Jason Cauley said. "(Kailua) came out here and put a good ol’ butt-whooping on us, but we had great resolve and didn’t quit."

Kailua quarterback Noah Auld threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Martin Tigilau with 10:33 remaining to put the Surfriders ahead 33-6.

Kailua (0-7) had scored only 35 points in its previous six games before racking up 400 total yards against Na Menehune.

Auld threw for 195 yards and two touchdowns and Paepaeiva Silifaiva-Kaeha rushed for 170 yards and a score as Kailua seemed to have the game well in hand.

Moanalua got rolling as Keama-Jacobe found Michael Feliciano on an 8-yard touchdown pass to make it 33-14 with 7:18 remaining.

After Kailua missed a field goal, Na Menehune went 63 yards in three plays and Keama-Jacobe found Karson Cruz for a 17-yard TD.

Moanalua forced a punt and Keama-Jacobe found Sharsh for 48 yards and then Cruz on a 6-yard fade route to make it 33-28.

Kailua recovered the onside kick with 1:34 left and Moanalua had only one timeout.

However, Auld fumbled the handoff to Silifaiva-Kaeha and the ball was recovered by Moanalua linebacker Zorich Palimo’o.

Na Menehune had the ball fourth-and-10 on the Kailua 25 when Keama-Jacobe found Sharsh for 12 yards and a first down. On the very next play, Keama-Jacobe lobbed it into the back of the end zone to Sharsh, who went up and got it with two hands for the winning touchdown.

Sharsh finished with seven catches for 121 yards, while Keama-Jacobe was 26-for-49 for 298 yards.

"Our job is to catch the rock, and that’s what we had to do," Sharsh said.

Kailua had one last chance with the ball at the Moanalua 41, but Auld’s Hail Mary toward the end zone was intercepted by Cruz, who came in to play defense on the final play.

"We slacked off and took them too lightly in the beginning," Cruz said. "We came in thinking they are an 0-and-something team and we can beat them guaranteed and we came out too soft. We got a reality check and once that happened we came together and did our jobs and didn’t fight with each other."

Sharsh had three key catches for 73 yards in the final two minutes.

"I’ve coached a lot of receivers that are in the NFL now," Cauley said. "I’ve coached against Julio Jones. I’ve coached Solomon Patton. Jason Sharsh runs better routes, has better hands than anybody I’ve ever coached."

At Kailua

Kail—FG Colin Kubota 36
Kail—Joseph Byers 92 interception return (Kubota kick)
Kail—FG Kubota 37
Kail—Paepaeiva Silifaiva-Kaeha 1 run (Kubota kick)
Kail—Christian-Taylor Scheer 13 pass from Noah Auld (kick failed)
Moan—Kawika Keama-Jacobe 1 run (pass failed)
Kail—Martin Tigilau 33 pass from Auld (Kubota kick)
Moan—Michael Feliciano 8 pass from Keama-Jacobe (Steve Feliciano pass from Keama-Jacobe)
Moan—Karson Cruz 17 pass from Keama-Jacobe (Thomas Sheridan kick)
Moan—Cruz 6 pass from Keama-Jacobe (Sheridan kick)
Moan—Jason Sharsh 13 pass from Keama-Jacobe (pass failed)

RUSHING—Moanalua: Keama-Jacobe 15-98, Rodson Kealohi 5-46, M. Feliciano 5-26. Kailua: Silifaiva-Kaeha 33-170, Auld 4-29, Dwight Richardson 2-6.
PASSING—Moanalua: Keama-Jacobe 26-49-2-298. Kailua: Auld 16-30-1-195, Silifaiva-Kaeha 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING—Moanalua: M. Feliciano 8-83, Sharsh 7-121, Cruz 5-43, Kealohi 4-24, S. Feliciano 1-16, Isaiah Jackson 1-11. Kailua: Koolauloa Gaspar 5-60, Keelan Kaleiohi-Palama 4-36, Kaimana Lono 3-21, Scheer 2-38, Tigilau 1-33, Micah Ryder 1-7.
Junior varsity—Kailua 21, Moanalua 14