Waianae scores 90 on overmatched McKinley

Walter Young had an apologetic tone as he ushered the Waianae football team aboard the buses lined up outside Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium.

The Seariders head coach was a bit conflicted following Waianae’s 90-0 win over McKinley in Saturday’s OIA Red game at Roosevelt.

On one hand, his job is to prepare his team to execute, which the Seariders did in generating 453 yards in offense — all on the ground. But the point total wasn’t what he had in mind.

"It’s hard because you don’t know what to do," Young said. "I’m not trying to run up the score, but we’re trying to run base plays and … it’s hard.

"I would never want to score that much points on anybody like that. To me, you win with class, and scoring that many points is not what you’re trying to do."

Young said the eighth-ranked Seariders (4-1, 4-0 OIA Red) played the entire active roster by late in the second quarter. Solofua Grey, who entered the game with 19 yards on 11 carries this season, ran for 92 yards and three touchdowns in five attempts. Jorell Pontes-Borje led the Seariders with 128 yards on four carries, 90 coming on Waianae’s penultimate touchdown.

Waianae led 63-0 at halftime and didn’t attempt a pass in the game. None of the running backs had more than five carries, and nine of its 10 ballcarriers scored at least one touchdown.

The Seariders defense contributed to the school-record total with two interception returns for touchdowns in the first half. After opening the game with a two-play scoring drive capped by Jurick Valdez’s 25-yard run, Waianae defensive back Austin Keliinoi-Westbrook returned an interception 35 yards on McKinley’s second play from scrimmage. Zachary Kerr also scored on a 35-yard return in the second quarter.

"I applaud (McKinley)," Young said. "They’re tough, they stuck in it the whole way. They went through it three, four weeks already and I don’t wish it on anybody."

McKinley coach Samuel Cantiberos said he didn’t think the Seariders ran up the score a week after the Tigers (0-5, 0-4) endured a 78-0 loss at No. 3 Kahuku.

"We tried our best to stop them and they tried their best to score and that’s what football is about," Cantiberos said. "I thought the game was played fair."

Cantiberos said the Tigers "played with their heart," but execution led to the outcome more than effort.

"We have to stop them and we didn’t stop them today," Cantiberos said.

"They need to work hard and execute and it’s not just about coming here and just playing all out. We need to execute and play football. For the most part, we played our hearts out, but we didn’t execute tonight."

McKinley has three games left on its schedule, starting with a trip to Kaiser on Friday with Leilehua and Castle to follow.

"They still come out every day to work and I respect my kids for that," Cantiberos said. "Every day they’re there, they’re on time, they work. We just need to execute.

"These are growing pains. It gets worse before it gets better and it doesn’t get any more worse than this. But I believe with hard work and with dedication we are going to get better these next three games. I really believe that."