No. 7 Kailua outmuscled Moanalua 37-24 on Friday night to stay very much alive for the top spot in OIA Blue football at Na Menehune’s home field.
The Surfriders (6-1, 5-1) fought back from an early 6-0 deficit and never looked back, taking advantage of a distinct first-half field-position superiority.
Aside from a 45-yard touchdown run by Michael Feliciano, Na Menehune (2-4, 1-4) couldn’t get their offense moving until late in the hard-hitting contest. And they made a game of it in the second half, cutting a 30-6 deficit and avoiding a blowout.
Kailua’s early comeback was slow and steady, starting with a safety, when Kahewe Kohatsu chased Moanalua quarterback Alakai Yuen, forcing him into an intentional grounding from his own end zone.
After that, the Surfriders started to roll and quarterback Noah Auld threw consecutive scoring passes to Martin Tigilau, Isaiah Damo-Agcaoili and Mark Lagazo for a 23-6 bulge at the half.
"We had good rhythm, but as a coach you want to see good rhythm from the start," Surfriders coach Joe Wong said. "Every big truck needs time to lather up and grease its wheels before it gets going, I guess."
The play of bookend offensive tackles Nilsson Gaisoa (6 feet 5, 270) and Sione Veikoso (6-5, 265) did not go unnoticed. They were phenomenal anchors in both the running and passing game.
"Oh, I love my line," Auld said. "They block as hard as they can and I take care of them when I can, when I have some money."
Running back Gabriel LeLesch was a big workhorse, carrying the ball 18 times for 88 yards and keeping the chains moving.
Kailua is tied with Farrington for second place in the OIA Blue. Both are looking up at Mililani, which visits the Surfriders next week.
Early in the second half, Auld struck twice for TD scores, a 21-yarder to Kalei Kealoha-Machado and a 17-yard toss to Tigilau for a 37-12 edge.
"We are on a downward slide and everybody else in the Blue is going upwards," Na Menehune coach Jason Cauley said. "I wish I could say why we start slow. We’ve been preaching, ‘We’ve got to start on fire, got to start on fire, got to start on fire.’ I love my kids and they don’t give up, but we can’t keep doing this. And we definitely have to figure out how to come up with better pass defense."
Yuen led Na Menehune’s charge back in the fourth quarter, hitting Feliciano for a 22-yard TD and then firing a 42-yard scoring strike to Kaimi Kinni to get within the final 13-point margin.
Kohatsu had a monster of a defensive game for Kailua with three sacks and Christian Mejia added two. Moanalua’s Logan Serikawa broke through for three sacks, too.
"We’ve got a tough game next week against Mililani, the defending state champs," Auld said. "We can’t look at their record and what happened last year. We have to look ahead and game plan for them."
Campbell 46, Aiea 30
Kawika Ulufale threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns and the Sabers (1-5, 1-4 OIA Blue) earned their first win of the season with a victory over Na Alii (1-6, 1-5).
The win gives Campbell the edge for the OIA playoffs.
The Sabers won despite school records from Aiea quarterback Kobe Kato (394 passing yards) and receiver Kame Kim Choy-Keb-Ah Lo (202 receiving yards).
No. 3 Mililani 71, No. 6 Farrington 28
With Oahu Interscholastic Association Blue football supremacy on the line, the Trojans devoured the Governors on Thursday night at Aloha Stadium.
The outcome was quite a bit different than the state Division I semifinals a year ago, when the Trojans squeaked by Farrington 17-14. Expectations of a thriller were wiped out when Mililani (5-1, 5-0) scored on six of its seven first-half possessions.
Trojans running back Vavae Malepeai rushed for three touchdowns to break Joe Igber’s career record of 56. Quarterback McKenzie Milton passed for 285 yards and four scores and rushed for another.
It was a bleak night for the Govs (5-1, 4-1), who never could find an answer for the dynamic Trojans offense. Mililani’s 71 points are the most ever given up by Farrington.
"No disrespect to the other teams (we’ve played), but when you play a good team, that’s what’s going to happen," Farrington coach Randall Okimoto said. "All those deficiencies will come out. That’s just the way it is. So it’s humbling, especially for our defense, to get scored on that much. The key is how are we going respond. So hopefully they come back and work harder, they ask themselves, ‘What did I do wrong and what can I correct?’ "
