Leilehua offense explodes for first win of the season

Two Leilehua quarterbacks combined for 298 yards passing and six touchdowns and the Mules broke open a close Oahu Interscholastic Association football game in the second half en route to a 48-13 bulldozing of Nanakuli on Saturday night.

It was the first win of the season for Leilehua (1-3, 1-2 OIA Red). The host Golden Hawks (0-3, 0-2) remained winless since their move up from Division II to D-I to start the season.

“Finally, I’ve been waiting for this win … this is my senior year,” said Mules wide receiver Kendrick Beitzel, who caught six passes for 69 yards and a touchdown. “We’ve been wanting to win since our first game. We still made some mistakes, but we were able to capitalize on some of their mistakes.”

Mules starting quarterback Kaleo Aloha Piceno went 16-for-26 for 266 yards and four touchdowns. Kona Andres, a starter at QB who has lost time due to a concussion, went 6-for-8 with two touchdowns.

Despite the offensive onslaught that netted 460 yards from scrimmage, the Mules started slow and led just 14-7 at the half. It appeared Nanakuli was gaining momentum when Nainoa Banks found Chyson Morgan for a 30-yard touchdown with 3:32 to go before the break for that seven-point deficit.

But it was all Leilehua in the second half. Piceno’s 5-yard TD strike to Beitzel capped a 65-yard drive on Leilehua’s first possession of the third quarter. The Mules’ offensive machine was just heating up.

Piceno then connected with Truvarious Boatright for a 59-yard score and followed up with a 9-yarder — his fourth scoring pass of the game — to Kawai Phifer for a 34-7 bulge.

“I’m proud of the kids. They played hard,” Leilehua head coach Nolan Tokuda said. “The entire team, they all did their job. We’ve still got to clean up some discipline stuff, but the coaches did a good job getting them prepared and now we’ve got to get ready for Farrington (next week). We played undisciplined football in the first half and the coaches made the adjustment to play Leilehua football. Stick to the assignment, alignment and technique and that’s what we did in the second half.”

Nanakuli outgained Leilehua 150-147 in the first half. The final totals were Leilehua 460, Nanakuli 232.

After Nanakuli’s Morgan scored on a 10-yard run to cut it to 34-13, the Mules continued to pour it on. Andres came on to unload TD passes to Serafi Ulai for 24 yards and to Boatright for 15.

“It felt really good to get the win,” Leilehua’s Beitzel said. “For (Piceno) to come out today not knowing the playbook all that well and executing like he did, it was great to see. He also plays receiver and he’s great there, but he’s an even better quarterback. That’s all he is, he’s a competitor.”

The Golden Hawks got an interception apiece from Jayrius Alapai and Sean Souza, but were unable to turn those turnovers into points.

Nanakuli head coach Keala Watson and his players had a long meeting after the game and were unavailable for comment.