Leilehua beats Aiea to advance

It’s not one and done this year for Leilehua in the Oahu Interscholastic Association football playoffs.

After making early exits the past two seasons, the Mules gave a 42-27 knockout blow to Aiea on Saturday night in a playoff opener at Hugh Yoshida Stadium.

Now, it’s on to the state tournament for Leilehua (5-4), but not before a matchup against No. 1 and defending Division I state champion Kahuku (7-1) in the OIA quarterfinals next week.

Mules coach Nolan Tokuda did not like the way his team finished — giving up 27 Na Alii points in the final 14 minutes of the game after taking a 42-0 lead — but Tokuda takes the responsibility for it.

“We cannot let up like that,” he said. “To be in playoff form, you’ve got to play from the first snap to the last. A team like Aiea is going to come back. All the teams in the playoffs are going to be good teams, so we gotta make sure we finish a lot better. Some guys who have not seen a lot of reps were in at that time, and mentally, our guys were kinda looking for the next game already and that’s something I need to fix. It starts with me.”

Down those 42 points early in the third quarter and, temporarily with a running clock, Na Alii (3-6) showed they were not going to be laughed out of Wahiawa.

“I told the kids at halftime that I’ve never known them to quit and that we weren’t going to start now,” Aiea coach Wendell Say said. “We made a lot of mistakes in the first half and kept shooting ourselves in the foot. We’re a better team than that and I didn’t want to see it end that way.”

The Leilehua passing game and defense were spot on while the Mules built that big lead. Kona Andres finished with 252 passing yards and long touchdown strikes to Kawai Phifer and Kendrick Beitzel. Kaleo Aloha Piceno, another Mules QB who also plays slotback, kept the offense moving with scrambles and throws and scored the team’s first touchdown on a 6-yard run.

Defensively, the Mules put two touchdowns on the board and kept Na Alii scoreless until exactly two minutes remained in the third. Destry Pulawa Lopez scored for Leilehua with a 49-yard interception return and teammate Odin Mersberg recovered an Aiea fumble in the end zone. Lopez finished the night with two picks.

Na Alii quarterback Kobe Kato and TeeJay Tome turned on their offensive motors in the second half to spearhead the comeback. Tome scored three times, including one TD on a 24-yard swing pass from Kato that made it 42-7.

Ty Matsunami’s 19-yard TD grab from Kato decreased the deficit to 42-14 with 10:33 to go. Later, two long Kato passes — a 49-yarder to Sam Okamoto and a 35-yarder to Fabian Bautista — set up two Tome 1-yard TD runs, the last coming with 11 seconds left.

But time was not on Aiea’s side in its comeback bid.

“It hurts a little bit, but we gave it our all,” said Kato, who had 290 passing yards.