Kailua opens season with convincing win

Kailua opened its season a week after Moanalua, but rode a blistering start on Friday night to a 44-0 win at Radford’s John E. Velasco Stadium.

Kaiimipono Kohatsu-Robeson came up with the first of Kailua’s six interceptions on the game’s first play from scrimmage and Aaron Mejia threw three touchdown passes in the first half to spark the Surfriders’ rout of Na Menehune.

“Defense did their job, got us the ball back and we executed our plays,” Mejia said. “This is a boost, we’re feeling good right now.”

Mejia missed all of last season due to a broken collarbone suffered in a preseason scrimmage. He capped his opening drive of the season with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Tanner Wright and went on to complete 12 of his first 20 attempts and finished with 179 yards.

“This boosted my confidence,” Mejia said. “(The injury) made me even stronger.”

The Surfriders defense set the tone on the opening play, picked off three more passes in the first half and recorded two safeties in the fourth quarter to close out the shutout.

“They did exactly what I want out of them. I played offense, but I’m a defensive-minded coach,” Kailua coach Joseph Wong said.

“You want to keep (the opposing offense) guessing … and (the Surfriders) did exactly what we wanted them to do. The coaches prepared them exactly how we needed them to be prepared.”

After Mejia’s first touchdown pass, Leighton Russell’s interception set up an eight-play drive that was extended by Mejia’s 15-yard completion to Samson Rasay on fourth-and-11. Rasay then scored on an 11-yard run on the next play and went on to finish with 143 yards on 23 carries.

Early in the second quarter, the Surfriders converted on a third-and-20 with a 25-yard completion to Cameron Dudoit-Kamai and Mejia hit Kaniala Williams for a 7-yard score.

Kailua then turned Bruddah Spencer-Choy Foo’s interception off a deflection into a six-play scoring drive, with Mejia lofting an 8-yard pass to Dylan Kurahashi-Choy Foo.

“Once you find yourself in that hole it’s tough to climb out of it,” Moanalua coach Savai’i Eselu said. “It’s like a snowball. One thing after another adds up and adds up.”

Kailua led 33-0 at halftime and Spencer-Choy Foo and Williams both had interceptions in a scoreless third quarter. The Surfriders’ first safety brought the running clock into effect and backup quarterback Cole Weber scored on a 14-yard run.

Following a loss to Punahou, Moanalua’s offense was kept out of the end zone for a second straight week and will have a bye before facing No. 2 Kahuku.

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