Once in gear, Leilehua proved hard to stop in a 63-12 rout of host Nanakuli on Friday night.

The first half, however, was full of hiccups for the Mules, who led by just one point, 7-6, through most of the OIA Division I game’s first 24 minutes. But then Leilehua (3-1, 3-0) got it going in a hurry, with three touchdowns in a 3:13 span before the break.

“We started out slow, but found a way to persevere through all the troubles we were having,” said Leilehua wide receiver Jeremy Evans, who caught six passes for 113 yards and three TDs. “The whole team contributed and we came out with the ‘W.’ ”

Quarterback Max Nichols engineered two late first-half scoring drives, throwing TD passes of 48 yards to Dorian Furtado and 30 to Evans. A fumbled Nanakuli punt snap also led to Kiaka Pio’s 5-yard scoop-and-score to make it 28-6 with 1:57 to go before the half.

Furtado finished with 132 receiving yards, and Nichols wound up with five touchdown passes, but he also had three interceptions.

“Max did all right,” Mules coach Mark Kurisu said. “He needed to be a little bit better managing the ball.”

Nanakuli (0-4, 0-2) didn’t go into halftime quietly. Shayden Arindain-Pojas intercepted a Nichols pass and ran it back 46 yards for a touchdown to make it 28-12. Arindain-Pojas was ejected later in the game for throwing a punch.

The points went up quickly for Leilehua in the second half.

Running back James McGary, back from an injury for his first playing time of the season, broke loose for a 47-yard gain on the first play from scrimmage of the third quarter. That gave him his 100th yard of the night en route to his 123-yard performance and it set up his 8-yard TD run. Aaron Kenigton returned an interception 53 yards for a TD, and Evans, Rayden Rulloda-Kim and Konapiliahi Raymond added TD catches from Nichols.

The whole fourth quarter was on mercy-rule running clock. The Golden Hawks had no answer.

“We did OK,” the Mules’ Kurisu said. “I don’t think we did what we wanted to do right off the bat. It took a while. That’s what happens when you get somebody back like James. You try to fit him in. And of course, when you get an injury to one of your linemen (Terrance Lokan, knee), it makes a difference. It’s also what happens when you have two weeks off. We didn’t know we were going to be playing the game until 12:30 today. We heard Nanakuli didn’t have electricity. We played tough.”

In total yards from scrimmage, Leilehua churned out 524 (334 passing, 190 rushing) to minus-3 (13 passing, minus-16 rushing) for Nanakuli. Defensively, the Mules had four sacks, including two by Jashawn Wakefield, and five other tackles for loss. Xavier Tauasosi had one of each.

“The defense played a great game,” Leilehua’s Evans said. “They picked us up when we were down and we picked them up when they were down. That’s what teams do.”

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GAME SUMMARY

Leilehua 63, Nanakuli 12

At Nanakuli

>> Leilehua (3-1, 3-0) 7 21 28 7 — 63

>> Nanakuli (0-4, 0-2) 6 6 0 0 — 12

Leilehua — Jeremy Evans 19 pass from Max Nichols (Akoni Tom-Makue kick)

Nanakuli — Aalona Aleka 6 run (kick failed)

Leilehua — Dorian Furtado 48 pass from Nichols (Tom-Makue kick)

Leilehua — Evans 30 pass from Nichols (Tom-Makue kick)

Leilehua — Kiaka Pio 5 fumble recovery return (Tom-Makue kick)

Nanakuli — Shayden Arindain-Pojas 46 interception (pass failed)

Leilehua — James McGary 8 run (Tom-Makue kick)

Leilehua — Aaron Kenigton 53 interception return (Tom-Makue kick)

Leilehua — Evans 12 pass from Nichols (Tom-Makue kick)

Leilehua — Rayden Rulloda-Kim 21 pass from Nichols (Tom-Makue kick)

Leilehua — Konapiliahi Raymond 10 pass run (Tom-Makue kick)

RUSHING — Leilehua: McGary 17-123, Cody Akagi 4-32, Damarion Smith 4-20, Raymond 3-10, Nichols 4-4. Nanakuli: Holbin Cash-Meyers 8-13, Aleka 4-9, Kaeo Aipia-Flood 1-(minus-4), Micah Manewa 1-(minus-13). Charles Hauhio 9-(minus-21).

PASSING — Leilehua: Nichols 19-31-3-302, Masen Reis 1-1-0-23, Kekoa Turnagan 1-2-0-9. Nanakuli: Hauhio 4-17-2-13.

RECEIVING — Leilehua: Evans 6-113, Furtado 5-132, Reis 4-30, Jayzon Ramos 3-21, Rulloda-Kim 1-21, Kalei Akagi 1-9, McGary 1-8. Nanakuli: Lexsen Kunukau 2-3, Gavin Vea-Flint 1-5, Rylen Yap 1-5.

* JV score — Leilehua 41, Nanakuli 13