With a hounding defense and a purring offense, No. 8 Moanalua remained undefeated with a 31-13 victory over Damien on Friday night at the Radford High field.
With the help of a mean pass rush, Na Menehune turned two first-half interceptions into points to overcome an early 7-point deficit for a 14-7 edge. In the second half, Moanalua (5-0, 4-0 OIA Division I) took complete control.
“Definitely, the pressure (from defensive linemen Tupu Alualu, Buffalo Kruize and others) worked,” Na Menehune coach Savaii Eselu said. “We figured they (the Monarchs) would try and sit back and get stuff developed, so we wanted to attack and get them out of rhythm. It worked in our favor and we got a few picks.”
Moanalua ended the night with five interceptions, two on starter Duke Hoohuli and three on backup Jake Holtz.
Damien came out strong and struck first with an 82-yard drive capped by River Iaea’s 1-yard TD run for that early lead. But two interceptions turned the tide. Keanu Kekawa took one back 40 yards for a TD to tie it up 7-7, and then Christian Sison’s pick led to Nick Au’s 4-yard TD pass to Ezra Grace to make it 14-7.
Late in the half, Na Menehune made it 21-7 on Au’s 16-yard TD toss to Drayden Von Oelhoffen.
Au had a big night, completing 30 of his 47 passes for 278 yards and three TDs. Rudy Kealohi caught 12 of those passes for 120 yards.
“We did pretty good offensively after a rough start,” Kealohi said. “We kept believing in Nick. He’s a special guy and our receivers were lights out. Our defense was lights out, too. They can’t run or pass on our defense.”
The Monarchs (3-3, 3-2 ILH D-I) switched to a smashmouth style and got closer at 21-13 in the third quarter on Logan Lauti’s 25-yard touchdown rumble. It appeared they were ready for a comeback, driving to the Moanalua 25. But the Moanalua defense came up big again when Tre Barrett recovered a Damien fumble.
Two plays later, Au threw his third TD pass of the night, this one for 39 yards to Javon Monico for a 28-13 bulge. Griffin Motas added a 38-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to finish the scoring.
“We came out blazing hot in the first half,” the Monarchs’ Lauti said. “In the second half, we just lost it. Moanalua wanted it more in the end. They have a tough D, but we made some mistakes and it shouldn’t have happened. We just gotta come back and work harder on Monday.”
GAME SUMMARY
No. 8 Moanalua 31, Damien 13
At Radford
>> Damien (3-3, 3-2) 7 0 6 0 — 13
>> Moanalua (5-0, 4-0) 7 14 7 3 — 31
Damien — River Iaea 1 run (Christian Souza kick)
Moanalua — Keanu Kekawa 40 interception return (Luke Palaylay kick)
Moanalua — Ezra Grace 4 pass from Nick Au (Palaylay kick)
Moanalua — Drayden Von Oelhoffen 16 pass from Au (Palaylay kick)
Damien — Logan Lauti 25 run (run failed)
Moanalua — Javon Monico 39 pass from Au (Palaylay kick)
Moanalua — FG Griffin Motas 38
RUSHING — Damien: Lauti 7-58, Aperamo Sulu 16-42, Iaea 2-3, Duke Hoohuli 1-(minus-3), Jake Holtz 9-(minus-33). Moanalua: Jacob Copeland 2-19, Rudy Kealohi 1-12, Micah Kim 2-7, Lawsen Lee 2-4, Makana Spencer 2-2, CJ Paleafei 1-3, Tim Ungacta 2-(minus-9), TEAM 2-(minus-21), Au 6-(minus-30).
PASSING — Damien: Hoohuli 5-8-2-73, Holtz 5-24-2-57. Moanalua: Au 30-47-1-278.
RECEIVING — Damien: Lauti 3-51, Aperamo 2-29, Jarvis Natividad 2-8, Quinn Fukawa 1-25, Lindon Sevillja 1-18, Iaea 1-(minus-1). Moanalua: Kealohi 12-120, E. Grace 6-54, Monico 4-61, Von Oelhoffen 4-28, Paleafei 2-11, Lee 2-4.
* JV — Moanalua 53, McKinley 0
