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Lining up with his heels on the goal line, Moanalua receiver Jansen York wasn’t concerned with the peril behind him, only the prospects ahead.
“When we got down on the 1, our mentality was that’s just another opportunity to get more yards,” York said.
York turned a short throw from Moanalua quarterback RJ Javar into the longest play in Na Menehune history, covering all 99 yards to help the 10th-ranked Na Menehune break away from No. 6 Leilehua in a 24-20 OIA Division I victory on Friday at Hugh Yoshida Stadium.
Just as York ran alone after breaking a tackle on his fourth-quarter sprint to the end zone, Na Menehune (3-0, 2-0) pulled ahead in the division race with their third dramatic win of the season.
>> Click here to see photos of the game between Moanalua and Leilehua.
“That says we know how to play ball and don’t let the highs get too high and the lows to get too low,” Moanalua coach Savai’i Eselu said. “Just stay even keeled and we just rock and roll.”
Javar passed for three touchdowns and finished with 263 yards in a game that was pushed back a week and moved to Wahiawa after a malfunction with the lights at Moanalua’s field forced a postponement.
“We were really hyped last week because (it was a) home game. We were ready,” said Moanalua linebacker Jett Tanigawa, who returned an interception for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, “and we got the that call our lights weren’t working. It got us all bummed, but we knew we had to come over here and do what we had to do and just balled out.”
York caught seven passes for 162 yards, with his long-distance score with 8:38 left in the fourth quarter giving Moanalua control.
Javar had thrown short TD passes to Darius Johnson and Rudy Kealohi to push Moanalua ahead 12-7, but had been under pressure from an aggressive Leilehua defensive front for much of the game, which contributed to Eselu’s decision to empty the backfield after a Leilehua punt pinned Na Menehune at the 1.
“I had a feeling,” Eselu said. “I said we know they’re going to put pressure on us and we just decided to throw a little short and it popped big.”
Said York: “When they called the play we just knew because they were in man-on-man (coverage), and just the throw and the blocking after the catch helped me run all the way down the field. Just a team effort.”
Moanalua cornerback Rashod Tanner came down with a momentum-turning interception in the end zone to snuff a Leilehua threat to open the game and contributed to two more takeaways for the Na Menehune defense.
Moments after York’s touchdown, Tanner delivered a hit on a Leilehua running back as a swing pass arrived, popping the ball into the air. Tanigawa snagged it and took it back 32 yards to push Moanalua’s lead to 24-7.
Tanner later came down with his second interception of the game, but Leilehua backup quarterback Kekoa Turnigan recovered to throw two touchdown passes to Jonathan Vasquez late in the fourth quarter. But Moanalua recovered an onside kick with 35 seconds left to end the comeback bid.
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OIA-ILH Division I
No. 10 Moanalua 24, No. 6 Leilehua 20
At Leilehua
>> Moanalua (3-0, 2-0) 0 6 6 12 — 24
>> Leilehua (3-1, 2-1) 0 7 0 13 — 20
Leilehua — Jamil Vereen 1 run (Konapiliahi Raymond kick)
Moanalua — Darius Johnson 5 pass from RJ Javar (kick blocked)
Moanalua — Rudy Kealohi 6 pass from Javar (kick blocked)
Moanalua — Jansen York 99 pass from Javar (pass failed)
Moanalua — Jett Tanigawa 32 interception return (kick failed)
Leilehua — Jonathan Vasquez 12 pass from Kekoa Turnigan (Raymond kick)
Leilehua — Vasquez 10 pass from Turnigan (kick failed)
RUSHING — Moanalua: Johnson 5-2, So’onaoso Saole-Teixeira 5-1, RJ Javar 10-(-42), TEAM 2-(-2.) Leilehua: Damarion Smith 19-107, Vereen 4-10, Jayzon Ramos 1-4, Kekoa Turnagan 1-1, Cody Akagi 4-(-6).
PASSING — Moanalua: Javar 20-28-0–263. Leilehua: Kalei Akagi 11-21-2–109, Turnagan 5-17-2–53.
RECEIVING — Moanalua: Jansen York 7-162, Kealohi 6-43, Dacyres Domingo 4-45, Ayzeiah Callo-Saquiton 1-8, Darius Johnson 1-5, Javar 1-0. Leilehua: Jayzon Ramos 6-94, Jonathan Vasquez 3-35, Cody Akagi 2-18, Benjamin Lockman 2-11, Vereen 1-7, Landyn Jumawan 1-0, Kawela Kaluhiokalani 1-(-3).
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