The Nanakuli Golden Hawks opened up OIA Division II play in spectacular fashion, pounding the Waialua Bulldogs 54-13 on Saturday night at Nanakuli.
Quarterback Hansen Salausa-Kaawa led the Golden Hawks with 213 passing yards and four touchdowns while completing 16 of 24 passes.
David Kalili proved to be a reliable target for Salausa-Kaawa, hauling in three scoring passes among his six grabs for 48 yards. Allen Mahoe III led the team in receiving yards with 66 on just three receptions. Richard Federico was next up with 61 yards on four catches.
Christian Asinsin was a workhorse on the ground for Nanakuli. The bruising back toted the ball 16 times for 95 yards and a touchdown.
On its second possession of the game, Nanakuli went on a quick five-play scoring drive, culminating with Salausa-Kaawa tossing a 20-yard touchdown to Kalili at 1:08.
Nanakuli defensive lineman Isaiah Enriquez picked off Waialua’s Tyson Apau on the very next play, setting up Salausa-Kaawa’s second touchdown toss, a 20-yarder again to Kalili at 0:49. It was the only play on the drive.
Down two scores in a matter of seconds, the Bulldogs offense finally picked up the pace. After James Zara’s 58-yard kick return, Apau carried the load for Waialua’s first scoring drive. His 7-yard rush set the Bulldogs up in the red zone, and he finished it off with a 16-yard touchdown run with seconds left in the opening quarter.
Nanakuli’s next drive covered six plays and ended on Asinsin’s 28-yard touchdown run.
The Golden Eagles continued to score, driving six plays again on their next drive to pay dirt. This time, Blaze Baltazar-Conselva crashed over the goal line from a yard out to make it 27-6.
On the first play of the very next drive, Apau threw his second pick of the game to Nanakuli’s Christopher Paulo. With the ball already in Waialua’s half of the field, the Golden Hawks scored in five plays, capped by Nathan Pele-Tukumoeatu’s 3-yard scoring run.
With a quarterback change sparking a bit of offensive momentum, the Bulldogs answered. Jack Amancio took the helm, and promptly led Waialua on a seven-play drive, including Amancio’s 20-yard touchdown throw to Zara. The score was quickly matched by Nanakuli however. After Federico’s 71-yard kick return, the Golden Hawks needed just two plays to score. Salausa-Kaawa threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Kalili and Nanakuli led 41-13 at halftime.
Nanakuli piled on to open the third quarter. An 11-play drive to start the period resulted in Salausa-Kaawa’s fourth passing touchdown, a 17-yard dart to Kolomona Aleka. The Golden Hawks recovered the ensuing onside kick, before embarking on another time-draining eight-play drive. This time it was Mahoe who provided the capper, scoring on the ground from 5 yards out.
Waialua touched the football for the first time in the second half with less than half a minute remaining in the third quarter. The Bulldogs made their way down the field, but the nine-play drive, their longest of the day, ended with Cyprus Rombawa-Kai-Rivera’s interception of Amancio. Waialua would get the ball back one last time after a Nanakuli fumble, but nothing came of the last-ditch drive.
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NANAKULI 54, WAIALUA 13
at Nanakuli
Waialua (0-2) 6 7 0 0 — 13
Nanakuli (1-1) 13 28 13 0 — 54
Nana—David Kalili 20 pass from Hansen
Salausa-Kaawa (Chance Asinsin kick)
Nana—Kalili 20 pass from Salausa-Kaawa (kick blocked)
Wail—Tyson Apau 16 run (kick blocked)
Nana—Christian Asinsin 28 run (2-pt. failed)
Nana—Blaze Baltazar-Conselva 1 run (Richard Federico pass from Salausa-Kaawa)
Nana—Nathan Pele-Tukumoeatu 3 run (kick blocked)
Wail—James Zara 20 pass from Jack
Amancio (Makoakao Fierro kick)
Nana—Kalili 5 pass from Salausa-Kaawa (Chr. Asinsin run)
Nana—Kolomona Aleka 17 pass from Salausa Kaawa (33 kick)
Nana—Allen Mahoe III 5 run (kick blocked)
RUSHING—Waialua: Fierro 11-36, Apau 4-14, Amancio 2-1. Nanakuli: Chr. Asinsin 16-95, Raymond Senensi 7-25, Salausa-Kaawa 4-24, Pele-Tukumoeatu 4-23, Kalili 1-6, Mahoe III 1-5, Baltazar-Conselva 1-1, TEAM 1-(minus 6).
PASSING—Waialua: Amancio 4-8-1-47, Apau 1-9-2-(minus 2). Nanakuli: Salausa-Kaawa 16-24-0-213.
RECEIVING—Waialua: Zara 2-21, Apau 1-25, Gabriel Wirtz 1-1, Fierro 1-(minus 2). Nanakuli: Kalili 6-48, Federico 4-61, Mahoe III 3-66, Pele-Tukumoeatu 2-21, Aleka 1-17.
Junior Varsity: Nanakuli 31, Radford 0
