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Waianae’s Jamal Plunkett carried the load after halftime on Friday.
Plunkett finished with 181 rushing yards on 19 carries, including 145 yards in the second half, as host Waianae beat Moanalua 41-32 in an OIA Open Division game.
“I just thank the coaches for believing in me. I’m truly grateful and blessed,” Plunkett said.
The Seariders (3-5, 2-4) scored on the first possession of the second half on Plunkett’s 5-yard run, which gave them a 21-20 lead with 10:09 left in the third quarter. Waianae ran four plays on the drive — all rushes by the 5-foot-11, 225-pound Plunkett — and gained 48 yards.
“It’s real fun, like Pop Warner days. I love contact,” he said.
Na Menehune (2-6-1, 1-5) went ahead 26-21 on the next possession on Tayden-Evan Kaawa’s 1-yard pass to Jayce Bareng with 6:48 to go in the third.
Waianae took a 34-26 advantage on Tarent Moniz-Babb’s 5-yard quarterback keeper with 3:42 left in the third, and another 5-yard keeper with 9:25 left in the game.
Both scores were set up by Plunkett’s punishing running up the middle.
“Offense supported us in the second half,” said Waianae coach Thom Kaumeyer. “We were driving the ball like we should and Jamal Plunkett is just outstanding.”
Na Menehune got within 34-32 on Cameron Johnson’s 5-yard run with 5:20 remaining. The Seariders’ Nainoa Nagum broke up the potential game-tying 2-point pass into the end zone.
Waianae sealed the victory on Moniz-Babb’s 10-yard scoring pass to Joshua Santiago, which made it 41-32 with 2:20 remaining.
The Seariders finished fifth in the division, while Na Menehune placed sixth. Neither team qualified for the playoffs.
“It’s good for the seniors,” Kaumeyer said. “This is something we really wanted to do for them. They’ve been through a lot. I’m so excited we wound up with a win.”
The Seariders scored on their first possession on a 1-yard run by Dustin Pave with 10:55 remaining in the first quarter. Kaden Nauer’s PAT kick made it 7-0. The touchdown came one play after Na Menehune attempted a fake punt, which led to a 12-yard loss.
Moanalua tied it at 7-7 on Kaawa’s 63-yard pass to Jeremy Garner with 6:44 left in the first. Andy Nguyen made the PAT kick.
Waianae retook the lead at 14-7 on Plunkett’s 5-yard run with 5:25 remaining in the first, and Moanalua got within 14-13 on the next possession on Johnson’s 2-yard run with 2:54 remaining.
Na Menehune took their first lead at 20-14 on Johnson’s 6-yard run with 4:38 left before halftime.
Na Menehune had 195 yards of total offense while the Seariders had 80 in the first half.
Waianae’s average starting field position on its eight first-half possessions was Na Menehune’s 42. The Seariders started near midfield on their second-half possessions. Moanalua decided to intentionally send its kickoffs out of bounds to avoid long returns by Waianae.
The Seariders often had Na Menehune re-kick from five yards back rather than take the ball at the Waianae 35. The Seariders occasionally accepted consecutive five-yard penalties when kickoffs went out of bounds.
Waianae’s Timuani Cook had three sacks and a blocked punt.
Moanalua’s Kaawa passed for 357 yards. Johnson had 10 catches for 106 yards.
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WAIANAE 41, MOANALUA 32
At Waianae
Moanalua (2-6-1, 1-5) 13 7 6 6 — 32
Waianae (3-5, 2-4) 14 0 14 13 — 41
Wain— Dustin Pave 1 run (Kaden Nauer kick)
Moan—Jeremy Garner 63 pass from Tayden-Evan Kaawa (Andy Nguyen kick)
Wain—Jamal Plunkett 5 run (Nauer kick)
Moan—Cameron Johnson 2 run (kick failed)
Moan—Johnson 6 run (Nguyen kick)
Wain—Plunkett 5 run (Nauer kick)
Moan—Jayce Bareng 1 pass from Kaawa (pass failed)
Wain—Tarent Moniz-Babb 5 run (Nauer kick)
Wain—Moniz-Babb 5 run (pass failed)
Moan—Johnson 6 run (pass failed)
Wain—Joshua Santiago 10 pass from Moniz-Babb (Nauer kick)
RUSHING—Moanalua: Johnson 13-21,
Ryson Lum 1-(minus 1), team 1-(minus 1), Kaawa 7-(minus 3). Waianae: Plunkett 19-181, Dayton Kuhiiki 4-29, Brandon Tai Tin 2-6, Moniz-Babb 3-5, Pave 1-1, Tevin Wilbur 2-0, team 3-(minus 7).
PASSING—Moanalua: Kaawa 30-54-1-357. Waianae: Moniz-Babb 6-15-0-64.
RECEIVING—Moanalua: Johnson 10-106, Bareng 7-58, Garner 5-98, Kingston Ishimine 4-57, Wells 2-22, Lum 1-10, Keenan Ulu 1-6. Waianae: Santiago 4-49, Keoni McLeod 1-10, Akoni Halemano 1-5.
Junior varsity—Waianae 55, Moanalua 6
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