Leilehua’s James McGary is back from injury and appears ready to make up for lost time.
McGary, who missed the first three games of the season with a broken right ring finger, rushed 28 times for 223 yards and three touchdowns as host Leilehua pulled away in the second half to beat No. 8 ‘Iolani 31-20 in an OIA/ILH Division I game Saturday.
“For five weeks, I was a little ballboy. I came back and I’m starting to ball out,” said McGary, who injured his right hand while stiff-arming a teammate the first week of contact practices.
McGary scored on an 80-yard run in the first quarter and a pair of 3-yard runs in the second half as the Mules outscored the Raiders 24-7 in the second half.
“We didn’t really make adjustments, we just played,” Leilehua coach Mark Kurisu said of his team’s second-half performance.
Leilehua (4-1, 3-0) turned in a bend-but-don’t-break performance on defense in the first half, then dominated play in the second.
The Raiders reached the red zone on five of their six first-half possessions, but settled for a 13-7 lead at the break.
“Obviously, that’s been our nemesis the past few games,” ‘Iolani coach Wendell Look said. “We move the ball between the 20s and we get in the red zone and have problems putting points on the board.”
‘Iolani’s Jonah Chong completed 31 of 52 passes for 312 yards, relying mostly on short passes to move the ball.
“We had to give up the hitches, we knew the wideouts were going to be running those routes,” Kurisu said. “We let them catch, keep everything in front and make the tackle.”
‘Iolani (3-2, 2-1) scored 13 consecutive points on a pair of 30-yard field goals by Mika Makekau and a 7-yard scoring pass from Chong to Jonah Miyazawa to take a six-point lead.
Then the Mules took over with 24 consecutive points.
McGary’s 3-yard run capped the opening drive of the second half to give Leilehua the lead. Jeremy Evans then caught a 42-yard scoring pass from Max Nichols, Akoni Tom-Makue booted a 41-yard field goal and McGary had another 3-yard scoring run.
GAME SUMMARY
Leilehua 31, No. 8 ‘Iolani 20
At Leilehua
>> ‘Iolani (3-2, 2-1) 3 10 0 7 — 20
>> Leilehua (4-1, 3-0) 7 0 7 17 — 31
Leilehua — James McGary 80 run (Akoni Tom-Makue kick)
‘Iolani — FG Mika Makekau 30
‘Iolani — FG Makekau 30
‘Iolani — Jonah Miyazawa 7 pass from Jonah Chong (Makekau kick)
Leilehua — McGary 3 run (Tom-Makue kick)
Leilehua — Jeremy Evans 42 pass from Max Nichols (Tom-Makue kick)
Leilehua — FG Tom-Makue 41
Leilehua — McGary 3 run (Tom-Makue kick)
‘Iolani — Wailoa Manuel 27 pass from Chong (Makekau kick)
RUSHING — ‘Iolani: Kaua Nishigaya 16-60, Chong 6-4, Team 2-(minus 8). Leilehua: McGary 28-223, Nichols 10-11, Cody Aka 4-6, Dorian Furtado 1-(minus 1), Team4-(minus 4).
PASSING — ‘Iolani: Chong 31-52-0-312. Leilehua: Nichols 7-14-1-111.
RECEIVING — ‘Iolani: Carter Kamana 13-139, Miyazawa 10-98, Raydon Kaneshiro 3-25, Rexton Suzuki 3-15, Manuel 1-27, Nishigaya 1-8. Leilehua: Evans 3-91,Furtado 3-19, Jayzon Ramos 1-1.
