HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
Bailey, Aina lead Damien to victory
One half of work from Kama Bailey was good enough for Damien.
Bailey rushed for 140 yards and three touchdowns on only 14 carries as the Monarchs earned a measure of revenge by beating Pac-Five 33-13 last night in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu opener for both teams.
In the last meeting between the two teams, Pac-Five (1-3, 0-1) defeated the Monarchs (2-1-1, 1-0) for the first time since 2002.
Bailey, who led the league in rushing a season ago, only carried the ball twice in the second half before leaving the game with an injury.
"His leg was tightening up and I didn't want to push him," Damien coach Brian Derby said. "I'm just hoping it's more of a cramp than anything."
Sophomore backup Clinton Aina rushed for 75 yards and a late touchdown in the second half, but the Monarchs clearly were lost with their leader carrying the ball. Starting quarterback James Skizewski threw for 162 yards, but was intercepted five times.
Aina scored on a 21-yard run with a little more than 5 minutes left in the game after Pac-Five turned it over on downs deep in their own territory.
"We're still trying to throw the ball to our guys and not the other guys," Derby said. "It's frustrating."
Bailey totaled 134 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, dazzling a sparse Aloha Stadium crowd with an array of shifty moves.
His first trip to the end zone came 3 minutes into the game. On a fourth-down play, Bailey shot through the interior of the Pac-Five defense for a 12-yard score and an early 7-0 lead.
Pac-Five took advantage of a strange illegal equipment penalty to answer with a touchdown on its next drive. Junior Max Mower blasted up the middle and carried defenders into the end zone for a strong 29-yard touchdown run. The extra-point try was no good, and from that point on, it was all Monarchs.
Bailey capped the first quarter with a 38-yard touchdown run with less than a minute left, giving Damien a 13-6 lead.
His third touchdown run of the first half came with a little more than a minute left. He broke four tackles in the backfield and two more down the sideline before scooting into the end zone from 13 yards out.
"Kama does some unbelievable things," Derby said. "(Clinton) Aina came in and did a great job adjusting to taking a full load, too."
The Monarchs added another score on a 45-yard interception return by Anthony Tuitele just 30 seconds later. Tuitele deflected a Jon-Ray Rodrigues pass into the air and caught it before running untouched into the end zone. The play pushed the Monarchs' lead to 20 heading into the break.
Tuitele and his brother, Nephi, dedicated this year to their father, who died just before the beginning of the season.
Ridge Dunlap intercepted two Skizewski passes in the first half for the Wolfpack, but Pac-Five couldn't convert the takeaways into points. Pac-Five did embark on a 13-play drive that took more than 8 minutes of the second quarter. But a bad pitch in the red zone from Rodrigues was recovered by Damien's Haku Correa to put a quick end to the drive.
It was one of three first-half turnovers for the Wolfpack.
"We did some things well and got some turnovers, but you can't play great defense when it's only 95 percent of the time," Derby said. "The other 5 percent of the time they killed us."
OIA RED EAST
Kailua 48, McKinley 28
The Surfriders led the entire game, led by the quarterback duo of Kale Sumner and Kenny Ellis, who combined for 108 yards passing and 53 yards receiving. Sumner also passed for three touchdowns in the win.
OIA WHITE
Pearl City 34, Kalani 14
Antoin DeWalt ran for 140 yards on five carries and a touchdown as the Chargers turned back the Falcons.
Anuenue 28, Waialua 27
Ehukai Nauka tossed two touchdown passes for Na Koa to eke out a victory over the Bulldogs.
BIIF
Hawaii Prep 43, Kohala 12
The Ka Makani rolled to victory led by Mana Purdy and Alex Bell. Purdy rushed for three touchdowns, while Bell caught two scoring passes.