Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

Saturday, September 16, 2000

Waianae shuts down
Mililani ground attack

---

By Ben Henry
Special to the Star-Bulletin

As the saying goes, beware of Greeks bearing gifts. But these Trojans would be wise to beware of Searider running backs carrying footballs.

Lono Manners and Peter Sarono combined for 195 yards rushing and receiving to lead No. 4 Waianae past No. 7 Mililani, 19-7, last night at the Trojans' Field.

Stopping Brian Daniels, who tied a state record with six touchdowns against Kailua on Sept. 2, was the key in this matchup between two previously undefeated Oahu Interscholastic Association Red teams.

The Waianae ball carriers overshadowed Mililani's Trojan workhorse.

Coming into last night's game, Sarono was second in the OIA Red in rushing and Manners, who scored two touchdowns last night, was ninth (despite playing only one game, due to injury).

"They're the best running back tandem in the league," Mililani head coach James Millwood said.

Waianae's defensive line pulled a number on Daniels, holding the OIA Red's leading rusher to just 8 yards on eight carries.

"Their front seven played better than our front seven," Millwood said.

"They shut down our running game," Daniels said. "They expected the run."

But Waianae head coach Daniel Matsumoto, whose Seariders improved to 3-0 in the OIA and 4-0 overall, says he didn't change anything defensively to accommodate for Daniels.

"We stuck to our basic defense," Matsumoto said. "But we were expecting a big game. He's a great runner."

After a scoreless first quarter, Manners ran 61 yards off a screen pass from Brandon Lopes to set up Waianae's first touchdown, Manners' 3-yard run, with just 39 seconds left in the half.

"That changed the whole momentum of the game," Millwood said.

Halfway through the third quarter, Waianae's Shawn Bebeau caught 33- and 22-yard passes to set up the Seariders' second score.

And after a 28-yard scat by Sarono on a trap put the Seariders up 19-0, Mililani's defense pinned Waianae on its own 2-yard line, cramping punter Kekoa Llanes and forcing him to kick a line drive. Jose Santos returned it 38 yards for Mililani's only score.

The Trojans threatened again, with Kali French completing a 32-yard pass to receiver Trey Brown with under four minutes left. But on the next play, French's pass into the end zone from the Waianae 12 was intercepted by Calvin Brown.

Matsumoto said he was not pleased with his team's performance.

"We played sloppy," he said, referring to his team's seven penalties for 70 yards. "We need to work on blocking. The penalties really hurt us."

Waianae (3-0, 4-0)	0	7	12	0--19
Mililani (2-1, 2-2)	0	0	0	7--7

Scoring summary

Waia--Lono Manners 3 run (Shawn Bebeau kick)
Waia--Manners 1 run (kick failed)
Waia--Sarono 28 run (pass failed)
Mil--Jose Santos 35 punt return (Vance Harris kick)

Individual statistics

Rushing--Waia: Manners 13-53, Sarono 11-55, Brandon Lopes 4-11, Jonah Nunuha 2-(-11), James Woodard 1-1. Mil: Brian Daniels 8-8, Kepa Morris 1-0, Xavier Sequeira 6-70, Kali French 7-(-13).

Passing--Waia: Nunuha 3-5-0 for 50 yards, Lopes 8-11-1 for 141 yards. Mil: French 9-19-2 for 53 yards, Mana Au 1-5-0 for 33 yards.

Receiving--Waia: Sarono 1-(-2), Enriquez 1-40, Manners 6-89, Bebeau 2-55, Darryl Correa 1-9. Mil: Morris 4-(-2), Trey Brown 3-75, Sequeira 2-7, Au 1-6.

Junior varsity game: Waianae 40, Mililani 6