Saturday, October 6, 2001
[ PREP FOOTBALL ]
Kailua High School earned sweet redemption last night with a 20-14 win over McKinley at Aloha Stadium. Kailua gets back
on winning trackBy Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comA week after being pounded by Kahuku 48-7, an opportunistic offense and stubborn defense led Kailua to the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red Conference win.
Kailua remains a game behind first-place Kahuku at 4-1, while McKinley fell to 2-3 in the conference.
"We needed to get this win," Kailua coach Darren Johnson said. "Everybody's backs are up against the wall and the way the playoff format is, everybody must win.
"You've got teams in the Red Conference where everybody's knocking off each other. It's going to be a dogfight every week. We cannot afford another loss."
Kailua running back Brenton Harbottle rushed for 141 yards, and his 15-yard touchdown dash around the right end in the third quarter broke a 14-14 halftime tie and gave Kailua a lead it would not relinquish.
The Surfrider defense limited McKinley to 33 yards in total offense and came up with three interceptions in the win.
"Overall, the defense played great tonight," Johnson said. "(In the second half) they played shutout football and gave us an opportunity to score one time, and that's what we needed to do."
Kailua generated 327 yards on offense. Taleki Mailau completed 11 of 18 passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns, both to Ryan Lum, who finished with 113 yards receiving.
Running back Lorgan Pau was the Tigers' main offensive threat and finished with 38 rushing yards. McKinley quarterbacks Abel Werner and Anapuni Coleman could only manage three completions for 22 yards between them.
McKinley jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter thanks in part to a special teams miscue by Kailua. A long snap sailed over the head of Kailua punter Koa Sniffen, who recovered the ball but was tackled at the Kailua 2. Pau scored on a 1-yard dive two plays later.
Kailua answered on its next possession with a six-play, 83-yard march capped by Mailau's 29-yard scoring pass to Lum.
The Surfriders took the lead in the second quarter when Mailau hit Lum on a post pattern for a 25-yard scoring strike.
McKinley tied the game just before halftime on a 1-yard dive by Kimo Terry. Terry and Pau carried the ball on all but one play in the eight-play drive. The Tigers were aided by three Kailua penalties, including a personal foul that gave McKinley the ball at the Kailua 30 to start the drive. An encroachment call on third-and-four helped extend the drive.
In all, Kailua was flagged 12 times for 95 yards in the first half. The Surfriders finished with 18 penalties for 150 yards.
Kailua took the lead on Harbottle's 15-yard run with 3:14 left in the third quarter. The eight-play scoring drive was set up by an interception by Malakai Mokofisi.
Jeff Cummings recorded two interceptions in the first half for Kailua and Eric Beattie registered three sacks as the Surfrider defense frustrated the McKinley attack.
The Kailua offense played keep-away for much of the fourth quarter to ice the win. The Surfriders held the ball for the final 5:56 of the game, taking a McKinley punt and driving to the McKinley 6 on 13 plays before running out the clock.
Mililani 29, Leilehua 13: The Trojans, coming off a 10-0 blanking of McKinley last week, dominated their Central Oahu rivals last night.
Mililani jumped ahead on a Peter Renesas 13-yard run, on its way to 22 unanswered points by halftime.
The Mules have not won a game since beating Aiea 17-14 in September of last year. They host Kahuku next week.
Mililani travels to Kaimuki next.
Campbell 25, Kaimuki 12: The Sabers dominated in the first quarter and cruised to a victory over the Bulldogs.
Jonah Canionero hit Prentiss Anderson and Gino Venti with touchdown passes, with a Shauncey Saito 33-yard scoresandwiched in between.
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