Aiea defeats Waianae
Costly turnovers and untimely penalties ruled in last night's football game won by Aiea 21-17 over OIA Red West foe Waianae.
Na Alii quarterback Kali Kuia overcame the distractions long enough to throw for 134 yards in the wet conditions at Mililani Stadium. But in the end, the miscues grabbed most of the headlines.
"The fumbles hurt us," Waianae head coach Daniel Matsumoto said. "We don't want to blame anything on the rain. We just didn't execute."
Waianae and Aiea recorded three fumbles apiece.
"The fumbles killed us," said Aiea head coach Wendell Say.
But it was all the flags that nearly cost Aiea the win. Na Alii were called for 21 penalties, including a pass interference that nullified an interception by linebacker Kapena Fonseca, and another such call that resulted in one last down for Waianae. But with quarterback Henry Keomalu out of the game after taking a hard hit earlier in the fourth quarter, backup quarterback Kala Honda couldn't connect with his receivers.
"We had a lot of calls that we got to go review the film and see how warranted some of them were," Say said.
Keomalu had difficulty early in the half finding his receivers. His passes, while on target, were broken up by the Aiea defensive backs. But in the second quarter, Keomalu finally nailed some completions. And just minutes after Aiea took a 14-0 lead, he led his team up the field, capping the drive with a 30-yard scoring strike to Honda down the right sideline.
On Aiea's following offensive play, Searider linebacker Paul Rose picked up a ball fumbled by Na Alii running back Donny Mapusaga, and ran 18 yards for the score. A point-after by Joshua Woodward tied the game with 3 minutes left in the half.
Mapusaga finished the game with 53 yards on 19 carries.
The comeback was complete as Waianae got the ball back with a minute left in the quarter after another Aiea fumble, this time recovered by Watson Mahaulu-Kauwalu deep in Na Alii territory. Woodward gave the Seariders the 17-14 lead going into halftime with a 32-yard line-drive field goal.
"We got fortunate because of the turnovers," Matsumoto said. "We got lucky on the turnovers, but we got to take advantage of everything that we have."
Keomalu completed seven of 15 passes, throwing for 95 yards and a touchdown.
The first quarter differed greatly from the second, with Aiea controlling the tempo of the game early on.
After the Na Alii got little yardage on their first two plays, receiver Lofa Liilii caught a pass from Kuia, then broke a tackle and ran in the open field up the middle for a 53-yard gain before being wrestled down at the Seariders' 25-yard line. A 15-yard run by Mapusaga gave Aiea a first down just outside the 10-yard line. But back-to-back holding penalties pushed Na Alii out of the red zone, forcing Aiea to punt the ball away.
Waianae's Darius Fuller, who bounced off Na Alii defenders to gain extra yards throughout the game, led the team with 32 yards on the ground.
"He played tough," Matsumoto said. "He plays hard every day."
A pass interference call on Waianae on third-and-long gave Aiea a first down at the 31-yard line of Waianae. With a mix of pass and run, Na Alii drove to the 1-yard line. Kuia then plunged into the end zone on a quarterback keeper to give Aiea a 7-0 lead.
The Searider offense had just five offensive plays in the first quarter, causing their defense to be on the field for more than 9 minutes.
OIA Red East
Kailua 42, Kaimuki 7: Kelroy Kohatsu threw for 303 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Surfriders past the Bulldogs.Aaron Sylva caught a 59-yard pass from Kohatsu to give Kailua the early lead, but Kaeo Neal answered for Kaimuki with a 3-yard touchdown run. It was the last time Kaimuki scored.
Damien Torres, the OIA's leading rusher, ran for 66 yards and scored one touchdown for Kailua.
