Wise lifts Kaiser
into playoffs
The senior accounts for four TDs
in a 41-28 win over Kalaheo
It had been seven years since the Kaiser Cougars last played in an Oahu Interscholastic Association playoff game, but senior quarterback Shannon Wise took it upon himself to end that streak.
Wise rushed for 90 yards and three touchdowns and threw for 239 yards and a score as the Cougars (4-4, 4-3) defeated the Kalaheo Mustangs (3-5, 3-4) 41-28 last night at Kaiser Stadium to win their third consecutive game and, more importantly, clinch the last playoff berth in the OIA White.
Facing the grim possibility of this being the final game of his career, Wise got off to a quick start, taking a bootleg 9 yards into the end zone on the Cougars' opening drive to give Kaiser a quick 7-0 lead.
After a Mustangs punt, Wise got the passing game on track, hitting Landon Kaaua with a 51-yard screen pass to set up Isaac Saffrey's 5-yard touchdown run to stretch the lead to 13.
While the Cougars offense was clicking on all cylinders early, the Mustangs offense struggled to get anything going. After being shut out in the first quarter, Mustangs quarterback David Pershin was picked off by Evan Miller on their first possession of the second quarter, which led to a 5-yard touchdown run by Wise to stretch the lead to 20-0.
The Mustangs finally got on the board on their next possession, as Pershin led the Mustangs on a 10-play, 53-yard drive, capped by a 5-yard Ebony Johnson touchdown run. But another Wise touchdown run of 2 yards with 1:24 left in the half gave the Cougars a 27-7 advantage.
Needing to strike early if they were to stay in the game, the Mustangs did exactly that, as Johnson's second touchdown of the night, this one from 3 yards out, cut the Cougars' lead to 27-14.
The score remained the same until the fourth quarter, when Pershin found Toli Ilaoa for a 17-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to seven. Willie Haile then took a fumbled extra-point attempt and raced into the end zone to convert the 2-point conversion to make the score 27-22.
But the Mustangs' comeback hit a roadblock as Wise found Matt Ching for a 25-yard touchdown on a screen pass to push the lead back up to 12.
Then on the ensuing kickoff, Jarryd Maeda recovered a Kalaheo fumble to give the Cougars the ball back. Saffrey did the rest, rushing the ball three consecutive times, the last going for a 16-yard touchdown run to help seal the win.
Ilaoa hauled in a 13-yard touchdown pass from Pershin, his second of the game, for the game's final margin.
Radford 17, Waialua 0: Radford's running game came through in the red zone as Kyle Blair scored on a 6-yard run and Kharel Price scored from a yard out as the Rams beat the Bulldogs.
Radford's defense held Waialua's rushing game to negative yardage. Radford won despite only 15 passing yards.
Eric Venglar kicked a 40-yard field goal in the first quarter to give the Rams an early lead.
Waipahu 22, Moanalua 15: Austen Benito scored the game-winner as the Marauders rallied past the Menehunes.
Tied at 15, Benito ran in a 43-yard touchdown with 4:24 left in the fourth quarter. He then kicked the extra point.
Moanalua rallied from a 15-7 deficit on John Estores' 1-yard run early in the fourth.
Benito also threw for 99 yards and rushed for 50. Stanford Leti had 16 carries for 119 yards to lead Moanalua.
