Senas helps Leilehua
bounce back with win
Receiver Chustin Senas caught eight passes for 137 yards and three touchdowns and kicked an extra point, leading Leilehua to a 34-12 OIA Red West win over Pearl City last night at Hugh Yoshida Stadium.
Despite the absence of wide receiver Anthony Palomares (knee injury), Mules quarterback Bryant Moniz wasted no time going to his receivers. He connected on all six of his passes in the first drive, including a 1-yarder to Cordero Hall for a 7-0 lead less than 3 minutes into the Mules' homecoming game.
"I think after that Mililani game, it was a wake-up call for us," Leilehua head coach Nolan Tokuda said. "I wasn't sure how our kids were going to react to that, but we came out firing."
The Mules suffered their first loss of the season last week at conference rival Mililani.
Moniz completed nine straight passes to start the game, going 26-for-33 for 324 yards and five touchdowns.
Chargers quarterbacks Andrew Blue and Daniel Soliven didn't have as much success. Blue, who started the game, was replaced by Soliven in the second quarter after the Chargers offense was held to less than 10 yards in the first. However, Soliven couldn't find his receivers on four pass attempts. Blue re-entered the game at quarterback near the end of the half.
Earlier in the first quarter, Senas used all of his 6-foot-1 frame, leaping in the end zone to grab a 9-yard touchdown pass from Moniz.
Just before the end of the first half, Moniz again connected with Senas for a 23-yard score. Senas juggled the ball before high-stepping over a Pearl City defender into the end zone. Moniz then passed to Justin Lawelawe for the 2-point conversion to make it 21-0 at the half.
After a roughing-the-kicker call that gave the Chargers a first down, Blue completed Pearl City's first pass of the game, a 26-yard strike to Soliven. But back-to-back sacks totaling losses of 38 yards by the Mules gave the ball back to Leilehua.
From there, Senas took over, catching a deep pass by Moniz and running it down the right sideline for the 55-yard score. He then kicked the extra point, replacing regular kicker and punter Ryan Bibilone, who injured his back on a kickoff in the second quarter. Senas would also unintentionally kick onsides after the score, giving the ball back to the Mules.
"That's why I had to apologize to (Pearl City head coach Watson) Tanuvasa for that onside kick, because that's not what it was," Tokuda said. It was the first time Senas had kicked this season.
No. 3 Mililani 34, Waianae 7: Maka Kahoano threw for 96 yards and rushed for 85 as the Trojans defeated the Seariders.
Kahoano threw two touchdown passes, including the one that tied the game in the first quarter.
