StarBulletin.com

Egami powers Na Menehune to shutout rout of Bulldogs


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POSTED: Sunday, October 05, 2008

For one night, all was perfect for Big Mo.

Moanalua followed up last week's upset of then-first place Kalaheo with a 31-0 victory over Waialua before a senior night audience of about 2,000 at Na Menehune's field.

The win, a third in a row for Na Menehune, boosted Moanalua to 4-2 in OIA White play (5-2 overall). Waialua slipped to 2-3 (2-5 overall), virtually eliminated from playoff contention.

Moanalua relied on sophomore Michael Egami to guide the offense. Egami, a former third-string quarterback, sparked his team to 452 yards in total offense.

The Bulldogs use six players on both sides of the ball, and Moanalua wore them out with a mix of pistol and spread formations. Egami was 12-for-20 for 231 yards with no picks, and rushed for a team-high 89 yards on 17 carries.

Tahje Canyon rushed for 60 yards and also caught five passes, mostly on swing and screen routes, for 114 yards, including a touchdown. Wide receiver Tyler Pinkley had three receptions for 82 yards.

Moanalua's swarming defense stifled the visitors, allowing only 37 total yards.

“;I'm proud of our 'D.' Waialua always plays very hard and scrappy. Their running backs are good and they ran the ball a lot on Kaiser (last week),”; Moanalua coach Arnold Martinez said. “;Our kids did a good job of being disciplined against the counter.”;

Emmanuel Vierra (five initial tackles), DeSean Jethroe-Rose (four) and Ipulasi Eselu (four) led the way. Jethroe-Rose had 1 1/2 of his team's four sacks.

It was a frustrating night for the Bulldogs.

“;We'll go back to the drawing board and regroup,”; coach Lincoln Barit said. “;That's all you can do. Our offense didn't show up to play and the defense can only stay on the field so much.”;

Brysen Agricula had eight initial tackles to lead Waialua's defense. Kaimana Tayaba-Hatchie and Jordan Yoneda-Banis hustled for six tackles each.

Moanalua stacks up well as the White playoffs near.

“;Coach Martinez has them going good. We sure could use those numbers,”; Barit said, watching Moanalua's boisterous senior-night festivities.

Moanalua dominated the first half, limiting Waialua's offense to 5 yards.

Na Menehune opened the game with a 58-yard touchdown pass from Egami to Canyon on a swing pass on the fifth play from scrimmage. An errant snap on the PAT forced the holder, Egami, to scramble. He found Elijah Cruz in the back of the end zone for a 2-point conversion, and Moanalua led 8-0 with 9:19 left in the first quarter.

Waialua's only close-in scoring opportunity came early in the second quarter after a high snap to Cruz, who was back to punt for Moanalua, got away. The Bulldogs took over at the Moanalua 7-yard line, but the drive stalled and Kainoa Rosa was wide right on a 28-yard field-goal try.

Egami later found Pinkney down the left sideline for a long pass, and the 6-foot-4 senior rambled past two defenders for an apparent 57-yard touchdown. However, an inadvertent whistle (for defensive pass interference) blew the play dead. Moanalua got the ball at the Waialua 5-yard line, and Egami raced around left end for a touchdown on the ensuing play. Na Menehune led 15-0 with 5:39 remaining in the second quarter.

Justin Watanabe drilled the first of his three field goals, a 34-yarder with 1:05 to go in the half, for an 18-0 lead.

 

At Moanalua

                                                                                                                                           
Waialua (3-6, 3-5)00000
Moanalua (6-2, 5-2)81010331

Moan—Tahje Canyon 58 pass from Michael Egami (Elijah Cruz pass from Egami)
Moan—Egami 5 run (Justin Watanabe kick)
Moan—FG Watanabe 34
Moan—FG Watanabe 29
Moan—Canyon 2 run (Watanabe kick)
Moan—FG Watanabe 26

  RUSHINGWaialua: Kainoa Rosa 8-20, A.J. Hernandez 5-3, Kaleo Lopes 1-(minus-7), William Sacapulu-Ueda 6-(minus-29). Moanalua: Egami 17-89, Canyon 9-60, Joshua Pedro 2-31, Anthony Garingan 3-20, Tayler Tanaka 1-13, Adam Francisco 2-8, Brandon Hargrove 1-3, Keenan Ragragola 1-1, Team 1-(minus-13).
PASSINGWaialua: Sacapulu-Ueda 9-23-1-50. Moanalua: Egami 12-20-0-231, Francisco 1-2-0-9.
RECEIVINGWaialua: Hernandez 4-29, Lopes 3-20, Rosa 2-1. Moanalua: Canyon 5-114, Tyler Pinkney 3-82, Garingan 2-23, Elijah Cruz 1-9, Jonathan Cadiz 1-9, Xavier Petersen 1-3.
Junior varsity—Moanalua 41, Waialua 8

 

OIA WHITE

Kalaheo 48, Anuenue 0

Quarterback Phil Tauai scrambled for three consecutive touchdowns to lead the Mustangs in a blowout of Na Koa.

Nine Kalaheo players rushed for a combined 355 yards.

 

At Kaiser

                                                                                                                                           
Anuenue (0-8, 0-7)151314648
Kalaheo (7-1, 6-1)00000

Kalh—Shane Stevens 39 run (Dong Woo Kim kick)
Kalh—Kim 43 run (Victor Demarco run)
Kalh—Dwayne Mitchell 23 run (kick failed)
Kalh—Phil Tauai 36 run (Kim kick)
Kalh—P. Tauai 17 run (Kim kick)
Kalh—P. Tauai 1 run (Kim kick)
Kalh—Torin Kringel 57 run (kick failed)

  RUSHINGKalaheo: Stevens 2-58, Kringel 2-57, P. Tauai 3-54, Kim 1-43, Mitchell 4-40, Vincent Santoago 2-36, Shane Mason Hugentugler 2-30, Levi Jackola 1-29, Eddie Tauai 1-8. Anuenue: Kaipo Cullen 9-72, Kainoa Keanaaina 5-30, , Kanani Armitage 6-27, Kelii-Supnet 5-18, Keliikoa Aki 11-14, Ikaika Gante 4-6, Keoni Britt-Garrett 1-5, Mahuka Cullen 2-4, Aina Kaimipono Kamauoha 1-1, Kamea Kahiapo 1-(minus-3).
PASSINGKalaheo: P. Tauai 1-6-0-12. Anuenue: K. Cullen 1-4-0-12, Kahiapo 1-5-0-15.
RECEIVINGKalaheo: Edward Atanoa 1-12. Anuenue: M. Cullen 1-15, Aki 1-12.

 

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Hawaii Prep 12, Konawaena 0
Kealakehe 27, Keaau 13

 

OIA WHITE

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
WhiteConferenceOverall
TeamWLTPFPAWLTPFPA
Kalaheo6102084771025247
Campbell5101819261019499
Radford5101537052015392
Moanalua4201287952014385
Kaiser32096803309999
Aiea33043934307099
Waialua340271243503454
Anuenue0706320008084227
Kalani07061110706111