Tuifua's late TD pushes Kailua past Castle
POSTED: Sunday, October 05, 2008
The Kailua Surfriders aren't finished just yet.
Kailua rallied for an emotional 21-20 victory on senior night over Windward rival Castle, and kept the possibility of playing in the Oahu Interscholastic Association playoffs. Now, the Surfriders (2-5, 2-4 OIA Red East) are in wait-and-see mode for the result of McKinley's matchup with Roosevelt next week and hope their two consecutive wins to close the regular season were enough.
If the Tigers win, the Surfriders are out because of the head-to-head tiebreaker. If winless Roosevelt pulls off the victory, Kailua qualifies instead.
“;It was a must-win, and it was a tall order,”; said Kailua coach Gary Rosolowich shortly after a Gatorade-dousing from his players. “;We went with the Apollo 13 theme this week, which is 'Failure is not an option.' (The players) rose to the occasion and kept battling. Today, it fell on our side of the ledger.”;
Big plays from some of the Surfriders seniors allowed the team to get to that point.
On Kailua's final drive, Kapena Alameda went deep and extended completely horizontal to haul in an improbable 42-yard heave from quarterback Bob Lastimosa. Following a costly Castle personal foul, the Surfriders needed 12 yards to score and 267-pound Manako Tuifua bulled his way in for the game-winning TD with 1 minute, 53 seconds left.
“;I was thinking there wasn't much time left and we needed a big play to come out,”; Alameda said. “;I just gave all I got in that play. I'll remember that one for the rest of my life.”;
Kailua shut down Castle's dangerous quarterback, Blake Rapozo, when it mattered on the Knights' (4-3, 3-2) final drive of the game. Rapozo—who threw for 316 yards and all three of Castle's touchdowns—converted on fourth down to start the drive, but was picked by Kailua senior Rock Trueman when the ball deflected off another player's helmet near the sideline.
“;I was really happy about that one,”; Trueman said with a laugh. “;All I saw was the ball in the air and I caught 'em.”;
Rosolowich exorcised a few demons in the process. The Surfriders snapped a six-game losing streak to the Knights going back to the 2002 OIA playoffs and Rosolowich earned his first victory over Kaneohe counterpart Nelson Maeda.
The Surfriders had also suffered several close defeats—including back-to-back losses by one point.
“;Our players knew what kind of team we'd be facing tonight,”; Maeda said. “;They're a very physical team and it showed tonight.”;
At Kailua
| Castle (4-3, 3-2) | 7 | 6 | 7 | 0 | — | 20 |
| Kailua (2-5, 2-4) | 0 | 7 | 6 | 8 | — | 21 |
Cast—Lowen Rogers 67 pass from Blake Rapozo (Derek Hillegass kick)
Kail—Bubba Sato 12 run (Trey Tam kick)
Cast—Rogers 82 pass from Rapozo (kick failed)
Kail—Sato 5 run (kick failed)
Cast—Shaydon Kehano 28 pass from Rapozo (Hillegass kick)
Kail—Team safety
Kail—Manako Tuifua 2 run (pass failed)
RUSHING—Castle: Garrett Paredes 7-10, Hans Reppuhn 1-2, Jaysen Ferreira 2-0, Team 1-(minus-7), Rogers 2-(minus-15), Rapozo 7-(minus-20). Kailua: Sato 26-112, Tuifua 2-21, Ioane Aipa 3-11, Wa'a Kekauoha 3-6, Bob Lastimosa 1-5, Sty Kahale 2-(minus-4).
PASSING—Castle: Rapozo 14-27-1-316. Kailua: Lastimosa 7-15-1-69, Kahale 1-1-0-32.
RECEIVING—Castle: Kehano 8-103, Rogers 2-149, Reppuhn 2-18, Kevin Aipia Jr. 1-34, Micah Wada 1-12. Kailua: Kapena Alameda 2-45, Corey Lau 2-34, Tuifua 1-9, Chason Louis-Soares 1-9, Josh Kamakea 1-6, Sato 1-(minus-2).
Junior varsity—Castle 21, Kailua 15
Kaimuki 36, McKinley 0
The Bulldogs rolled to a shutout win over the Tigers as the defense previewed its night-long dominance on the first score of the night, a 71 yard interception return.
Kaimuki added two second- half safeties to seal the defensive victory while Justin Pederes led the offense with 153 yards rushing. Quarterback Nainoa Hiapo finished with two touchdowns.
At Roosevelt
| Kaimuki (4-3, 3-2) | 7 | 12 | 9 | 8 | — | 36 |
| McKinley (1-6, 1-4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
Kaim—Jeremiah Matagi 71 interception return (Nicholas Lino kick)
Kaim—Chris Fiamate 10 pass from Nainoa Hiapo (kick failed)
Kaim—Trendt Marsom 15 pass from Hiapo (pass failed)
Kaim—Justin Pederes 1 run (Lino kick)
Kaim—Safety
Kaim—Safety
Kaim—Lino 19 run (kick failed)
RUSHING—McKinley: Theodore Spensor 8-41, Kainoa Kahalewai 8-29, Sio Fiso 9-24, Roy Aliksa 4-22, Alvin Ponce 5-11, Michael Terry 1-0, Ionatana Woodward 1-0, Solomon Dixon 1-(minus-2). Kaimuki: Pederes 21-153, Lino 5-41, Andrew Save 2-35, Eddie Char 4-19, Casey Sanft-O'Brien 1-8, Tevita Aholelei 2-5, Hiapo 1-3.
PASSING—McKinley: Theodore Spensor 2-9-1-10, Fiso 1-6-0-30. Kaimuki: Hiapo 5-11-0-67.
RECEIVING—McKinley: Woodward 2-31, Ponce 1-9. Kaimuki: Chris Fiamate 2-36, Marsom 1-15, Save 1-14, Pederes 1-2.
Junior varsity—Kaimuki 34, McKinley 12.
OIA RED EAST
| Red East | Conference | Overall |
||||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PF | PA | W | L | T | PF | PA |
| Kahuku | 5 | 0 | 0 | 109 | 33 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 125 | 82 |
| Farrington | 4 | 1 | 0 | 108 | 39 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 138 | 70 |
| Castle | 3 | 2 | 0 | 104 | 65 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 146 | 132 |
| Kaimuki | 3 | 2 | 0 | 105 | 49 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 133 | 83 |
| Kailua | 2 | 4 | 0 | 95 | 114 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 110 | 135 |
| McKinley | 1 | 4 | 0 | 27 | 162 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 32 | 217 |
| Roosevelt | 0 | 5 | 0 | 25 | 111 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 63 | 144 |
OIA RED WEST
| Red West | Conference | Overall |
||||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PF | PA | W | L | T | PF | PA |
| Waianae | 4 | 1 | 0 | 138 | 77 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 165 | 128 |
| Leilehua | 4 | 1 | 0 | 144 | 71 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 200 | 85 |
| Kapolei | 4 | 2 | 0 | 134 | 92 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 195 | 118 |
| Mililani | 3 | 2 | 0 | 95 | 63 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 136 | 139 |
| Waipahu | 3 | 2 | 0 | 138 | 79 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 218 | 93 |
| Nanakuli | 0 | 5 | 0 | 24 | 166 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 72 | 205 |
| Pearl City | 0 | 5 | 0 | 58 | 182 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 85 | 235 |
