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POSTED: Saturday, December 13, 2008

Just about the only thing the Mainland All-Stars did wrong was botch two point-after-touchdown snaps.

Other than that, it was a seamless performance by the squad of 4- and 5-star recruits. The Mainland All-Stars got touchdown passes of 52 and 34 yards by Bryn Renner in a 22-8 win over Hawaii/Polynesia last night at Aloha Stadium.

It was a stunning debut for the bowl game, mostly because the Mainlanders didn't look like a team that had just three practices to prepare. In a game controlled by the Mainland's run-stopping defense and numbingly-long TV time outs, the pro-Hawaii/Poly crowd had few opportunities to cheer.

In all, the visitors picked off Hawaii/Poly passers six times — three by safety Corey Brown (Ohio State), two by Adam Hall and one each by Ricardo Dixon (South Florida) and Dorian Bell (Ohio State).

“;It all started with the defensive line. They put a lot of pressure on the quarterback and made it easy for me,”; Brown said. “;I give it up to them.”;

Coach Bill Renner praised his secondary.

“;That's as good a DBs as you'll see on a (high school) field,”; he said. “;This is the last time I'll coach Bryn on the field. It's been a good four years. I'll get to be dad now.”;

Hawaii/Poly linebacker Manti Te'o gave props to the winners.

“;I think they're a team with great athletes, but we made some major mistakes. We came up short, but our team did well for the amount of time we had together. It was a great experience. I enjoyed myself.”;

The Mainland All-Stars ran a no-huddle, run-and-shoot offense from the start, but it was the defense that made an impact early against Hawaii/Poly's ground game. Linebacker Zeke Motta (Notre Dame) stripped the ball from Rico Newman and defensive tackle Jordan Stepp (Cincinnati) returned it 20 yards to the Hawaii/Poly 20-yard line.

Four plays later, David Wilson (Virginia Tech) swept around the right side for an easy 4-yard touchdown run. The Mainland led 6-0 with 5:09 to go in the opening quarter.

UH-bound Corey Nielsen fumbled the handoff exchange with Apelu So'oalo on the ensuing snap, and Dilon Quinn (Boston College) recovered for the Mainland at the Hawaii/Poly 9-yard line. Notre Dame-bound Nick Tausch drilled a 37-yard field goal to give the visitors a 9-0 lead with 4:04 left in the first.

Hawaii/Poly's best drive, engineered by quarterback Cayman Shutter (Hawaii), ended at the Mainland's 6-yard line.

A 52-yard bomb from Renner (North Carolina) to Trabis Ward boosted the visiting team to a 16-0 lead with 3:09 left in the half. Even with six first-half turnovers, Hawaii/Poly was still in the game.

However, Brown hauled in the fourth interception shortly into the second half, and Hall picked off a halfback option pass by Troy Matautia at the Mainland 4-yard line late in the third quarter.

Renner found Wilson open on a skinny post route for a 34-yard touchdown with 9:05 to go in the fourth.

Hawaii/Poly finally got on the scoreboard on a 5-yard bullet from Nielsen (Hawaii) to Robby Toma (UCLA) with 5:02 remaining.

After recovering the on-side kick, UH recruit Joey Iosefa (Samoa) showed his speed and shiftiness on a 23-yard quarterback draw, but the Mainland defense stepped up.

Hawaii/Poly's final drive ended at the 31-yard line with a minute left. Matt Garin (Minnesota), one of just three pass rushers, sacked Edmund Kamano Jr. on fourth down.

The visiting roster totaled 32 players.

Tempers flared after the visitors went ahead 22-0. Hawaii/Poly called time out and went to a knee before having a team prayer between the sideline and hashmark.

“;We wanted to do well. There was some pressure on us,”; Coach Renner said. “;I think the Hawaii team is awesome and the second half showed it. They made some plays and did a real nice job.”;

  Mainland 22, Hawaii/Polynesia 8

At Aloha Stadium

                                                                                                                                           

Mainland	9	7	0	6	—	22
Hawaii/Polynesia	0	0	0	8	—	8

Main—David Wilson 4 run (bad snap)

Main—David Tausch FG 37

Main—Trabis Ward 52 pass from Bryn Renner (Tausch kick)

Main—Wilson 34 pass from Renner (bad snap)

HP—Robby Toma 5 pass from Corey Nielsen (Nielsen run)

A—4,497

  RUSHING—Mainland: Michael Ford 13-59, David Wilson 13-57, Renner 3-7, TEAM 1-(-2), Phil Walker 4-(-20). Hawaii/Poly: Joey Iosefa 1-23, Troy Matautia 2-21, Danny Kekoanui 6-18, Nielsen 3-1, Afasene Tasi 3-(-4), Apelu So'oalo 3-(-10), TEAM 1-(-14), Edmund Kamano Jr. 3-(-18).

PASSING—Mainland: Renner 7-16-1-124, Walker 7-11-1-67. Hawaii/Poly: Kamano 12-17-2-77, Nielsen 6-13-1-70, Cayman Shutter 2-11-2-21, Troy Matautia 0-1-1-0.

RECEIVING—Mainland: James Green 4-50, Shaquelle Evans 4-30, Wilson 3-50, Ward 1-52, Michael Ford 1-4. Hawaii/Poly: Rico Newman 4-36, Toma 3-55, Lucas Gonsalves 3-45, Levi Te'o 2-22, Kekoanui 2-13, So'oalo 2-(-1), Matautia 2-(-2), Edieson Dumlao 1-3, Billy Ray Stutzmann 1-(-3).