CLOSING THE BOOK: Kailua Surfriders

After turning an 0-7 team around in his second year, Kailua coach Joseph Wong has another reclamation project in the works.

The Kailua Surfriders were the state’s hard-luck team in 2018, hanging around in plenty of games but getting off to an 0-5 start before rebounding. Scoring points was a big problem, as the Surfriders averaged only 11.7 to drop from their 18.4 the previous year. That’s the lowest total since Wong’s winless 2014 season.

The defense was much better than that team, yielding 23.8 points for just a tiny 2.5 increase over 2017. Turn overtime losses to Leilehua and Waipahu and a close loss to Damien the other way, and this could have been a .500 team.

2018 BEST PERFORMANCES

Passing

Raynen Ho-Mook compiled 590 yards with three touchdowns and five interceptions while the two other players who threw passes combined to throw nine picks. Ho-Mook had his biggest yardage game in a loss to ‘Iolani, when he went 15-26 for 185 yards and a touchdown but was beset by two of his interceptions. Still, that yardage was more than any Kailua quarterback put together last year and the most since Mark Lagazo threw for 224 yards against Mililani in 2016.

Rushing

Samson Rasay was the horse for the Surfriders between the 20s, gaining 444 yards but somehow never finding the end zone on 126 carries. The guys behind him, led by Brian-Allen Kamanu, rushed for 11 scores. Rasay chewed up 89 yards on 22 carries against ‘Iolani for the team’s season high, and he went over 50 yards in five of the nine games he played. That was a bug step back for Rasay and the Surfriders, as he followed his line for games of 143, 138 and 124 yards last year. The Surfriders didn’t have a rusher go over 100 yards for the first time since 2015’s 7-3 season.

Receiving

Ho-Mook effectively had four options to throw the ball in 2018, but none of them had a catch in every game. Kamryn Kahoonei started the season as the most dependable receiver with 303 yards and four touchdowns on 17 catches, but Case Oshiro, Kaniala Williams, who moved to quarterback at the end of the season, and Solomon Farley all hauled in at least 10 passes. Kahoonei began the season with the team’s best receiving performance, catching four passes for 102 yards and a touchdown against Mililani’s stout defense, but he was limited to three catches over the final six games. Kahoonei’s big game against the Trojans was Kailua’s first over 100 yards since Koolau Gaspar in 2015.

Defense

After an 0-5 start, it would have been easy for the Surfriders to mail it in but the defense flat refused. Kailua shut out Nanakuli 27-0 for its first win, forcing two fumbles and holding the Golden Hawks to -19 yards rushing and only 32 passing yards on nine attempts. Kailua followed that up allowing 38 points to rival Castle, but for one day the defense reigned supreme and registered shutouts in successive seasons for the first time since 2002-03.

HEAD COACH
>> Joseph Wong is 16-28 in five seasons.

STAT RANKINGS
>> RB Samson Rasay finished seventh in Division I in rushing yards.

KEY UNDERCLASSMEN IN 2018
>> QB Raynen Ho-Mook (5-11, 165), LB/RB Lahaina Kane (5-11, 176), RB Brian-Allen Kamanu (5-7, 160), WR/DB Kamryn Kahoonei (6-0, 170).

FINAL TEAM STATS