Damien 34, Nanakuli 0, FINAL
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Damien moving the ball up, killing clock with its stable of reserve backs … a 45-yard field-goal attempt is negated by a bad snap.
Nope. Turnover on downs.
Third quarter comes to an end with Nanakuli taking over at the Damien 40. Get chance to get on the board.
Damien goes three-and-out. It looks like Sulu’s night is done with Damien up a very comfortable margin.
Golden Hawks have fourth and goal from the 7 … and Crawford finds Yap in the end zone! No! Dropped. Turnover on downs. That was tough for Nanakuli.
Nanakuli’s got something brewing. They take over at midfield on a punt and take advantage, with Sedric Crawford scrambling on fourth down and heaving it to Rylen Yap for a 26-yard gain into the red zone.
Damien receivers the kickoff to open the third, and a stable of running backs (not just Sulu this time) march the ball up the field. It’s River Iaea who punches it in from 1 yard, and it’s a 34-point game. Because of the blocked XP earlier, we’re not in running time yet. Sulu’s at 217 yards and counting.
Aperamo Sulu, a 5-foot-9, 175-pound sophomore, has 192 yards and three touchdowns at halftime. He’s channeling Kama Bailey out here. Second half getting underway here shortly.
Damien goes into halftime with a commanding lead. Will tally Sulu’s rushing stats here in a second.
Sulu is off and running again, this time on a swing pass, but he fumbles it in Nanakuli territory after a pickup of 21 yards. First thing that’s gone against him today. Nanakuli ball late in the half.
Damien gets a nice punt return to midfield and they advance the ball to the Nanakuli 45. From there, they hand to Mr. Sulu, and he is gone at warp speed, 45 yards to the house for his third TD of the half. The XP is blocked by Tuitasi Fenumiai.
The teams exchange punts.
Aperamo Sulu is gone in a flash. He takes the first ball from scrimmage on the drive 47 yards to the house, weaving between defenders. Damien by three touchdowns.
Now it’s Nanakuli that picks off Hoohuli, as a tipped ball gets taken by Taz Kahalewai. But the Hawks go three-and-out.
Crawford is picked! Kevin Edwards snares it and returns it 24 yards. It’s Damien on the move now behind backup QB Hoohuli.
Nanakuli punts it off again, but Damien gets backed up due to a penalty followed by a bad handoff (loss of 11) and has to punt it away. Nanakuli has a short field. Sedric Crawford has the Hawks on the move as the first quarter comes to an end.
Damien marches up the field again and faces third and goal from the 7 after a couple of incompletions by Hoohuli. They hand it off to Aperamo Sulu, and Mr. Sulu goes right up the middle for 7 and the TD. 14-0 Damien, early.
Nanakuli picks up two first downs, one on a penalty and one on a nice pass by Crawford, but they have to punt again.
Golden Hawks receive the ball to start, but go three-and-out. They get a good punt and pin Damien at the Monarchs’ 4. However, two quarterbacks lead the visitors on a 96-yard drive capped with a 12-yard fade toss from Duke Hoohuli to Lindon Sevilleja.
Nanakuli coach Kili Watson says pregame that senior quarterback Charles Hauhio is unavailable tonight. That means linebacker Sedric Crawford, a converted linebacker, is the new signal-caller for the Golden Hawks.
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