No. 2 Kahuku wears down Roosevelt
To soften up Roosevelt’s tough interior defense, the Kahuku Red Raiders flexed their muscles.
Second-ranked Kahuku went to its power ground attack to break open a close game and overpower Roosevelt 31-12 last night at Carleton Weimer Field.
A 55-yard touchdown jaunt by Tyrone Brown and a 65-yard bomb from Evan Moe to Shairone Thompson broke the game open in the second half for Kahuku (4-0), which improved to 2-0 in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red East.
Roosevelt (1-3, 0-2) trailed just 10-6 at the half, thanks to a swarming defense led by linebacker Micah Lono-Holani, but suffered its second loss in as many weeks to two of the East’s powerhouses: Kahuku and Farrington.
The long run by Brown, who shared time in the backfield with Galeai Malufau and Viliami Pasi, was sensational. The junior went left with a toss, nearly went down in a crowd, but bear-crawled his way back up and cut back to the right for the touchdown. That play, the last of the third quarter, gave Kahuku breathing room with a 17-6 lead.
“They got that 55-yard touchdown (run) and that kind of broke the momentum,” Roosevelt coach Pat Silva said.
Then, with 10:06 left in the fourth quarter, Moe delivered the long strike to Thompson, who caught the ball at the 20-yard line and raced to pay dirt. It was the only catch of the game for the 6-foot-4 tight end.
Kahuku’s determination to run the ball in the second half wore down Roosevelt’s defense. The Red Raiders rushed 50 times in all for 300 yards.
“That’s their forte,” Silva said. “Our ‘D’ did a helluva job. They kept the game pretty close.”
Twice, Roosevelt receivers dropped potential touchdown passes in the first half. Three times, the Rough Riders started drives in Kahuku territory without scoring.
“We didn’t take advantage when our defense got us turnovers,” Silva added.
Kahuku’s defense was stellar, limiting Roosevelt to minus-20 yards rushing, including five sacks. Two were by linebacker Loti Kalepi.
Kahuku’s offense, which managed just 101 total yards in last week’s win at Kailua, was again in developmental stage. A 33-yard strike from Moe to Pololu Silva on Kahuku’s second play from scrimmage led to a 26-yard field goal from Cameron Mercado.
Kahuku lined up for a field goal from 52 yards out, but Mercado’s kick was low.
Roosevelt’s run-and-shoot attack had some success in the first half, but couldn’t get in the end zone for much of the first 30 minutes. A 19-yard field-goal try was blocked by Kahuku’s Ben Mamea after a bad snap, but the Red Raiders gave the ball back two plays later. A handoff from Moe to Malufau went awry and Roosevelt linebacker Tyler Hayashi recovered at the Kahuku 6-yard line. On third and goal, Matthew Lono-Holani found Drayson Ito open for a 6-yard touchdown pass.
The Rough Riders led 6-3 with about 7 minutes left in the second quarter.
Kahuku’s kickoff return was bad news when defensive lineman Kona Schwenke was ejected after committing a personal foul. Still, the Red Raiders shelved their passing game on the ensuing series and ground out 89 yards in 11 plays.
Pasi and Malufau followed their blockers left and right out of I-slot and single-back sets. Tyrone Brown’s rumbling 14-yard gain set up the Red Raiders at the 5-yard line, and Malufau scored two plays later out of the wishbone for a 2-yard touchdown run.
Kahuku led 10-6 with 2:37 remaining in the first half. The second half was all muscle and ground attack for the Red Raiders.
After the touchdowns by Brown and Thompson, Moe found Kaipo Pearl for a 17-yard scoring pass as Kahuku took a 31-6 lead with 8:02 left.
Roosevelt’s dangerous deep threat, Agaese Tago, scored on a 80-yard catch — breaking one tackle and juking past another defender, midway through the fourth quarter.
Pasi’s 11-yard touchdown run on an option pitch from Moe closed out the scoring with 2:31 remaining.
Radford 21, Pearl City 20
Zach Lagier grabbed a quick slant from J.B. Fontenot, broke a tackle and rambled 23 yards for a touchdown with 6 minutes remaining to lead the Rams (2-2, 2-1) over the host Chargers in a see-saw game of OIA White division rivals.
Pearl City quarterback Isaac Shim tossed two touchdown passes, the second a 3-yarder to Hayden Concepcion in the corner of the end zone, to put the Chargers up 20-14 entering the fourth quarter.
The Chargers’ Cyrus Coen broke off an off-tackle run 62 yards for a score to give Pearl City (1-2, 1-1 OIA White) the early lead, but Radford answered with a 3-yard touchdown run by Phil Hogan and a 23-yard fumble return for a touchdown after a blind-side sack by the Radford defense.
Shim tossed the first of his touchdown passes to Ray Cooper to even the score entering halftime.
Aiea 31, Kalaheo 14
Otto-Titan Salausa had 18 rushes for 143 yards and a touchdown as Na Alii proved to be inhospitable hosts to the visiting Mustangs in an OIA White game.
The 5-foot-10, 190-pound junior capped the scoring for Aiea with a 4-yard scoring run with a little more than 5 minutes remaining in the game.
Kalaheo’s Jesse Carney rushed eight times for 128 yards, including an 85-yard touchdown late in the first quarter.
McKinley 23, Kailua 21
Solomon Dixon had a 76-yard scoring grab and added a 62-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter to rally the Tigers past the Surfriders in an OIA Red East battle.
Dixon’s second-quarter scoring grab from McKinley quarterback Iosefatu Fiso rallied the Tigers after Kailua jumped out to a 14-0 lead behind scoring runs by Clinton Aina and Eric Lum.
Dixon also ran five times for 66 yards, including his long run with 3:17 remaining to cap McKinley’s comeback.
Aina racked up 142 yards on 12 carries for Kailua, including a 59-yard run in the first quarter to open the scoring, and an 18-yarder to give the Surfriders the lead, 21-17, before Dixon’s late heroics.
Waialua 21, Kalani 7
Branden Galapia had a 2-yard touchdown run and Rudi Galapia recovered a fumble in the end zone for a TD as the Bulldogs beat the visiting Falcons in an OIA White game.
Kalani tied the game at 7 in the second quarter when Samulea Tupou recovered a fumble in the end zone for the Falcons.
Galapia recovered his fumble after the half and Kamalei Rosa’s 9-yard scoring run closed the scoring for Waialua.
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