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HawaiiDigitalSports.com
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Aloha and Welcome to Hawaii Digital Sports photo and video presentation of the Oahu Interscholastic Association OIA RED Football Championship Game between the Kahuku Red Raiders (www.goredraiders.com) and Leilehua Mules.
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Kahuku rallies late to topple Leilehua, 24-20
By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hauoli Jamora achieved a lineman’s dream by scoring a touchdown, but he’ll take the five sacks that helped top-ranked Kahuku rally past No. 3 Leilehua 24-20 last night at Aloha Stadium to win its second consecutive and 14th O’ahu Interscholastic Association football title since 1970.
Kahuku (11-0) draws a first-round state Division I tournament bye and plays in one semifinal Nov. 27 at Aloha Stadium.
Leilehua (8-3) will play Maui Interscholastic League champion Baldwin, at 6 p.m. Nov. 20 at War Memorial Stadium in Wailuku. The game will be aired live by OC 16.
Last night’s game was delayed about 15 minutes with 7:35 left in the game when Leilehua’s leading receiver, Kamana Akagi, was taken to the hospital by ambulance after a collision with a Kahuku player on an incomplete pass. Akagi raised his right arm as he was being lifted into the ambulance, apparently trying to show everyone he was OK. Leilehua athletic director Jimmy Toyota said Akagi was unconscious for a while, but was optimistic the injury wasn’t too serious.
“It was hard because Mana’s one of our main receivers and we just love’em as a brother,” Leilehua senior QB Andrew Manley said. “So seeing him leave like that just hurt all of us. We knew we had to pick it up. We wanted to try to play for him, but the ball happened to go their way and they came out with a win. They’re a great team.”
But it was his relentless pass rushing that had Manley under pressure most of the time.
“I think the sacks (were more satisfying) because the touchdown was kind of given,” Jamora said. “The ball was just there.”
The Mules trailed 10-0 after the first quarter before Manley’s two second-quarter TD passes put them ahead, 13-10 at the half.
Kahuku scored on its first series after Leilehua only managed a 16-yard punt to the Mules’ 34. But Leilehua’s defense stiffened enough to allow Kahuku to settle on a 42-yard field goal by Cameron Mercado with 7:05 left in the first quarter.
A sack by Jamora on Manley forced a fumble that Kona Schwenke recovered at the Mules’ 44. Tailback Viliami Pasi scored from 5 yards out with no time left on the clock to end the first quarter. Mercado’s PAT made it 10-0.
The Mules finally got on the board in the second quarter. Manley dropped a rainbow pass to Darrien Shealy for a 31-yard TD, but Timothy Momiyama missed his PAT to keep it 10-6 with 4:58 left in the half.
The Mules later scored on Manley’s 10-yard fade pass to Akagi. Momiyama’s PAT made it 13-10 at the half.
The Mules increased their lead in the third quarter when a low snap from center in punt formation delayed the punter enough to have his punt blocked and downed at the Kahuku 28. Four plays later, Manley hit Shealy on a 17-yard TD pass to make it 20-10.
Kahuku pulled to 20-17 with 8:30 left in the fourth quarter when Tupuola blocked a punt that was recovered by Jamora in the end zone.
Kahuku took the lead after punter Fred Padrones came up two yards shy on a fake punt, giving the Red Raiders the ball at the Mules’ 48. Vea scored on an end reverse on a 44-yard run to give Kahuku a 24-20 lead with 5:06 left.
KAHUKU (11-0) 10 0 0 14 — 24
LEILEHUA (8-3) 0 13 7 0 — 20
Kah—FG Cameron Mercado 42
Kah—Viliami Pasi 5 run (Mercado kick)
Lei—Darrien Shealy 31 pass from Andrew Manley (kick failed)
Lei—Kamana Akagi 10 pass from Manley (Timothy Momiyama kick)
Lei—Shealy 17 pass from Manley (Momiyama kick)
Kah—Hauoli Jamora blocked punt recovery in end zone (Mercado kick)
Kah—Punga Vea 44 run (Mercado kick)
RUSHING—Kahuku: Evan Moe 8-48, Pasi 19-73, Tyrone Brown 8-10, Team 1-(minus 2), Fonoivasa Mata’afa 6-6. Leilehua: Manley 13-(minus 36), Carlos Marshall 7-10, Austin Schmidt 1-8, CJ Bailey 2-3, Fred Padrones 1-2.
PASSING—Kahuku: Moe 5-9-1—46. Leilehua: Manley 24-37-2—280.
RECEIVING—Kahuku: Punga Vea 1-19, Kaipo Pearl 1-8, Mata’afa 1-1, Sage Kaka 1-13, Blaze Kubota 1-5. Leilehua: Blaine Furtado 1-(minus1), Keanu Sapla 4-46, Marshall 8-91, Shealy 5-83, C.J. Bailey 2-9, Akagi 3-18, Kyle Cruse Gombio 1-34.
Kahuku rallies for the Red
By Paul Honda
Honolulu Star Bulletin
Kahuku’s cardiac kids did it again.
It’s their second OIA Red title in a row and sixth in the past seven years, and again, the heart of the crown came from Kahuku’s defense. Hauoli Jamora was a huge factor with five of his team’s eight sacks. The Red Raiders limited Leilehua’s Andrew Manley to 245 passing yards (23-for-35).
“We know he’s accurate, so we tried to bring the pressure,” Jamora said. His partners in the trenches, Kona Schwenke and Veteson Sauni, combined for three sacks.
Top-ranked Kahuku (11-0) will have an opening-round bye in the state tournament, which kicks off in two weeks. Leilehua (7-3), ranked No. 3 in the state, will travel and play Baldwin in two weeks.
“We’ll take it as another game. Tomorrow, we’ll come back and fix our mistakes,” Manley said. “Our prayers and wishes are with Mana.”
Leilehua receiver Kamana Akagi suffered a serious injury in the fourth quarter and was transported to a hospital.
After taking the lead in the late going, the Red Raiders withstood two possessions by Leilehua. Kahuku stopped the Mules on downs at mid-field with 2:15 left, and again after Leilehua gained possession at its 20-yard line with 44 seconds remaining.
The Mules tried a last-ditch double pass from their end zone as time expired, and Manley’s pass found Kyle Cruse Gombio at midfield, but he was stopped at the 40-yard line to end the game.
The first half was prime-time quality viewing for a statewide TV audience. Kahuku’s hard-hitting defense sacked Manley four times before halftime — two each by Jamora and Schwenke — only to find the resilient Mules field general rallying his team from behind.
Kahuku came out strong offensively, getting a 42-yard field goal from Cameron Mercado (five kickoffs for touchbacks) and a 5-yard touchdown run by Viliami Pasi on the final play of the first quarter for a 10-0 lead. Pasi’s touchdown was set up by a big hit by Jamora on Manley, and Schwenke recovered at the Leilehua 44-yard line to set up the drive.
Leilehua came up empty on its first three possessions, but drove 72 yards in nine plays to get on the scoreboard. Manley connected on key passes to Carlos Marshall (third and 15) and Darrien Shealy (third and 10) before finding Shealy for a 31-yard touchdown pass. Manley scrambled right and got the pass off to his wide-open target a second before Schwenke closed in, and the Mules were within 10-6 with 4:58 to go in the first half.
Kahuku defensive back Johnny Tupola’s interception off a tipped pass gave the Red Raiders first down at the Leilehua 46-yard line with 1:47 left, but Evan Moe hurled an interception five plays later. Leilehua linebacker Stockton Crowley, standing in the flat, returned the ball 60 yards to the Kahuku 10-yard line.
On the next play, Manley found Akagi one-on-one in a post-corner route and hit a perfect strike for another Leilehua touchdown. The Mules led 13-10 with 43 seconds to go in the half.
Kahuku’s special teams were flawless until a breakdown midway through the third quarter gave Leilehua a huge break. A punt snap bounced to Mercado, whose punt attempt was blocked and sailed out of bounds at the 28-yard line.
With their best starting field position of the night, the Mules needed just four plays to hit paydirt, even after a sack by Sauni. Manley’s bullet to Shealy, which was tipped, on the left sideline barely got past the defensive back. Tupola gambled on the pass and missed. Shealy’s 17-yard touchdown play pushed Leilehua’s lead to 20-10 with 1:18 left in the third quarter.
The Red Raiders patiently drove deep into Leilehua territory on the ensuing possession, but Moe lost the ball on an option keeper at the Mules’ 6-yard line. The hit by Crowley led to a fumble recovery by linebacker Darric Matsumiya, and the Mules averted the threat temporarily.
Kahuku came through four plays later when Tupola blocked Fred Padrones’ punt in the end zone and Jamora recovered the bouncing football for a touchdown. Kahuku trailed 20-17 with 8:30 remaining.
The game was halted a minute later when Akagi suffered an injury on an incomplete pass. The senior receiver remained almost motionless for several minutes before moving his legs, and was transported to a hospital. As Leilehua fans chanted his name, Akagi managed to point upward with his left index finger while paramedics wheeled him on a stretcher into the ambulance.
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