It should be a fun weekend of football as the OIA Division I playoffs begin while the ILH regular season ends and the OIA D-II playoff race gets sorted out.
No. 5 Waianae (6-2, 5-2 OIA Blue) has had two weeks to stew over a loss to Campbell that cost the Seariders a bye in the first round of the OIA playoffs. Now the Seariders need a win over Kailua (3-4, 3-4 OIA Red) to clinch a berth in the state tournament. The Surfriders are coming off a 24-21 loss to Castle that dropped them to sixth in the OIA Red and forced them to make the long bus ride to Waianae for the playoffs.
HISTORY: Waianae leads the series 25-6 in the Prep Bowl and state championship eras.
Nick Abramo’s game preview
UNSUNG SCRAPPER: Kailua’s Darius Martin
Live updates of the 7:30 p.m. kickoff will follow below.
FINAL
Waianae 41, Kailua 12
The Seariders rush for 367 yards and finish with 200 penalty yards.
At Raymond Torii Field
Kailua (3-5) 6 0 6 0 — 12
Waianae (7-2) 7 21 0 13 — 41
WAI—Rico Rosario 10 run (Tate Ebel kick)
KAI—Christian Mejia 18 pass from Mark Lagazo (kick failed)
WAI—Rosario 37 run (Ebel kick)
WAI—Jorell Pontes-Borje 18 run (Ebel kick)
WAI—Skyler Kaleiohi 13 run (Ebel kick)
KAI—Leighton Russell 33 interception return (kick failed)
WAI—Kade Ambrocio 44 run (run failed)
WAI—Javen Towne 8 run (Ebel kick)
RUSHING—Kailua: Lagazo 23-63, Kealoha Hanawahine-Wong 1-3, Chauncey Gonsalves-Bell 4-15, Solomon Farley 1-5. Gabriel Le Lesch 6-24, Alika Teramoto 3-7. Waianae: Rosario 11-130, Javen Towne 11-86, Kade Ambrocio 5-66, Jared Ulu 1-3, Dylan Keliikoa 3-2, Pontes-Borje 4-19, Solofua Grey 3-26, Kaleiohi 1-13, J-zen Napierala-Rose 1-12.
PASSING—Kailua: Lagazo 6-20-1-51. Waianae: Jaren Ulu 4-11-1-50.
RECEIVING—Kailua: Mejia 2-24, Gonsalves-Bell 2-17, Gaege Kupahu 2-10. Waianae: Isaiah Freeney 1-6, Ambrocio 1-17, Pontes-Borje 2-27.
FOURTH QUARTER
Kailua turns the ball over immediately. Lagazo’s deep pass intercepted by Sireadan Sana, who returns it 18 yards to the Kailua 22. Javen Towne gets into the end zone with an 8-yard blast. WAIN 41, KAIL 12, 1:11.
Waianae on what’s probably its last drive of the night. Stalls at the 25 after a sack by Russell. Ebel’s 38-yard FG try is wide left.
Kailua drives to the Waianae 30 and stalls out. Great pass rush by Josiah Viliamu, credited with his second sack. He looks exhausted.
Another TD for the Seariders, who are overpowering Kailua at the point of attack. Ambrocio around right end, nice cutback and he scores on a 44-yard run. PAT snap is high, run failed. WAIN 34, KAIL 12, 10:24.
THIRD QUARTER
Waianae turns the ball over for the first time, a fumble by Pontes-Borje after a 10-yard gain to the Kailua 24. Dakota Kadooka recovers for the Surfriders, and now they’re driving past midfield. The Surfriders get some smart runs out of the pocket by Lagazo — no spy? — but run into trouble in the red zone. Mauga with his third sack, and on fourth-and-15, Jaylen Gonzales sacks Lagazo to end the threat. Clutch defense.
Moments after Waianae commits two more personal fouls, Leighton Russell picks off a play-action pass and rumbles 33 yards for a Kailua touchdown. Almost identical to the near-pick by Kailua in the first half. They have this play scouted to the max. The PAT is off the left upright. How often does that happen? First half, the kick was off the right upright. That almost deserves a point right there. WAIN 28, KAIL 12, 8:53.
HALFTIME
At Raymond Torii Field
Kailua 6 0 x x — 6
Waianae 7 21 x x — 28
WAI—Rico Rosario 10 run (Tate Ebel kick)
KAI—Christian Mejia 18 pass from Mark Lagazo (kick failed)
WAI—Rosario 37 run (Ebel kick)
WAI—Jorell Pontes-Borje 18 run (Ebel kick)
WAI—Skyler Kaleiohi 13 run (Ebel kick)
RUSHING—
Kailua:
Lagazo 15-22,
Kealoha Hanawahine-Wong 1-3,
Chauncey Gonsalves-Bell 2-9,
Solomon Farley 1-5.
Waianae:
Rosario 5-72,
Javen Towne 3-51,
Kade Ambrocio 3-26,
Dylan Keliikoa 1-1,
Pontes-Borje 1-18,
Solofua Grey 2-20,
Kaleiohi 1-13.
PASSING—
Kailua:
Lagazo 4-14-0-41.
Waianae:
Jaren Ulu 3-7-0-29.
RECEIVING—
Kailua:
Mejia 2-24,
Gonsalves-Bell 2-17.
Waianae:
Isaiah Freeney 1-6,
Ambrocio 1-17,
Pontes-Borje 1-6.
SECOND QUARTER
The half ends as Kailua goes three and out. Waianae lets the clock run out as Kailua lines up in punt formation.
Reserve RBs getting action for Waianae. Solofua Grey rips off runs of 11 and 9 yards, then Skyler Kaleiohi darts through for a 13-yard TD. WAIN 28, KAIL 6, 1:05.
Waianae has run the ball nine times for 131 yards thus far. Rosario 4-77, Towne 2-43. Ulu completes three passes in three attempts for 29 yards, and Jorell Pontes-Borje, the wingback, takes the handoff and slips through for an 18-yard TD. WAIN 21, KAIL 6, 3:32.
Lagazo sacked by Brandon Hattori, one play after Kailua was flagged for holding. Coach Joe Wong not happy. Calls time out, 6:37. Kailua punts. Didn’t see Mejia on the field for that series. Waianae ball at its 43. TV time out, 6:10.
Jaren Ulu nearly picked off by two Kailua defenders on a play-action incompletion to Kade Ambrocio. Would’ve been an easy pick-six. Instead, Waianae marches and Rosario blasts up the middle, cuts to the left side and is free to roam for a 37-yard TD. Explosive. WAIN 14, KAIL 6, 9:01.
Thanks in large part to 45 penalty yards on Waianae during this drive, Kailua scores on a 20-yard toss from Lagazo to Mejia, who is 6-4 with a 36-inch vertical. It’s a jump ball and Mejia came down with it easily. The PAT kick bounces off the right upright. WAIN 7, KAIL 6, 11:02.
FIRST QUARTER
The quarter ends with Waianae up 7-0, but after a pass interference call, the home team has 100 yards in penalties. The call was correct — in high school rules, ball doesn’t have to be catchable. The contact wasn’t extreme, though. They’re calling it very tight. Kailua ball at the 28 after Mauga’s second sack. He’s on pace for eight.
Kailua again benefitting from Waianae personal fouls. That’s No. 4 and No. 5 during Kailua’s third series. In all, Waianae has eight penalties for 85 yards and with 1:20 left in the quarter, Waianae coach Walter Young calls time out. Waianae’s defense is trying to give this away. Not sure why.
Waianae stops Lagazo on a run left, short of the first down. Waianae takes over. Rico Rosario gets his first carry, finally. Kailua really shortened the quarter. After going long on their first play from scrimmage earlier in the quarter (Isaiah Freeney was just a bit overthrown but open on a deep post), the Seariders get back to business. All on the ground. Rosario for 9, then 21. Towne for 20. Then Rosario left for a 10-yard TD run. Quick. WAIN 7, KAIL 0, 2:16.
Kailua goes to shotgun trips in series 2, and again Waianae is committing personal fouls. That’s PF No. 2 and No. 3. The third came after a Kana‘i Mauga sack. Incredible timing. Kailua has thrown to Christian Mejia four times, just one completion and one drop, but he’s all in. It’s fourth and just over 2 yards at the Waianae 42. Time out by Waianae, then time out by Kailua, 3:43. Kailua milking the clock, which makes sense in a million ways, especially when their all-state DE (Mejia) is basically playing full-time on offense at TE. Veddy interesting.
Kailua running a double-TE, double-wing wildcat with Mark Lagazo at QB. Eating maximum time on the play clock, almost 6 minutes before they punt. Waianae also punts on a three-and-out. Punt is downed at the Kailua 5. TV time out.
Finally kicking off at 7:49 p.m.
PRE-GAME
Kailua has finally arrived, just 20 minutes before the 7:30 p.m. kickoff. It’s a long ways from Kailua to Waianae, of course. Can they get loose and warmed up in a short period?
Good news for Kailua. Officials had the pre-game clock restarted at 25 minutes, which is the norm when a team arrives late to a game due to circumstances. That means kickoff will probably be delayed to 7:40 p.m. or so, factoring in the national anthem and singing of alma maters. The house isn’t quite packed here at Raymond Torii Field. About half-filled.
Win and play on, lose and go home