Moanalua quarterback Kawika Keama-Jacobe threw for 189 yards and two touchdowns to lead visiting Moanalua to a 30-23 win over Waianae Friday night. Peter Caldwell | SL

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Moanalua's Jason Sharsh leaps to make a pass reception between Waianae's Niko Kala-Mahiai (21) and David Torres (25) Peter Caldwell | SL

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Fri, Aug 15, 2014 @ Waianae [ 8:00 pm ]

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Moanalua

30

Waianae

23

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Moanalua (3-5-0)	7	10	13	0	30
Waianae (5-4-0)	0	7	0	16	23

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Royce Carrick 77 yd

Kawika Keama-Jacobe 189 yd 2 TD

Jurick Valdez 67 yd 2 TD

Michael Feliciano 62 yd 1 TD

Zeffaniyah Kauihana-Kaimimoku 38 yd

Jason Sharsh 90 yd 2 TD

WAIANAE — Kawika Keama-Jacobe threw for 189 yards and two touchdowns — both to Jason Sharsh — to lead visiting Moanalua to a 30-23 win over Waianae at Raymond Torii Field Friday night.

Na Menehune (1-0) never trailed in the game and benefitted from five takeaways to notch their first-ever victory over the Seariders (0-1) in school history.

"It was amazing," first-year Moanalua coach Jason Cauley said of his team's performance. "Our guys were all over the place. Our defense was swarming, all night long 11 hats were running to the ball and I couldn't be happier."

Moanalua outgained Waianae in total offense, 258 yards to 191. Keama-Jacobe, a senior quarterback who played at Waianae last year, completed 14 of his 26 pass attempts.

"It's a bittersweet moment," Keama-Jacobe said. "I'm thankful that I got to play against my former teammates and come out on top. It was a good win because we broke the chain — Moanalua never did beat Waianae — and hopefully this win brought faith back to our school."

The night didn't start off promising for Keama-Jacobe, who was intercepted on his team's first play from scrimmage. However, he settled down to complete six of his next eight attempts and at one point connected on six consecutive throws.

"That guy is amazing, he really is," Cauley said of Keama-Jacobe. "He's one of those guys that can do anything with the football. He doesn't give up and he has a tremendous fight in him just like the rest of our guys."

Na Menehune got on the board midway through the first quarter when Rodson Kealohi found the end zone on a 14-yard run around right end to cap a six-play drive that began with Steve Feliciano's interception of Waianae quarterback Jorell Pontes at the Seariders' 38-yard line.

Waianae capitalized on a special teams' miscue by Moanalua early in the second quarter. Na Menehune punter Karson Cruz was ruled down at his own 20-yard line when his knee touched the ground while trying to field a low snap. Two plays later Jurick Valdez scampered untouched up the middle for a Seariders' touchdown. That score tied it at 7, but Moanalua took the lead for good on a 32-yard Thomas Sheridan field goal on its ensuing drive.

Just before halftime Moanalua orchestrated a 13-play, 70-yard drive that resulted in a 14-yard touchdown pass from Keama-Jacobe to Sharsh. Keama-Jacobe slipped on his dropback, but managed to get the pass off, which found the hands of a wide-open Sharsh near the front right pylon of the end zone.

"It was a comeback (route) and I was just open," Sharsh said. "We run that route a lot and it worked tonight."

The scoring drive included a pair of third-down conversion and another on a fourth down.

"It was huge," Cauley said of the drive. "Our kids are resilient, they're never going to give up and as long as we can keep up that attitude and keep that up all year long, I think that we're going to be OK. I'm just happy and I just want to go in there and tell them all how much I love 'em and how proud I am of them."

Moanalua took a 17-7 lead into the intermission and extended it to 30-7 with touchdowns on its first two second-half drives. Sharsh and Keama-Jacobe hooked up on a 29-yard touchdown pass less than two minutes into the third quarter and following a Waianae three-and-out, Michael Feliciano got in on the scoring with a 33-yard touchdown run up the middle.

"It feels good," Sharsh said of the win. "We practiced hard this whole week and it feels good to come out with the win. We felt like underdogs coming into this game."

Sharsh finished with game-highs of five receptions for 90 yards.

Waianae made it a game late by scoring 16 points in the final three minutes and 11 seconds of the fourth quarter. Valdez punched in a 2-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-goal to cap a 12-play, 75-yard drive and less than two minutes later, Joey Nuuanu-Kuhiiki forced a fumble by Keama-Jacobe, which was scooped up by Naytron Kuresa for a 47-yard touchdown return. Valdez ran in both two-point conversions to pull the Seariders within 30-23, but Kekaulike Kalua recovered an onside kick attempt and Moanalua was able to run out the clock.

Valdez finished with 67 yards on 19 rushes. Pontes, who was playing in place of starter Ioane Kaluhiokalani, completed 4 of 8 passes for 30 yards and was intercepted twice. Kaluhiokalani was one of about a dozen Waianae players that did not play, either due to academic probation or injury.

Kalua led all players with seven tackles. Aaron Yoshida had six tackles and Kea Rodrigues added five stops, including one sack, and an interception for Moanalua.

Waianae, which entered the game ranked ninth in the ScoringLive/OC16 Division I Football Power Rankings, had won each of the first 12 previous meetings between the teams. It was the season opener for both teams.