Waianae DB Salamanesa Taufi, right, looks to catch a loose ball in mid-air for an interception against Kaiser. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Waianae RB Niko Kala-Mahiai pushes through multiple defenders for more yardage in the fourth quarter. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Fri, Aug 22, 2014 @ Kaiser [ 7:00 pm ]

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Waianae

26

Kaiser

7

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Waianae (5-4-0)	7	0	7	12	26
Kaiser (5-4-0)	0	7	0	0	7

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Kalawaia Judd 30 yd

Ioane Kaluhiokalani Jr. 83 yd 1 TD

Jensen McDaniel 155 yd 1 TD

John Barbieto 62 yd 1 TD

Destin Moss 14 yd

Stanton Spencer 45 yd 1 TD

HAWAII KAI-- After an opening loss to Moanalua last week, Waianae got back on track to pull away from Kaiser, 26-7, at Kaiser Stadium to pull even in the O’ahu Interscholastic Association Red Division standings on Friday night. The Seariders improve to (1-1) while the Cougars drop to (1-1).  

“We told the team, it was a key win. Starting the season with a loss, we could catch our breath for a while, but next week it’s going to be a tough one. I believe it’s Leilehua we got and they’re a tough team and we need to practice hard next week,” said Waianae coach Danny Matsumoto. 

Waianae had 175 yards of net rushing tonight, almost doubling their rushing output last week (84 yards). John Barbieto led the way with 16 carries for 62 yards and a touchdown, Ioane Kaluhiokalani had 14 carries for 54 yards. Seven different players carried the ball for the Seariders. 

“Offensively we need to be more consistent. We were glad the defense made more turnovers, but we need to be more consistent on offense if we want to move on,” said Matsumoto. 

The Waianae secondary picked off Kaiser quarterback Kalawaia Judd three times: Ezekiel Moniz-Hopeau had two interceptions and Salamanesa Taufi had the other. 

Taufi’s interception would’ve been good for a 62-yard touchdown return, but a penalty put it back on the Kaiser 31-yard line. Facing a 4th-and-9 and attempting a 24-yard field goal, the Seariders got new life after the Cougars were penalized for roughing the kicker. Barbieto ran it in for a 3-yard touchdown to break open a 7-7 tie late in the third quarter. 

In the fourth quarter, Waianae was able to pull away from Kaiser for good and outscored them 12-0. Stanton Spencer nailed a 29-yard field goal and the Seariders added a safety as the Kaiser snap sailed out of the end zone to make it, 19-7. Kaluhiokalani threw a 45-yard touchdown to Spencer and his PAT put them up for good, 26-7. 

Due to the breezy conditions, the passing game wasn’t very effective for both teams as they combined for 12-of-32 passing. 

“It’s been so long since I’ve been on this field, but we knew the wind was going to be a factor. We know we are a running team and our o-line needs to sharpen up and we got to execute our running plays a lot better,” said Matsumoto. 

Following a short Kaiser punt, Waianae used a seven-play, 41-yard drive that took 2 minutes and 46 seconds capped off by Niko Kala-Mahiai’s 1-yard touchdown for the first score of the game in the first quarter. 

Waianae turned it over on downs in Kaiser territory and the Cougars responded in three plays as Jensen McDaniel rushed for a 76-yard touchdown and Matt Sai’s PAT tied the game at 7. McDaniel was the lone bright spot for Kaiser as he finished with 23 carries for 155 yards. The Cougars had 208 net rushing yards for the game. 

“Defensively we need basic fundamental tackling, we missed too many tackles. Give credit, that boy (McDaniel) is a hard runner, we saw him against Aiea and we knew he was going to be trouble and we need to be better at tackling,” said Matsumoto. 

Waianae hosts Leilehua next week on Aug. 29 while Kaiser has a week off before they host Waipahu on Sept. 5.