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EWA BEACH - After a less than auspicious first quarter, No. 7 Leilehua responded with 36 unanswered points to turn back No. 8 Campbell, 36-20, Friday night at the Sabers' field.

The Sabers took a 20-0 lead after the first quarter, only to see the Mules score four times in the second quarter with three touchdowns and a safety to take a 23-20 lead into the half. Leilehua wrapped up the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red West contest with a pair of TD runs by running back Blaine Furtado in the second half to pull away from the Sabers.

Jordan Kalaau came off the bench to complete 19 of 31 passes for 223 yards and two TDs. He also rushed for another in the Mules' rally.

The game was costly for the Sabers (2-2 overall, 1-1 Red West). Two players wentt to the hospital. Quarterback Justin Tago sustained a concussion early in the third quarter. He threw an apparent interception that was nullified by a roughing the quarterback penalty. He was replaced by Nilo Agbayani-Omalza. Tago went to the hospital with his parents, Campbell coach Amosa Amosa said.

Also, defensive lineman Sheldon Maae sustained a neck injury in the fourth quarter. He was removed from the field on a stretcher and after the game was taken to the hospital by ambulance, which arrived after firefighters' first response. Maae had a tingling sensation in his shoulder, but was able to move his limbs, Amosa said.

Amosa said Leilehua coach Nolan Tokuda apologized after the roughing the passer penalty that ended Tago's night. But Amosa said Tokuda has a solid reputation and would not tolerate malicious behavior by his players.

"I know Nolan doesn't preach that kind of stuff," Amosa said. "We don't preach that in our case. Sometimes you can't control (the players' actions). It's the heat of the moment. It's emotional. To me, they're an honorable program."

For the Mules (2-1 2-0), quarterback Kalaau replaced struggling starter Kenan Sadanaga late in the first quarter after the Sabers took a 20-0 lead. Sadanaga was 1 of 5 for 10 yards with two interceptions. One was returned by DB Jakob Pacheco 36 yards for a touchdown and another was intercepted by lineman Isaiah Thompson that set up Justin Tago's 17-yard TD pass to Jaelan Subia-Etrata with 51 seconds left in the first quarter with the Sabers leading 20-0.

Kalaau wasted little time in his first series with a 35-yard TD pass to Fred Padrones with 10:16 left in the second quarter.

The Sabers then found themselves backed up to their 5 on fourth-and-25. The center's snap in punt formation went out of the end zone for a safety as the Mules pulled to 20-9.

The Mules received the free kick and started at the Campbell 45 and rolled down field Kalaau running a naked bootleg 16 yards and a TD to pull Leilehua to 20-16.

Later in the second quarter, the Mules took the lead on a 47-yard inside slot screen to the left from Kalaau to Allen Racette, who caught a short pass near the line of scrimmage and out-ran the Mules' defense with six seconds left in the half. Timothy Momiyama's PAT gave the Mules a 23-20 lead at the half before a disbelieving home crowd.

"We felt they didn't cover our inside slots, so we called an inside slot screen," Tokuda said.

Junior Sadanaga, the starting QB the past two years at JV, was 1 of 5 for 10 yards with two interceptions. Senior Kalaau, who backed up two-time state offensive player of the year Andrew Manley, responded like a veteran.

"it's just that at the start of the week, Kenan had a better week," Tokuda said of starting Sadanaga. "When you have two good quarterbacks, you play the hot hand. When Jordan came in, he was capable of doing the job. Any time we can make a move."

Amosa said his team might have gotten complacent after taking the huge early lead.

"Maybe they got to a point where they were too laxed," Amosa said.

But it was a nice comeback from a team so familiar with fighting from behind during Manley's years.

"These kids, I'm so proud of them," Tokuda said. "They're down 20-0, they don't give up. They keep working hard. They keep believing in each other and the coaches and that's the result of it."