Hawaiian Electric Game of the Week
Auld rebounds to lead Legacy past Alpha, 27-16


  



KEAAU, Hawaii — Noah Auld didn't like the way the story of his prep football career came to a close so he wrote another ending Saturday night.

Auld, a Kailua quarterback, threw two touchdown passes to help Team Legacy to a 27-16 win over Team Alpha in the 2015 Life Champion Senior Bowl before a crowd of about 800 fans at Paiea Stadium on the campus of the Kamehameha-Hawaii.

It was the second straight year that the game — which is put on by the Hilo-based Hawaii Football Club — took place. More than 100 high school seniors took part in this year's event, which got underway with its first practice Tuesday and included a luau-style banquet Friday night.

Over the course of the week the players shared meals, stories and even sleeping space at the Hilo Armory, but Saturday night it was all about competition and showcasing their skills for the nearly 20 collegiate coaches in attendance.

Auld, one of two quarterbacks on Team Legacy, threw for 132 yards on 12-of-17 passing without an interception. He was named the Marcus Mariota Most Valuable Player of the game despite arriving on the Big Island late in the week and battling through a sprained ankle he suffered during a basketball game last weekend.

"I really didn't even think I would get up here because my ankle was so bad that I couldn't even walk Sunday so I really didn't think I would get up here but I did and I'm really so thankful that the Lord helped me get here and heal my ankle up," said Auld, who threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Nanakuli's Isain Wong-Lonzanida just before halftime and a 24-yard scoring strike to Radford's Blaise Manabe that reclaimed the lead for his team in the fourth quarter.

Auld said his ankle was probably about "75 or 80 percent" healthy during the game.

"I have a hard time running straight and cutting, but I just had to fight through that," Auld said.

Ted Hoal, the head coach at Yuba College (Marysville, Calif.) who served as head coach of Team Legacy this week, credited Auld for coming through in the game.

"You know what he did though, the whole time he was here when he wasn't getting reps, he was mentally there, he was asking the appropriate questions, he was right into everything that was going on," Hoal said. "Physically, he missed a few things by not being out there throwing the ball (in practices), but mentally he was right there and then once he was ready our coaches did a nice job of getting him some extra work."

Auld, a three-year starter at Kailua, threw for 2,077 yards — which ranked fifth in all of Division I this season — and 30 touchdowns to help the Surfriders to a 7-3 overall record and a 5-2 mark in the Oahu Interscholastic Association D1 Blue conference. However, in his team's final game of the year — a 37-22 quarterfinal loss at Waianae in the OIA tournament — Auld was picked off three times — half of his total interceptions thrown on the season.

"It feels real good (because) I didn't have my best game against Waianae," Auld said. "I feel like I let down my team that game, but I've just got to say thank you for the opportunity and I'm so happy and thank you to God for giving me the opportunity to be here and achieve what I did."

There were four lead changes in the game. Team Alpha opened the scoring on a 22-yard field goal by Alex Brost (Hawaii Prep), but allowed 13 straight points by Team Legacy on the Auld-to-Wong-Lonzanida TD pass and a pair of field goals by Kahuku's Kekoa Sasaoka (22 and 30 yards).

Castle's Willie Ewaliko hooked up with Campbell's Noah Esprecion for a 10-yard touchdown pass four plays into the fourth quarter to cut the Legacy lead to 13-9. On the second play of Legacy's ensuing drive, Kahuku's Aaron Tapusoa intercepted Waialua's Royce Tashiro and on the very next play, Radford's Quintin Iriarte hit Konawaena's Cameron Howes for a 36-yard touchdown pass to give Team Alpha a 16-13 advantage.

Legacy answered on its next possession, putting together a seven-play, 80-yard drive that was capped by the Auld-to-Manabe TD pass. Auld found Manabe on an underneath crossing route and the speedy receiver did the rest, outracing the rest of the Alpha defense to the end zone.

"He's awesome," Auld said of Manabe. "He's a great guy and a great player. He's fast, he has great hands. There's nothing else you can say about him and the (offensive) line helped me out a lot."

View an on-demand replay of the live streaming broadcast.

After an Alpha punt, Legacy needed just two plays to score. Tashiro (Waialua) connected with Taje Akaka (Baldwin) on a 47-yard TD pass with 6:50 to play. Sasaoka tacked on the PAT to close out the scoring.

Eight different players caught passes for Team Legacy, led by Manabe's five-reception, 62-yard performance. Tashiro complete 10 of his 15 pass attempts for 153 yards and Radford's Ace Faumui led the defensive effort with an interception and a forced fumble that he also recovered.

Iriarte threw for a game-high 199 yards on 11-of-20 passing and Ewaliko was 17 of 25 for 168 yards for Team Alpha, which trailed at halftime, 7-3.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




Show your support

Every contribution, no matter the size, will help ScoringLive continue its mission to provide the best and most comprehensive coverage of high school sports in the state of Hawaii and beyond.

Please consider making a contribution today.

ADVERTISEMENT


IMAGE GALLERY



MORE STORIES

No. 1 seeds Aiea, Kailua to face off for OIA Division I baseball crown

Na Alii posted a 3-1 win over Roosevelt behind Aidan Yoshida's complete game, while two pitchers combined...

Sabers, Na Menehune to meet in OIA semifinal round Monday

Campbell defeated Roosevelt in four sets Thursday, while Moanalua topped Waipahu in the nightcap as both...

Late surge propels Kapolei to mercy-rule win over Kalani

The Hurricanes found their offensive groove in the late stages, scoring 14 runs down the stretch to back...

Kapaa takes down Kauai for second straight league win

Bob Manintin pitched six strong innings as the Warriors snapped the Red Raiders' seven-game winning streak.

Waianae holds off Castle; Mililani next

Teizsha Kaopuiki hit two home runs to power the Seariders in the opening round of the OIA Division I...

Surfriders erase early deficit, pull away from Falcons

Ninth-ranked Kailua scored 10 unanswered runs behind six scoreless innings of relief from DJ Kauahi to...