Steve Erler | SL

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WAHIAWA — A pair of former Western Division foes from the Oahu Interscholastic Association got some work in against each other when Leilehua hosted Aiea in a scrimmage at Hugh Yoshida Stadium Thursday night.

The scrimmage featured a five-person officiating crew with 12-minute quarters — although the second half utilized a running clock. The final score was in favor of the Mules, 36-14. I caught the first half of action, which ended with Leilehua holding a 29-6 lead.

Here are a few notes on both teams from Thursday.

• LEILEHUA
 -Kona Andres took all the first-half repetitions at quarterback and did a lot of nice things. He got rid of the ball quickly, but also showed patience and threw very catchable passes, although he did overthrow some receivers at times. Andres threw two first-half TD passes.
 -Kaleo Piceno seems to have found a home at wide out after spending most of his time at quarterback last season. He did not drop any of the passes that came his way and picked up some nice yards after short receptions. Piceno caught a 7-yard back-shoulder pass from Andres for the Mules' third first-half touchdown.
 -The Mules gave up more runs of 10-plus yards than I would imagine defensive coordinator Mark Kurisu woudl have liked to see, but part of that might have been rotating in some reserves.
 -The cornerbacks played a lot of press coverage right up on the Aiea receivers, but it's pretty clear that safety Charles "Moku" Watson is the key cog in the Mules' secondary. Watson aligned everywhere from a yard off the line of scrimmage to 15 yards deep on passing situations and made a bunch of tackles to limit Aiea's yards after catches. Watson, who will see time at wide receiver as well, displayed his versatility by completing a pass for a two-point conversion on a fake PAT.
 -The defensive line is tall and versatile. They regularly collapsed the pocket and pressured Aiea QB Zelius Maae-Liupaono into either throwing the ball earlier than he would have liked or taking off and running.
 -Leilehua has struggled to run the ball in recent seasons and it looks like that will continue to be an area of concern this year. Keanu Hirota, a small but shifty running back/slotback, found some success on a jet sweep and outside runs.
 -Linebacker Donavon Ugalino was a one-man show at times. He blocked a punt that gave his team possession in the red zone and eventually led to a touchdown. Later in the second quarter, Ugalino perfectly timed a blitz and got into the backfield and in the face of Maae-Liupaono untouched before ripping the ball away for a turnover that led to another Leilehua TD. Just before halftime, Ugalino was the beneficiary of an errant pass on a screen play that led to his 20-yard interception return for a touchdown.
 -Leilehua had six offensive possessions in the first half (turnover on downs, TD, TD, turnover on downs, punt, TD).

• AIEA
-Numbers are scarce this season for Na Alii, who suited up just 30 players Thursday night. Granted, some of them — like starting quarterback Kobe Kato and receivers Kame Kim Choy-Keb-Ah Lo and Ty Matsunami — were absent due for various reasons, the depth is not there to sustain the rigors of a Division I season. Remaining healthy will be priority No. 1 for Aiea this year.
 -Several players were forced into two-way action, including Maae-Liupaono. In addition to playing quarterback on offense, Maae-Liupaono also played middle linebacker and punt returner as well. He took a punishing blow on a punt return in the second quarter, but popped right back up and remained on the field to lead the offense.
 -Maae-Liupaono is not a prototypical quarterback, but what he lacks in height is made up for in athleticism. With shaky pass protection around him, Maae-Liupaono got something positive out of a bad situation, scrambling for big chunks of yardage, including a 20-yard run that set-up his own 1-yard TD run early in the second quarter.
 -Aiea's linebackers in its 4-3 defense are undersized, but did well against Leilehua's run game. They were often a step behind in pass coverage, however.
 -The offense operated mostly out of the shotgun with a single running back set to the side of Maae-Liupaono, but ran a few plays out of an empty set with five receivers.
 -Na Alii struggled to run the ball consistently, but Austin Magote showed some toughness running the ball between the tackles.
 -Aiea had six offensive possessions in the first half (blocked punt, fumble lost, turnover on downs, TD, turnover on downs, interception).