Moanalua's Jason Sharsh drags a Castle defender after a pass reception. Peter Caldwell | SL

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092813_1309_Moa-Castle_038.JPG - Peter Caldwell | SL

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After a tough loss last week to Farrington, Moanalua rebounded with a convincing victory over the visiting Castle Knights on Senior Night. The win puts the Na Menehune at 3-3 in league play, 3-5 overall, while the Knights drop to 1-4 in league play, 2-5 overall.

"We couldn't wait to get back on the field. It left a sour taste in our mouth and giving the game away, we felt we beat ourselves. The best remedy for that is to come out and compete. We had a good week of practice and the kids played really hard," said Moanalua coach Arnold Martinez.

The Knights went three-and-out on their opening offensive possession and punted. The Na Menehune had excellent field position on Castle's 29-yard line. Jerek Pavao rushed for a 1-yard touchdown and Thomas Sheridan's kick made it 7-0. Moanalua added another rushing touchdown on a 2-yard run from Rodson Kealohi to put the Na Menehune up 13-0.

Micah Kaneshiro finished the game with 26-of-37 passing for 303 yards and 3 touchdowns.

In the second quarter, Micah Kaneshiro threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Donald Lambert and a 3-yard touchdown pass to Chad Aragon to put the Na Menehune up 26-0 going into halftime.

In the third quarter, after a Moanalua quick three-and-out, Castle responded with a 54-yard touchdown pass to Kumukoa Oana from Stephen Lee and Urasaki's kick made it, 26-7.

Moanalua answered with a 7-play, 65-yard drive capped off by a Jason Sharsh 2-yard touchdown reception from Kaneshiro. He led all Moanalua receivers with 11 catches for 142 yards and 1 touchdown.

The Na Menehune scored another touchdown after Sharsh made the catch for 22-yards, but fumbled the ball and Donald Lambert scooped up the ball for a 22-yard score and Moanalua went up big, 39-7.

Early in the fourth quarter, Castle quarterback Stephen Lee was sacked and injured on the play and did not return. He finished the game 12-of-24 passing for 252 yards, 2 interceptions and 1 touchdown. Brandon "Pono" Makekau filled in and threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Chad Figueroa for the final score of the evening.

"It's hard to win in our league when there's other good coaches and players. Coach Nelson (Maeda) does a great job and that team has some tough players. They play both ways and they never quit, I have a lot of respect for those guys because they work their tails off," said Martinez.

Moanalua finishes the regular season while Castle plays Kaimuki in an important game to determine who gets a spot in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red playoffs.