'Aiea QB Isaiah Fonoti passed for 155 yards and a touchdown and ran for another against Kailua. Johnny Wilson | Special to SL

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101611007_Kailua vs Aiea 2011 046.jpg - Johnny Wilson | Special to SL

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KAILUA - Max Maafala-Maiava, Matthew Mendiola and Jholy Mauai ganged up to stop Jarrin Young short of the goal line to deny Kailua of a go-ahead 2-point conversion in the third quarter to help Aiea in a nail-biting 13-12 win in the opening round of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red tournament Saturday night.

Na Alii (4-5) advances to play at Campbell (7-1) in Saturday's quarterfinal. The two met only a little over a week ago to end the regular season with the Sabers prevailing, 22-18. Aiea, the West's sixth seed, is the only low seed to advance to the quarterfinals.

The host Surfriders (4-5), the East's third seed, were eliminated from the tournament early for the second consecutive year. Last year, as the East's second seed and drawing a first-round bye, Kailua lost to Waianae in the quarterfinals. "I'm losing my hair," Aiea coach Wendell Say joked. "I told the kids our backs are to the wall. Every week is going to be a dog fight. We get past these guys and we have Campbell again and that's going to be another dog fight."

Seven of Aiea's nine games have been decided by eight points or fewer this season.

A 12-point swing was in the balance after Kahaku Iaea's 80-yard touchdown pass to Micah Kaimana with 39 seconds left in the third quarter to pull Kailua to 13-12. A play earlier, Aiea QB Isaiah Fonoti fumbled shy of the goal line on a sneak and Kailua's Neamitupou Tuifua recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchback.

Aiea used a timeout as Say questioned whether Fonoti had already broken the plain of the end zone before the fumble or was downed.

"He either broke the plane or he was on his knee," Say said. "But the (official) said he was on (another) body when he knocked the ball out."

With no hesitation, the Surfriders elected to go for the 2-point try. Running back Jarrin Young lined up for the snap, which was high, and was stopped short. But a holding penalty on Aiea put the ball at the one-and-half-yard line. Iaea lined up behind center and handed off to Young on an off-tackle to the right. But Maafala-Maiava, Mendiola and Mauai combined to stop Young to preserve Aiea's lead and the eventual difference in the game.

"Apparently, we had a missed blocked," Kailua coach Gary Rosolowich said. "Somebody when right when he should've went left."

But Kailua had another shot late in the game. The Surfriders recovered an Aiea fumble and after a post-possession hold against Kailua, they took over at their 34. Kailua hurt itself with several penalties on the drive, but Young made up for with with a 24-yard run that made third-and-1 and a two-yard run for the first down. But on the next play, Young fumbled after an eight-yard gain and Mauai recovered with 1:23 left to clinch it for Na Alii.

It was that kind of night for Kailua, which elected to kickoff after Aiea deferred its choice to the second half, meaning the Surfriders kicked off both halves. The Surfriders were penalized 17 times for 143 yards. They also were hurt by a turnovers, including a fumble on their first play from scrimmage in the game at their 39, setting up Aiea's first score, a four-yard TD pass on a screen from Fonoti to Jarrel Chaviera. Ezra White missed the PAT, keeping it 6-0 for Aiea.

"Penalties and turnovers in the first half, especially,... really hurt us," Rosolowich said. "We had a lot of mis-tackles on defense."

Na Alii, looking for some consistency on offense, opened the second quarter controlling the line of scrimmage with a 14-play, 87-yard drive culminating in Fonoti's one-yard TD run. The drive took six minutes, four seconds. White made his PAT that turned out to be the difference, as the Aiea opened its lead to 13-0,

Kailua didn't get on the board until the third quarter and only after its defense - combined with two Aiea penalties - backed Na Alii to their 4. A 21-yard punt return by Kaimana gave Kailua the ball at the Aiea 3. Two plays later, Young scored from the 1, but Sierra Kadooka missed the PAT, as Kailua pulled to 13-6.

Aiea looked like it was about to respond to Kailua's score before Fonoti's fumble at the goal line led to Kailua's long TD pass. But after the score, Kailua punted after three downs on its next two possessions before losing the fumble late in the game on its last series.