Leilehua tops Wai'anae, 28-20


Quarterback Kenan Sadanaga passed for 294 yards and four touchdowns to lead Leilehua over Wai'anae. Brien Ing | SL
WAHIAWA - The O'ahu Interscholastic Association lost its Red title game Friday night, but it had a championship-type game Saturday night at Hugh Yoshida Stadium.

Quarterback Kenan Sadanaga passed for 294 yards and four touchdowns to lead Leilehua over Wai'anae, 28-20, in a game that was supposed to be for the final berth into the Division I state football tournament.

With Kahuku's forfeiture of an undisclosed number of games-including the Red championship against Mililani and a spot in the tournament-for using an ineligible player, the Mules (7-3) and Seariders (4-7) entered the game knowing they were assured state berths.

Yet, they played as if their seasons were on the line.

"We really wanted to win this game so we could fly out (to Maui)," said Puletua Wilson, Wai'anae's dynamic quarterback, who had 318 yards in total offense.

The Mules, ranked fourth in ScoringLive-OC16's Power Rankings, will travel to Maui to play Baldwin Friday in an opening round game of the Division I state tournament, while the Seariders will stay home to host Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion Kealakehe.

Kealakehe beat Kea'au, 32-14, Saturday night for the BIIF Division I crown.

"We approach it like any game," Leilehua coach Nolan Tokuda said. "We want our kids to go out there and do their best. As coaches, we're going to do our best to prepare our kids."

The game went down to the wire. Leilehua's Fred Padrones' booming 50-yard punt pinned the Seariders to their 1 with 59 seconds left in the game. Wai'anae drove to the Mules' 13 with five seconds left. On second-and-10, Wilson hit Brian Paul Manuel in the left flat, but DB DaQuan Wyatt stopped him after a four-yard gain as time ran out.

The Mules found themselves down 12-0 by early in the second quarter. Wilson had scored on a one-yard run in the first quarter and a 10-yard run in the second.

But Sadanaga's two second-quarter TD passes, a five-yarder to Padrones and a four-yarder to Kalika Burner, to give the Mules a 14-12 lead at the half. His TD passes of 12 yards to Darrien Shealy and five yards to Padrones in the third quarter made it 28-12.

The Seariders cut their deficit after the Mules' last TD. They moved 78 yards in four plays that culminated on a trick play with slot Keola Bradley's 15-yard TD pass to Lawrence Akana with 2:33 left in the third quarter. Wilson ran in the 2-point conversion to pull the Seariders to within eight.

But interceptions by Derek Cunningham and later by Ryan Pasoquen stopped the Seariders' next two series. Their last series ended at the Mules' 9 as time ran out.

Sadanaga was 28 of 35 for 294 yards. Jeremiah Andrade also conducted several series at QB, completing 1 of 2 passes for two yards. Tokuda said he wanted Andrade, a junior, to take get some experience before the tournament.

Wilson was a double threat for the Seariders. He was 17 of 32 for 228 yards and added 90 yards rushing, including two TDs.


Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].