Football
Ewaliko's 4 TD passes help Castle stun Campbell, 33-32


  



Sat, Aug 15, 2015 @ Aloha Stadium [ 7:00 pm ]


Final 1 2 3 4 T
Castle (3-6-0) 0 13 6 1433
Campbell (2-8-0) 6 8 12 632
Siaosi Soto 138 yd 1 TD
Willie Ewaliko 268 yd 4 TD
Terrell Johnson 90 yd 1 TD
Willie Ewaliko 35 yd 1 TD
Cy Avilla 85 yd
Jeremy McGoldrick 173 yd 4 TD

Castle cashed in four turnovers for touchdowns, including the go-ahead score with four minutes, 31 seconds left in the game to stun previously-ranked Campbell, 33-32, Saturday night at Aloha Stadium.

It was the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I season opener for both teams. It is the cross-over week, as Castle (2-0 overall, 1-0 OIA) belongs to the Red and Campbell (0-2, 0-1) to the Blue. Campbell was ranked sixth in the preseason Hawaiian Electric Power Rankings.

Willie Ewaliko threw for four touchdowns, including a 17-yard scoring pass to Jeremy McGoldrick, who had four TD catches.

"This is a huge win," Castle coach Nelson Maeda said. "To beat a team like Campbell - I mean, Campbell is an awesome team. I wouldn't be surprised if their vying for the state tournament."

More stunning was that Castle dressed 27 players, eight of whom played on both sides of the ball.

"It reinforces what we're preaching at practice," Maeda said. "It's about 29 guys giving their all." (The Knights list 29 on their roster.)

"We had eight guys going two ways," Maeda said. "It reinforces the conditioning we do, about the discipline, responding to adversity, never giving up, team unity. This is a great win for us."

Campbell took a 32-26 lead with 7:42 left on a four-yard TD pass from Siaosi Soto to Zayne Barr-Rauschenburg following a Castle turnover.

Castle punted after its ensuring series, but on first down, Campbell lost a fumble at its own 24 with 5:47 left to play.  Three plays later, Ewaliko hit McGoldrick to tie the game at 32.  Ewaliko made the PAT to give the Knights a 33-32 lead with 4:31.

The Sabers fumbled the ensuing kickoff - their seventh turnover of the game - with 4:18 left and the Knights were able to run out the clock to end the game.

If the turnovers were bad enough, the Sabers were penalized 14 times for 119 yards.

"I told them again, making a lot of mistakes," Campbell coach Amosa Amosa said. "When we do something good, we screw up. When we get  sack on the quarterback, we lose containment."

Ewaliko completed 18 of 45 passes for 268 yards.  His only blemish was a 48-yard interception return for a TD by Austin Fuga.

At the outset, it was Castle hurting itself.  The Sabers opened the game with a 14-play, 88-yard drive - aided by four encroachment penalties on the Knights - with QB Siaosi Soto scoring on a four-yard run.

But the Sabers turned over the ball four times - three of them fumbles - in the first half.  The third fumble led to the Knights' first score, a one-yard run by Ewaliko, whose PAT failed to keep the game knotted at 6 with 5:03 in the half.

Shortly, an interception by McGoldrick off Soto set up the Knights' next score, a 12-yard TD pass from Ewaliko to McGoldrick. This time Ewaliko's PAT was good and Castle took a 13-6 lead with 2:36 in the half.

Campbell stormed back on its ensuing possession with Soto capping 71-yard drive with a 12-yard TD run. Kawika Ulufale then hit Noah Esprecion with  a pass for the 2-point conversion to give the Sabers a 14-13 lead at the half.

Fuga's interception return looked like swayed momentum toward Campbell early in the second half, as the Sabers took a 20-13 lead.

But Castle cashed in on a muffed punt by Campbell at the Sabers' 11. On fourth-and 8 from the 9, Ewaliko connected with McGoldrick for the TD to pull the Knights to 20-19.

Fuga's second interception of the game set up running back Terrel Johnson's one-yard TD run with 25 seconds left in the third quarter to give Campbell a 26-19 lead.

But the Knights opened the fourth quarter with Ewalko's 58-yard TD pass to McGoldrick. Ewalko's PAT tied the game at 26.

Campbell then recycled a Castle fumble into Soto's four-yard TD pass to Barr-Rauschenburg to make it 32-26 after failing on a run for the 2-point conversion.

Two turnovers later, the Knights secured the game.



Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].




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