Football
Monteilh leads Roosevelt past Nanakuli


Kalani Takase | ScoringLive
August 4, 2018, 10:39pm

  


Sat, Aug 4, 2018 @ Nanakuli [ 6:30 pm ]

Roosevelt

13

Nanakuli

7

Final 1 2 3 4 T
Roosevelt (12-2-0) 0 0 7 613
Nanakuli (0-10-0) 0 0 7 07
Charles Hauhio 69 yd 1 TD
Tamaki Iijima 176 yd 1 TD
Aalona Aleka 52 yd 1 TD
Aalona Monteilh 144 yd 2 TD

NANAKULI — Aalona Monteilh put on a show on both sides of the ball as visiting Roosevelt edged past Nanakuli, 13-7, in the season opener for both teams Saturday night.

The Division-II Rough Riders (1-0) posted 273 of their 331 yards of total offense after halftime to fend off the Division-I Golden Hawks (0-1) in the non-league contest.

Monteilh came up clutch from his safety position on defense with a pair of fourth-quarter interceptions and was on the receiving end of both Roosevelt touchdowns on offense, including the game-winning score with 40 seconds left.

On third-and-10, reserve quarterback Sky Ogata found a crossing Monteilh over the middle of the field. Monteilh, a 5-foot-11, 165-pound junior, pulled in the short pass in stride and outraced the Nanakuli secondary to the front left corner of the end zone to break a 7-all tie.

Nanakuli got the ball back with 31 seconds left to play, but a Kevin Davis sack on first down resulted in a 12-yard loss and the game ended three plays later with quarterback Charles Hauhio being dropped by Chayden Sasaki-Kalamau for Roosevelt's seventh sack of the game.

"We've been practicing a lot and Nanakuli is a good team, they fought hard. We're a D2 team and we came out with a 'W' and I feel like we did a good job in the second (half)," said Monteilh, whose 68-yard TD pass from starting quarterback Tamaki Iijima with 8:09 left in the third quarter broke a scoreless tie.

A Roosevelt fumble midway through the third quarter — one of its four lost and six total on the night — was recovered by Nanakuli's Keawe Namulauti near midfield.

On the very next play, Aalona Aleka ran for a 37-yard gain to put the Golden Hawks in the red zone. Two plays after that, Hauhio lofted a pass toward the back right corner of the end zone, just over the hands of Monteilh, and into the hands of Aleka for a 17-yard touchdown. Kekoa Kealoha's ensuing extra point evened the score at 7-all with 4:17 left in the third quarter.

The Rough Riders' next three offensive possessions resulted in a fumble, an interception and a punt, but their defense answered each time, including interceptions by Monteilh to halt back-to-back Nanakuli drives.

On the second pick, Hauhio scrambled out of the pocket to his right and attempted to throw a check down to a receiver near the sideline, but it was off target and Monteilh gained possession just before going out of bounds.

Roosevelt started its final drive on its own 34-yard line. Sky Ogata moved the chains on a third-and-14 with a 30-yard completion to Nicholas Ogata. Three plays later, Sky Ogata hit Monteilh for the go-ahead TD.

"I knew I had to step up because they scored on me, so I thought to myself that I gotta do this for my team, so I gotta make that play," said Monteilh, who finished with four catches for 144 yards.

Rough Riders third-year coach Kui Kahooilihala praised Monteilh's performance.

"He was just making plays. Aalona is that type of kid that is a warrior for us. He wants the ball on the offensive side and on defense, he just has great instincts for the ball. He's just a good kid and a smart kid, too," said Kahooilihala, whose team is coming off a 4-4 record and a playoff appearance last season.

Kahooilihala also complimented junior Sky Ogata, who did not enter the game at QB until the fourth quarter.

"He's been taking reps every day — him and Tamaki — and for him, he's played quarterback on our JV, so it was nothing for him. For us, it's just taking care of the process, the process that these kids know that we gotta take care of the ball offensively," Kahooilihala said.

The teams played to a scoreless first half and combined for just 125 total yards prior to the intermission.

Nanakuli finished with just 146 yards of total offense, eight first downs and was 0 for 14 on third-down conversions. Of its 37 rushing attempts, 14 of them went for no gain or negative yardage.

Aleka led all rushers with 79 yards on nine carries and also caught two passes for 52 yards. Hauhio finished 7-of-22 passing for 69 yards with two interceptions.

"Our D was hella good today. We worked hard at practice each and every day and I give all my credit to them," Monteilh said.

Davis and Sasaki-Kalamau each recorded three sacks and the former also recovered a fumble.

Roosevelt sputtered on offense for much of the night — it just 6 of 15 on third downs — but found a rhythm in the second half, when it converted on five of nine third downs.

Iijima threw for 176 yards on 9-of-27 passing with one pick and rushed 14 times for a team-high 35 yards and Ogata was 3 of 5 for 70 yards.

Roosevelt was penalized 16 times for 120 yards and Nanakuli drew 15 flags for 143 yards.

Nanakuli opens regular season play at Aiea Friday, while Roosevelt will host PAC-5 Saturday.


Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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