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Kalani Takase | ScoringLiveOctober 20, 2018, 7:47am
Fri, Oct 19, 2018 @ Leilehua [ 7:30 pm ]
WAHIAWA — Waipahu flipped the script on Leilehua Friday night.
Alfred Failauga rushed for 187 yards and a touchdown to help unranked Waipahu to a 29-6 upset of No. 11 Leilehua in a semifinal game of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I tournament at Hugh Yoshida Stadium Friday night.
The Marauders (7-4) avenged a 30-point loss to the Mules (8-3) in the regular season three weeks ago to punch their ticket to next Friday's league championship game at Aloha Stadium. They will face the winner of Saturday's semifinal between Castle and No. 9 Moanalua.
In the regular-season showdown three weeks ago, Waipahu held a 13-12 halftime lead, but saw Leilehua outscore them 35-0 in the third quarter and benefit from five takeaways en route to a 50-20 final score.
This time around, however, it was a different story.
Waipahu, the No. 3 seed in the four-team tournament, scored the game's final 23 points after it was tied at 6 early in the second. Leilehua, the No. 2 seed, was held to season-low marks in points and total offense (148 yards). It was just the second time they were shut out in a half this season.
"We adjusted and we prepared this week for our best game and that's what we came out to do tonight," said safety Deacon Kapea, who had two of the Marauders' four interceptions, including a 10-yard pick-6 in the fourth quarter.
"I think we executed very well tonight. Everybody played together and we bonded as one team and we played as one defense," Kapea said. "Defensively I think we just shut down tonight and we just came to play. That's basically it."
Waipahu coach Bryson Carvalho said the focus Friday was taking it one half at a time.
"We wanted to make sure that they focused for 24 minutes at a time, so we broke it up into two 24-minute halves and we wanted to make sure coming out of the halftime that we came out on top in the last 24 minutes," Carvalho.
The return of several defensive players who did not play the first time against Leilehua also made a big difference.
"Just defensively having everybody healthy (and) them just stepping up. That was our big thing going into this game, one, we gotta improve on our penalties and we gotta win the turnover battle," Carvalho said, whose team recorded four takeaways on defense — all of them second-half interceptions — and did not turn it over on offense.
Mules quarterback Max Nichols, who entered the game with 27 passing touchdowns to seven interceptions, was 9-of-30 passing for 62 yards — although his receivers dropped a number of catchable passes throughout the night.
Zeondre Benjamin and Armani Miles also picked off passes in the win.
"I think just making sure we matched up with them speed-wise (was key)," Carvalho said. "They got a bunch of speedsters that run routes and then we had to contain the running back (James McGary). With him going down it allowed us to really just focus on preventing deep passes, deep balls down the field. I think the secondary did an amazing job today. Deacon, Zeondre, I mean, they did a real good job back up there and then I thought up front, our big boys up front played well."
While Leilehua managed a minuscule 2.1 yards per pass attempt, it did not fare much better in the run game. McGary, an explosive speedster in the backfield, exited the game briefly early in the third quarter, but returned to the game. He finished with 10 rushes for 27 yards in the loss.
Meanwhile, Failauga got things going for the Waipahu offense in the second half. The junior running back rushed for 119 yards on 18 carries after halftime and scored on a 43-yard run off left tackle that gave his team a 20-6 lead late in the third quarter.
The Mules got on the board first just past the midpoint of the first quarter on a 20-yard field goal by Akoni Tom-Makue. But the Marauders took the momentum right back on the ensuing kickoff with a 99-yard return for a touchdown by Branson Jay Reyes.
"Huge," Carvalho said of the special teams score. "That was one thing, too, you know, all season we wanted to make sure improved on special teams play. It's just been kind of stagnant, so with that kickoff return it definitely helped us get a little bit of motivation and it just pumped up the kids a little bit."
The PAT was no good and the score held until four plays into the second quarter when Leilehua tied it at 6 with Tom-Makue's 41-yard field goal.
Just before the intermission, Waipahu quarterback Cody Marques found the end zone on a spectacular 10-yard run to cap a 13-play 84-yard drive. On the scoring play, Marques climbed the pocket before taking off on a scramble. He left his feet from a few yards out and was clipped in mid-air to send him spinning into the end zone.
"That was amazing," Carvalho said. "That was amazing. That's gotta be SportsCenter Top 10."
Brycen Amorozo tacked on the extra point to make it a 13-6 lead at halftime. He also closed out the scoring with his 38-yard field goal in the closing minutes.
Waipahu finished with 262 yards of total offense, but was whistled for 20 penalties for 167 yards.
"We won the turnover battle tonight, (but) we gotta make sure we definitely clean up on penalties for next week, but I'm just super proud of how they worked and how they played together," Carvalho said.
Kealii Barrett recorded 7 1/2 tackles, including one sack and a pass break-up for Waipahu.
Cy Acohido made a team-high 8 1/2 tackles with one sack and a pass break-up, Jaden Chow posted six tackles, three of them for losses, with one sack and Jashawn Wakefield made two of his six tackles in the backfield for the Mules, who saw a four-game win streak snapped to end their season.
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