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Kalani Takase | ScoringLiveSeptember 10, 2022, 1:06am
Fri, Sep 9, 2022 @ Moanalua [ 7:30 pm ]
SALT LAKE — Tayden-Evan Kaawa and the Moanalua football team hit a growth spurt Friday night.
Kaaawa, a 6-foot-4, 200-pound freshman quarterback, completed 23 of his 35 pass attempts for 305 yards with two touchdowns to lead 10th-ranked Na Menehune to a 27-7 win over Leilehua.
A homecoming night crowd of about 2,000 fans saw host Moanalua (2-2-1 overall) rebound from a 56-0 loss to Mililani last week to even its record at 1-1 in the Oahu Interscholastic Association's Open Division standings.
Kaawa's 20-yard touchdown pass to Gabe Wells about midway through the second quarter represented the only points for either team in the first half. Na Menehune scored on their first three possessions out of halftime, however, including a pair of short TD runs by Cameron Johnson, and a 10-yard Kaawa-to-Jayce Bareng scoring strike.
"It feels good," Moanalua coach Vince Nihipali said of the win, his team's first since a 16-7 victory over Damien back on Aug. 20.
"In the first half I think we shot ourselves in the foot a bunch of times — we should have had 20 points — and I told the kids at halftime that if we just cut out our mistakes, we'll be fine … so the boys played hard and stepped up when they needed to," he added.
Aside from the TD hookup by Kaawa and Wells, the Menes' three other first-half drives each resulted in a turnover on downs. On their final possession before the half, they had first-and-goal from the 6, but failed to cash in and the score remained 6-0 at the break.
"The boys just needed to settle down and stop making mistakes. The ball was hitting our guys in the hands, they were dropping it," Nihipali lamented.
After its defense forced a Leilehua three-and-out to open the second half, Moanalua drove 73 yards in seven plays, capped by a 3-yard TD run by Johnson. Kaawa completed passes on three consecutive plays on the drive to three different receivers.
"I think we (found) a groove, that's why," Kaawa said. "We were on the ball, we had the right momentum, right drive."
Johnson's TD run came one play after he hauled in a short pass from Kaawa in the right flat that he turned into a 33-yard gain. Johnson left the initial defender on the play in his dust after a devastating juke move.
"Cameron is a dog. Cameron does that every practice," Kaawa said of the senior running back. "Cameron's a leader. He stays up every game, he stays up every practice."
Leilehua went three-and-out for a second straight time and Moanalua took over possession at the Mules' 43-yard line. Eight plays later, Johnson capped the drive with his 2-yard TD run off right tackle. The scoring play came one play after Kaawa hit Bareng for a 6-yard pitch-and-catch on fourth-and-1.
"We kept the play calls nice and easy, they started making the plays and it's a young group, right? We started five freshmen tonight," Nihipali pointed out. "They just need to get more confidence, I think. As we got in the second half and kept the train rolling, I think we got more confidence and they played that way."
Skylor Hayes tacked on the extra point to give her team a 20-0 lead with two minutes and 50 seconds left in the third quarter.
Moanalua took advantage of a short field once again on its final scoring drive. Kaawa found Bareng for a 13-yard completion on the first play before he hooked up with Eric Stephens for gains of nine and 19 yards on back-to-back plays. On the fourth play of the drive, Kaawa hit a wide open Bareng on a slant for a 10-yard TD pass.
"I feel like I improved more in the second half. I was trying to run the ball too much in the first (half), wasn't really trusting my linemen (but) when the second half came I just read through my progressions and made the right throws," said Kaawa, who carried 11 times for 17 yards in the first half.
Kaawa was sacked four times for a loss of 30 yards before halftime. He did not register a carry, nor was he sacked, after the intermission. Kaawa's lone interception of the night came on a pass that was tipped a couple of times before it was picked off.
"He grew a lot tonight," Nihipali said of Kaawa, who was held to 42 passing yards on 6-of-18 passing with three interceptions by Mililani a week prior.
"He struggled last week — our whole offense struggled last week — but we tried to simplify the game plan. We narrowed it down to about maybe four or five plays and he just did it well. He was taking some shots, he was going off when they were going three high (safeties) — which is technically what you want to do because they're one short in the box — but he's gotta learn to not take the hits a little bit," Nihipali said.
It was a career-best day for the young gunslinger in terms of completion percentage (65.7%) and passing yards.
"You know, he's a tough kid, man," Nihipali said. "He's a special talent that doesn't come around too often, so you just gotta wrangle him in a little bit, but his growth today was absolutely awesome."
Kaawa nearly ran in the game's first score with a 3-yard scramble into the end zone, but the touchdown was negated due to a holding penalty against Na Menehune. But one play later — on third-and-goal — Kaawa threw a 20-yard TD pass to Wells to give his team a 6-0 lead with 6:14 to play in the second quarter. The PAT was wide right and no good.
"I was sad," Kaawa chuckled. "I wanted a rushing touchdown, but I knew the next play we'd get another. We had the right play called and it happened."
Moanalua's first scoring drive included a fourth-down conversion after Johnson ripped off a 19-yard run with his fake punt to convert on fourth-and-13.
"Cam's a stud," Nihipali said of Johnson, who finished with eight carries for 64 yards and two receptions for 46 yards.
He went on, "I mean, he is a 3.7-GPA kid, he's gonna go into the (U.S.) Merchant Marine (Academy), he does everything you ask of him and more. He's a great kid, I mean, he is what a parent would want as a child. He's an absolute stud."
Stephens finished with game-highs of eight catches for 140 yards in the win.
Leilehua was held to 159 total yards and its lowing scoring output of the season.
"I think our defense really stepped up. Our defense plays a whole lot of games. They win us the game sometimes, they keep us in the game sometimes and a lot of credit should go to them," Kaawa said.
Running backs Cole Northington (10 carries for 57 yards) and Zayden Gayagas (10 for 52) led the Mules offensively. Gayagas accounted for their lone touchdown with his 3-yard run in the closing minutes.
Leilehua, which fell to 0-3-1 overall and 0-2 in league play, has a bye next before it visits Waianae on Sept. 24.
Moanalua will host Kapolei on Sept. 17.
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