OIA Football
Mules storm past Sabers, 34-14, for state berth


   



Sat, Nov 5, 2011 @ Leilehua [ 6:00 pm ]


Final 1 2 3 4 T
Campbell (8-3-0) 0 0 0 1414
Leilehua (10-2-1) 21 6 7 034

WAHIAWA-Leilehua struck like lightning, scoring three touchdowns in the first 7 1/2 minutes of play to rout Campbell, 34-14, on a rainy Saturday night at Hugh Yoshida Stadium.

The Mules (9-1-1), third in the ScoringLive/OC 16 Power Rankings, finished third in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red tournament and earned the league's final Division I state tournament berth. They will play at Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion Kealakehe, 7 p.m. Friday in the tournament's opening round.

The No. 5 Sabers (8-3), who also lost 32-13 to the Mules earlier in the season, will pack up their equipment Not counting Division II seasons, Campbell's best finish in the OIA has been second place in 1996 and 1997.

"Overall, we're really proud of their effort tonight," Campbell coach Amosa Amosa said. "We had a great season . . . With the level of competition nowadays, I'm so proud of what they've done. My hat's off to Leilehua."

Quarterback Kenan Sadanaga completed 20 of 34 passes for 260 yards and four touchdowns for the Mules. All four of his TDs came in the first half, when he passed for 199 yards.

Defensively, the Mules came up with four turnovers, two of which were converted to two of their three first-quarter TDs.

"We were fortunate, I think," Leilehua interim coach Mark Kurisu said. "We prepared real hard. It was a pretty trying week, a lot of stress with everybody. We just did our best and tried to keep things simple and tried to execute. That was the biggest thing we tried to do for this game."

The Mules were able to bounce back from a heart-breaking, 9-7 loss to Kahuku in last week's semifinals. Kurisu gives the player 24 hours to get over what happens after a game.

"After that, you have to move on," he said. "That game (Kahuku) wasn't going to hurt us for the game this week. That's what we told the players. As long as you come out, work hard, take care of your grades, it should be fine. I'm not saying you're going to win, but you're going to be fine and be successful. That's all we ask of them everyday."

The stadium's scoreboard was inoperable, but not the Mules' offense. Allen Racette took the opening kickoff 20 yards to the Mules' 35. Leilehua needed only four plays to get on the board with Sadanaga hitting a wide open Jeremiah Andrade for a 26-yard touchdown. Tim Momiyama's PAT gave the Mules a 7-0 lead.

The Sabers' first series consisted of eight running plays and a 25-yard pass that got them to the Mules' 33. But RB Paul-Andrew Rhoden fumbled after a 22-yard gain, giving the ball to the Mules.

But Jyrelle Umali's interception two plays later gave the Sabers the ball back at the Leilehua 47.

The Sabers got an 11-yard pass play plus a personal foul tacked on to it to give them possession at the Leilehua 21. But lineman Roger Luafalemana recovered a Justin Tago-Su'e fumble at the Mules' 36. Five pass plays later, Sadanaga connected with Mikal Peyton for a 10-yard TD pass to make it 14-0 with 4:52 left in the first quarter.

After the ensuing kickoff, the Sabers lost a fumble again on the first play from scrimmage at their 11. The Mules scored on their first play on Sadanaga's 11-yard TD pass to Andrade just 19 seconds after their previous score to make it 21-0.

Leilehua padded its lead early in the second quarter on Sadanaga's fourth TD pass of the half, a 27-yard strike to Larry Paas. The Mules' missed the PAT to keep it 27-0 with 10:42 left in the half.

The Mules scored on their second series of the second half, moving 57-yard on four plays, aided by a 40-yard reception by Peyton, with Racette scoring on a one-yard run to make it 34-0.

With the seemingly commanding lead in the fourth quarter, the Mules began substituting their offensive starters. The Mules had to punt on their first two fourth-quarter possessions and both led to Campbell's two scores.

Justin Jenks, the backup QB, also punts. He lost eight yards on his first try, giving the Sabers possession at the Leilehua 24. That set up QB Isaac Hurd's 14-yard TD run. The 2-point try failed, but Campbell cut its deficit to 34-6 with 7:53 left in the game.

The Mules had to punt on their next series, but the snap was low and Campbell's Joshua Torres picked up the loose ball and returned it 16 yards for a TD with 5:58 left. Hurd hit BJ Halmos on a pass for 2-point conversion to make it 34-14.

Leilehua had to bring back its first offensive unit for safe-keeping the ball the rest of the game. Sadanaga took a knee on six of the team's last seven plays over its last three series.

"We wanted to get some of our other players in and they (the Sabers) had their starters (still) out," Kurisu said. "Their first-team guys against our second string, that's a solid defense. Everybody knows that Campbell's a solid D. If you take a look, we had MASH unit over there (referring to injuries). Precautionary, but it's better we keep them out, seeing that we have a short week now."

Meanwhile, the Sabers just couldn't get on track. The turnovers put them in a hole quickly. Hoping to control the ball with the run to keep Leilehua's offense on the sidelines, the Sabers eventually had to throw a wet football more than they wanted.

"We knew we could run on these guys, but it got to a point where we had to put the ball in the air," Amosa said. "(Leilehua) going up 21-0 so quickly kind of dug us into a hole."


Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].




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