Noah Auld threw for two touchdowns and ran in a third to help host Kailua hold off Leilehua 27-14 on Friday night.
Auld threw for 164 yards and led Kailua to its first win over the Mules since 2000 despite not scoring in the second half.
“They’re a good team. They blitzed and came with the pressure and we didn’t pick it up,” Auld said about Kailua’s second-half struggles. “Personally, I didn’t see it. That’s on me.”
Leilehua chipped away at a 27-0 halftime deficit in the second half as Kailua’s offense sputtered. The Mules (0-2, 0-1 OIA Red) scored 30 seconds into the third quarter on Tre Barnes’ 75-yard touchdown pass from Kona Andres. Barnes’ 70-yard TD reception from Andres and Connor Murakami’s PAT helped Leilehua cut the deficit to 27-14 with 3:21 left in the third.
Leilehua got inside the Kailua 5 on two occasions with less than four minutes left in the game but couldn’t convert.
“We just told them to keep on fighting, we cannot let up,” said Auld. “Last year it happened to us. We lost the lead. This year is don’t let off, don’t be complacent and keep on pushing.”
Auld connected a on 67-yard pass to Martin Tigilau less than two minutes into the game, and Jonovan Lee’s PAT put the Surfriders up 7-0. The quick start led to a strong showing in the second quarter where the Surfriders (2-0, 1-0 OIA Blue) scored three touchdowns and had possession for more than 10 minutes.
Auld’s touchdown run from the 16 and Lee’s PAT put Kailua up 14-0 with 6:14 left in the second. Kalei Kealoha-Machado’s interception gave Kailua the ball back, and Dalton Kalama later punched it in from the 1-yard line with 1:26 left. Lee’s PAT made it 21-0.
“We were just in a good rhythm,” Auld said. “We were seeing everything and our line was giving awesome time, receivers catching everything.”
Kailua then forced a fumble and recovered the ball at the 6-yard line with 17 seconds left in the second quarter. Auld hit Koolau Gaspar in the corner of the end zone to put Kailua ahead 27-0 at halftime.
