On homecoming night, the Waianae Seariders appeared to be a team on a mission.
The Kamehameha Warriors spoiled those victory hopes, coming up with a key fumble recovery in the red zone in the second half for a 20-15 win at Raymond Torii Field on Friday.
Kamehameha improved to 2-5 in Interscholastic League of Honolulu Open Division play (3-5 overall).
“I’m happy for our kids. I’m glad they hung in there. Waianae’s such a tough, physical football team. We talked about it all week. For us to overcome that physicalness and just keep battling back and forth, it was a good game all-around for everybody,” Warriors coach Abu Ma‘afala said. “It was a close one, a nail-biter.”
>> Click here to see photos of the game between Kamehameha and Waianae. Opens in a new tab
Waianae is 1-7 overall (0-5 OIA Open) despite a monster performance by Kolu Quisquirin-Sabagala. The 5-foot-9, 210-pound sophomore rushed 46 times for 247 yards and two TDs. He also caught three passes for 60 yards.
“It’s the right thing to do, right? Your best player is your tailback,” Ma‘afala said. “He’s a helluva downhill runner. Our defensive staff, we talked all week. They run power and counter the way you should run it. We knew that was going to be it.”
Quisquirin-Sabagala was more frustrated than exhausted by game’s end.
“I’m kind of bummed out. We just came up short. I’m tired of losing, but it’s all right. We just got to come back and work hard again,” he said.
The Seariders trailed 14-12 late in the third quarter and had the ball at the 4-yard line, and Quisquirin-Sabagala had already carried the ball 39 times when he went out on a wheel route to the left pylon.
Shaydon Lopes’ pass had a nice loft to it, but Quisquirin-Sabagala lost the ball on the way down. On the next play, he carried the ball for a 40th time, got stripped of it, and linebacker Dayne Maeva came up with the rock, returning it to the 18-yard line.
Tanner Moku, Kamehameha’s state hurdles champion, scored on the ensuing drive on a 44-yard sweep around right end, untouched. That gave Kamehameha a 20-12 lead with 11:21 left in the game. Ma‘afala opted to go for two points on the conversion and the pass fell incomplete.
“We had momentum,” he said. “If it works, then I’m a genius.”
Waianae drove to the Kamehameha 5-yard line on the next series, but stalled against a resilient front seven of Kamehameha. Joshua Centeno-Cid’s 22-yard field goal pulled the home team within five points with 9:07 left, but the Seariders never got within striking distance again.
Kamehameha missed two field-goal tries in the final four minutes. Waianae moved the ball to its 39, but sacks by Evan Evaimalo and Spencer Salcedo ended the drive.
Waianae got the ball back with 22 seconds left at its 20, but didn’t move an inch after four consecutive incompletions to end the game.
Kamehameha and Waianae played an old-school, mostly smashmouth and scoreless first quarter. The Warriors got their first break when Waianae’s Nainoa Machado misfired on a pass off a fake punt, giving Kamehameha a short field. Kawika Clemente scored on 40-yard TD pass from Jonah Yuen to break the ice.
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Kamehameha 20, Waianae 15
At Waianae
>> KS (3-5, 2-5) 0 7 7 6 — 20
>> Waianae (1-7, 0-5) 0 6 6 3 — 15
Kamehameha — Kawika Clemente 40 pass from Jonah Yuen (Preston Rezentes kick)
Waianae — Kolu Quisquirin-Sabagala 1 run (run failed)
Waianae — Quisquirin-Sabagala 1 run (run failed)
Kamehameha — Clemente 1 run (Rezentes kick)
Kamehameha — Tanner Moku 44 run (pass failed)
Waianae — FG Joshua Centeno-Cid 22
RUSHING — Kamehameha: Moku 12-99, Andrew-Lee Smith 7-19, Clemente 7-18, Yuen 4-(minus-1). Waianae: Quisquirin-Sabagala 46-247, Kaai Tambaoan-Kaeo 3-18, Kealii McLeod 1-3, Shaydon Lopes 5-(minus-11).
PASSING — Kamehameha: Yuen 12-25-1-185. Waianae: Lopes 10-27-0-159, Nainoa Machado 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING — Kamehameha: Blaze Kamoku 4-93, Kahekili Pahio 4-39, Moku 3-13, Clemente 1-40. Waianae: Quisquirin-Sabagala 3-60, Delson Cordeiro 2-36, Machado 2-24, Laakea Lapastora 1-28, Tambaoan-Kaeo 1-6, Malik Brown 1-5.
* JV — Kamehameha 29, Waianae 22
