Oregon coach Willie Taggart announced at a press conference on Monday that linebacker Kaulana Apelu, a 2015 Kamehameha graduate, will miss the rest of the season after fracturing his ankle in a 45-24 win over California on Saturday.
The 5-foot-11, 200-pound junior shot up the middle on the first play of the second quarter and tackled Cal running back Vic Enwere for a 2-yard loss. Apelu rolled over and got up, but then quickly motioned toward the sideline and hobbled off under his own power.
Apelu suffered season-ending knee injuries in high school in the first game of both his junior and senior seasons.
He walked on at Oregon in the summer of 2015 and was given a scholarship just prior to the start of this season. He had a career-high 11⁄2 tackles for loss against Cal before exiting with the injury.
Overall, Apelu is fifth on the team with 20 tackles and tied for fifth with three tackles for loss this season.
Oregon defensive tackle Scott Pagano (Moanalua ’13), who played his first game with the Ducks two weeks ago against Wyoming, assisted on his first two tackles of the season against the Bears.
Cal receiver Kanawai Noa (Punahou ’15) continued to shine as Cal’s top target with a career-high seven receptions for 126 yards and scored his first collegiate TD on a 75-yard reception in the third quarter that pulled Cal within 10 at 24-14.
Mata’afa has WSU thinking title
Washington State defensive end Hercules Mata’afa, a 2014 Lahainaluna alum, had five tackles with two tackles for loss in the Cougars’ 30-27 win over Southern California on Friday in Pullman, Wash.
Washington State improved to 5-0 for the first time since 2001 and won its first regular-season game against a team ranked in the top five in 25 years.
The Cougars jumped to No. 11 in the latest Associated Press Top 25, while USC fell from No. 5 to No. 14.
Mata’afa, who leads all active Pac-12 players in career tackles for loss, upped his total to 34 1/2, ranking seventh in school history.
The 6-foot-2, 252-pound redshirt junior already has 10 tackles for loss this season.
“We showed that we were the better team tonight,” Mata’afa said in a postgame press conference Friday. “It was fun to go out there and play against (USC).
“We went out there and penetrated the line of scrimmage and we came downhill at them and they weren’t expecting that.”
After redshirting his first season in Pullman, Mata’afa has not missed a game and was named to the All-Pac-12 second team last season.
He helped hold USC to a season-low 327 total yards on offense.
“We have all the trust in each other,” Mata’afa said of the defense. “We’ve got more experience coming back (from last year) and we trust each other a lot.”
The Cougars went 9-4 and beat Miami in the Sun Bowl two years ago and were 8-5 with a loss to Minnesota in the Holiday Bowl last year.
WSU plays back-to-back road games at Oregon and California the next two weeks. After beating USC, the only Pac-12 team ranked higher than WSU is No. 6 Washington. The two teams will meet in the Apple Cup in November to end the regular season.
Arizona State’s Bryant tears ACL
Arizona State defensive back Joey Bryant, a 2009 Saint Louis alumnus, will miss the rest of the season after suffering a knee injury in a non-contact drill during practice on Sept. 26.
Bryant, who started the first three games of the season, had 15 tackles and is still the only Sun Devil to record both a sack and an interception this season.
Bryant joined the football team after competing in track last spring and earned a scholarship just before the start of the season.
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound junior picked off a pass in his first D-I game against New Mexico State and had a career-high seven tackles against San Diego State.
Milton has Knights ranked in Top 25
Central Florida sophomore quarterback McKenzie Milton finished 19-for-31 for 253 yards and three touchdowns and added 88 rushing yards on 11 carries in the Knights’ 40-13 win over Memphis on Saturday.
UCF entered the AP Top 25 this week at No. 25, marking its first appearance since winning the Fiesta Bowl to close out the 2013 season ranked No. 10.
Milton tossed three touchdown passes during a 34-0 run that put UCF up 40-7 early in the fourth quarter against the Tigers, who beat UCLA earlier this season.
The Knights are 3-0 this season, and Milton has completed 64.6 percent of his passes for 791 yards and eight touchdowns to only two picks. He’s also second on the team with 186 rushing yards, averaging 9.3 yards per carry.
FOOTBALL
>> Tua Tagovailoa, Saint Louis ’17: The Alabama freshman quarterback was 3-for-5 for 51 yards and a touchdown and carried four times for 37 yards with his first rushing touchdown, a 2-yard score, in a 66-3 rout of Ole Miss on Saturday.
>> Manase Hungalu, Kealakehe ’13: The Oregon State senior linebacker recorded a game-high 11 tackles and 1 1/2 sacks in a 42-7 loss to No. 6 Washington on Saturday.
>> Ronley Lakalaka, Punahou ’15: The San Diego State linebacker made eight tackles with one tackle for a loss in a 34-28 win over Northern Illinois on Saturday.
>> Andrew Aleki, Kamehameha ’17: The San Diego State freshman linebacker had a tackle and recovered a fumble against Northern Illinois.
>> Dakota Turner, Mililani ’13: The San Diego State senior defensive end had two tackles against Northern Illinois.
>> Jet Toner, Punahou ’16: The Stanford kicker was 4-for-4 on extra points and made both field-goal attempts in a 34-24 win over Arizona State on Saturday.
>> Shai Pulawa, Leilehua ’14: The Whitworth (Wash.) junior defensive back made six tackles and intercepted a pass in a 38-9 loss to Linfield (Ore.) on Saturday.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
>> Chardonnay Curran, Campbell ’17: The Oregon freshman scored her first collegiate goal to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead in an eventual 2-1 loss to Southern California on Sunday.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
>> Siani Yamaguchi, Kalaheo ’16: The Winthrop sophomore setter had 53 assists, 20 digs, an ace and a kill in a five-set win over Presbyterian on Friday and added 43 assists, 12 digs, four kills, three aces, a solo block and a block assist in a four-set victory over Gardner-Webb on Saturday.
>> Keaupono Fey, Punahou ’14: The Winthrop senior middle had 15 kills, two solo blocks, two digs, a block assist and an ace against Presbyterian and 10 kills, six digs, three block assists and a solo block against Gardner-Webb.
>> Kaylen Higa, Punahou ’15: The Azusa Pacific junior had a team-high 18 assists and eight digs in a sweep of Hawaii Pacific on Friday and 16 assists and four digs in a sweep of Chaminade on Saturday.
>> Shaylah Kagehiro, Moanalua ’15: The Azusa Pacific junior had six assists and a dig against the Sharks and 11 assists and four digs against the Silverswords.
