It was impossible for Castle to keep pace with No. 8 Leilehua on Friday night as the Knights kept shooting themselves in the foot.
The visiting Mules repeatedly took advantage of Castle’s mistakes in a 41-13 victory, staying in the race for the top seed in the OIA Division I playoffs.
no. 8 LEILEHUA 41, CASTLE 13
At Castle
Leilehua (6-1, 4-1) 21 6 7 7 — 41
Castle (2-4, 2-2) 0 0 13 0 — 13
Lei—Kekoa Turangan 1 rush (Raymond Konapiliahi kick)
Lei—Jemell Vereen 63 rush (Konapiliahi kick)
Lei–Kalei Akagi 9 pass from Turangan (Konapiliahi kick)
Lei—Jayzon Ramos 38 pass from Turangan (rush failed)
Lei—Landyn Jumawan 7 pass from Turangan (Konapiliahi kick)
Cast—Brandon Frey fumble recovery in end zone (kick failed)
Cast—Kala Matthews 25 pass from Kila Kaio (Ian Rivera kick)
Lei—Kawela Kaluhiokalani 7 rush (Konapiliahi kick)
RUSHING—Leilehua: Vereen 14-143, Damarion Smith 10-23, Kaluhiokalani 5-21, Kalei Akagi 1-8, Cody Akagi 1-5, Turangan 3-1, Ramos 1-(minus-5), TEAM 1-(minus-3). Castle: Matthews 15-79, Brandon Frey 5-23, Kahiau Kanoa 2-2, Blaise Aledo-Estocado 4-1.
PASSING—Leilehua: Turangan 17-23-0-221, Kalei Akagi 1-1-0-9, Seth Swoveland 1-4-0-10. Castle: Kaio 10-22-1-139.
RECEIVING–Leilehua: Jumawan 5-36, Ramos 4-90, Kalei Akagi 4-48, Jonathan Vasquez 2-30, Vereen 1-15, Ishmael Alex 1-10, Smith 1-6, Cody Akagi 1-5. Castle: Matthews 5-78, Logan Albinio 3-37, AJ Igafo 2-24.
Junior varsity—Leilehua 27, Castle 0
Leilehua used up a good chunk of clock on the game’s opening possession. After Raymond Konapiliahi’s 36-yard field goal was originally called good, a 10-yard penalty put Leilehua on Castle’s 29 on fourth-and-long. The Mules decided that a potential 46-yarder would be too long a try, so they went for it and converted on Kekoa Turangan’s 27-yard completion to Kalei Akagi. The drive finally came to an end on Turangan’s 1-yard quarterback sneak on fourth-and-goal with 5:34 left in the first quarter.
On their first possession, the Knights operated exclusively with rushes from Kala Matthews as the quarterback in the wildcat formation. It got them to fourth down on the Leilehua 13, where Cheydon Costa missed a 30-yard field goal. Just a couple of plays later, Jemell Vereen took a handoff 63 yards to the house for Leilehua to double its lead to 14-0.
Castle fumbled on its next play from scrimmage, and Leilehua capitalized again with Akagi’s 9-yard touchdown pass from Turangan. By the end of the first quarter, the Mules already found themselves up 21-0.
The Knights fumbled again on their own 49 on their first possession of the second quarter, and Leilehua went up 27-0 a few plays later on Turangan’s second touchdown pass of the half, a 38-yarder to Jayzon Ramos.
“I just gotta find a way to sustain the blocks offensively. The defense played tough, but they gave up some big rushes, but that was just missed assignments,” Castle coach John Hao said. “We gave up a lot of fumbles. More than one is too much. One is too much.”
Up 34-0 in the third quarter, several second-stringers entered the game for Leilehua. After Castle responded with two quick touchdowns, the Mules’ starters promptly re-entered the game. Kawela Kaluhiokalani’s 7-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter on an option pitch put the game out of reach and proved to be the game’s final score.
There was no handshake after the game as both teams headed their separate ways and the Mules made a beeline for the bus. Despite improving to 6-1 overall and 4-1 in OIA Division I play, coach Mark Kurisu declined to comment after the game and made his players unavailable for interviews as well.
