By Wes Nakama
‘AIEA — On a rainy, soggy, muddy Friday night, Kailua found plenty of daylight and dominated ‘Aiea, 42-0, in a statement-making OIA Division I road victory.
The Surfriders jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first seven minutes and led, 21-0, with almost two minutes remaining in the first quarter in improving to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the OIA. Na Ali’i fell to 4-3, 2-1. Both teams are one game behind first-place leaders Wai’anae and Waipahu (both 3-0). Kailua was coming off a disappointing 15-7 loss at Wai’anae on Sept. 12.
“I think that loss was a good wake-up call for us, we learned from our mistakes,” said running back Marquez Mellor, who scored two touchdowns Friday. “We had to develop our offensive game, run the ball. And that’s exactly what we did.”
The Surfriders started their second possession from their own 10-yard line, but reached midfield six plays later and then scored four plays later when Isaiah Keaunui-Demello found a wide-open Tayvin Kahele for a 40-yard touchdown strike. Desmon McMaster’s extra point made it 7-0.
‘Aiea was pinned back to start the ensuing drive from the 6, and a sack by Ben Honebein put Na Ali’i at the 1. After a short punt, Kailua took over at the 30 and on the very next play Mellor scampered to the end zone. McMaster tacked on the PAT for a 14-0 lead just past midway through the first quarter.
After another three-and-out, the Surfriders started their next possession near midfield and needed just three plays to score on Micah Sua’s 6-yard TD run. McMaster’s point-after made it 21-0 with 1:41 still to go in the first period.
“This was the most physical team we faced,” ‘Aiea quarterback Caizel Jesus-Kapesi said. “They had big guys, and they just used their power to push through.”
Na Ali’i managed an 11-play drive to cross midfield on their first possession after halftime, but a high shotgun snap went over Jesus-Kapesi’s head and resulted in a 15-yard loss, and an incompletion on third-and-21 forced another punt. A long return gave Kailua the ball on the 26, and Mellor scored three plays later on a 10-yard run to stretch the lead to 27-0 five minutes into the third quarter.
Three plays after the kickoff, Surfrider defensive back Raidenblaze Leong intercepted a pass, then ran 30 yards to paydirt for a pick-6. Sua ran in the two-point conversion to make it 35-0 and trigger the running clock with 5:12 still remaining in the third quarter.
“Our defense plays stellar, and offense just has to put things together,” Kailua coach Hauoli Wong said. “I think today, our kicking game, defense and offense put it together and that’s what can happen when we put it all together.”
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