By BILL O’REAR
Tribune-Herald sports editor
Sophomore quarterback Micah Kanehailua threw three touchdown passes and junior Faaolaina Teofilo rushed for a game-high 129 yards to spark Kamehameha to a 20-7 win over Waiakea on Saturday afternoon.
The Big Island Interscholastic Federation preseason football game was played before about 700 fans at Wong Stadium.
Kanehailua, a 5-foot-8, 145-pound right-hander, showed outstanding composure in the pocket against Waiakea’s strong rush while completing 9 of 10 passes for 93 yards and the three TDs.
Kanehailua fired a nine-yard TD pass to senior Adri Castro wth 4:10 remaining in the first quarter to rally the visiting Warriors (1-0). The point-after-touchdown kick failed, leaving the hosts on top 7-6.
Fred Lau-coached Waiakea (0-1) opened the game with a bang. Senior Lono Leasure-Lucas grabbed the opening kickoff and raced through the Kamehameha defense all the way to the Warrior 5 before being pulled down. Then after junior Devin Preston carried the football to the 1-yard line, the 5-9, 175-pound running back scored on a 1-yard run to make it 6-0 at the 11:12 mark. Dayton Kiko added the PAT kick for a 7-0 lead.
Kamehameha marched down the field once it got the ball, led by the power running of Teofilo and crafty passing of Kanehailua. The visitors drove 65 yards in 15 plays with Kanehailua hitting Castro on the 9-yard TD pass.
The private-school Warriors struck again late in the second quarter to take the lead for good. Kanehailua spotted senior David Lopez down the left side of the field and rifled a long pass to the wide receiver, who outjumped two Warrior defenders to make the catch and then sprinted into the endzone to complete the 34-yard TD connection at the :26 mark. Sophomore Logan Uyetake kicked the PAT to make it 13-7.
The teams battled through a scoreless third quarter before Kamehameha drove to the Waiakea 1-yard line with about 6:00 left. But the pumped-up host’s defense stepped up twice, stopping the visitors from the 1 in an impressive goal-line stand. On the last play, Waiakea’s defense denied the 6-foot, 198-pound Teofili a shot at scoring, pulling him down short of the goal line.
Junior quarterback Kayed Rodrigues tried to lead Waiakea back down the field for the go-ahead touchdown. But Kamehameha’s defense answered the call and stopped the drive on fourth down, getting the football back with 2:58 left on the clock.
That was plenty of time for Kanehailua & Co. to take advantage of their great field position. The visiting Warriors went 17 yards in four plays to score, with a Kanehailua to Kamuela Kawamoto 11-yard scoring pass capping the short drive. Uyetake’s kick stretched the lead to 20-7 at the 1:47 mark.
Following the Kamehameha kickoff, Rodrigues went to the air and his second-down pass was snared by Kiko for an 11-yard gain to the host Warriors’ 46-yard line. But after missing on his next attempt, Rodrigues was rushed hard on second down and fumbled the ball with Kamehameha’s Jairah Chun-Lai recovering it with 1:11 left.
Kamehameha head coach Dan Lyons then instructed Kanehailua to take a knee on successive downs and the visitors ran out the clock in a hard-fought contest. The game featured clean play with hard hitting and a limited number of penalties.
Kanehailua completed his first six passes, including a 35-yard strike to Kawamoto that started Kamehameha’s second TD drive and ended with Lopez’s athletic 34-yard catch that led to the TD.
Teofilo anchored Kamehameha’s offense with punishing runs that kept the pressure off the young Kanehailua and forced Waiakea to dig deep on the line. Teofilo carried the ball 25 times for his 129 yards.
The visiting Warriors finished with 178 yards rushing and 93 passing for 271 total yards. The visitors also didn’t turn the ball over.
Waiakea had 127 yards rushing and 60 passing fr 187 total yards. The hosts turned the ball over once, on a fumble.
Preston led Waiakea with 63 yards on 13 carries while Leasure-Lucas had 37 yards on six attempts.
Rodrigues was harassed by the Kamehameha defense all afternoon and completed 3 of 14 passes for the 60 yards. His 34-yard spiral to the quick Kiko was a beauty, splitting two Warrior defenders and pulling in the tough catch.
And while Kanehailua and Teofilo highlighted a productive offense, the visiting Warriors’ defense played well and contained the dangerous hosts throughout the preseason contest.
In junior varsity action, Kamehameha defeated Waiakea 21-12.
Kamehameha 6 7 0 7 — 20
Waiakea 7 0 0 0 — 7
