Running back Rico Rosario racked up 215 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns to help No. 4 Waianae to a 47-31 win over Moanalua at Raymond Torii Field Friday night. Jim Lebeau | SL

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Fri, Aug 19, 2016 @ Waianae [ 7:30 pm ]

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Moanalua

31

Waianae

47

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Moanalua (5-7-0)	6	12	7	6	31
Waianae (9-5-0)	13	21	0	13	47

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Jaren Ulu 131 yd 2 TD

Alakai Yuen 222 yd 3 TD

Rico Rosario 125 yd 1 TD

Alakai Yuen 6 yd 1 TD

Rico Rosario 88 yd 1 TD

Ryan Ramones 88 yd 2 TD

WAIANAE — Another week, another opponent left in the dust.

Rico Rosario racked up 213 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns to help No. 4 Waianae to a 47-31 win over Moanalua at Raymond Torii Field Friday night.

The Seariders piled up 428 yards of total offense — 297 of them coming from an unrelenting ground attack — to improve to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I Blue.

Rosario rushed for 125 yards despite just eight attempts and was one of nine players that carried the ball a total of 42 times for Waianae, which averaged 7.1 yards per rush.

"I didn't think that they had that deep of a stable of running backs and it's a huge attribute to them," Moanalua coach Savaii Eselu said of the Seariders. "They just wear you down, wear you down and then here comes a fresh set of legs. That, for sure, put a big toll on us. There's no question about it."

Quarterback Jaren Ulu threw for 131 yards on 10-of-16 passing with a pair of touchdowns. When he did pass, Ulu typically had ample time in the pocket. He was sacked only once and was not intercepted Friday.

The Seariders defense did its part with four takeaways. They pestered Moanalua quarterback Alakai Yuen all game long — both behind and beyond the line of scrimmage. Yuen was sacked five times by five different players and intercepted three times.

"That defense man, they came out and did their thing," Waianae coach Walter Young said. "They got some takeaways — which you always look for in a defense — and they got some key stops and that's all you can ask. That defense kept us in there."

One turnover led directly to a score on a 58-yard pick-6 by defensive back Tony Cabral that gave Waianae it's largest lead at 47-25 early in the fourth quarter.

"I just followed my blocks," said Cabral, who said the back half of the defense benefited from the front end.

"Those (four) sacks in the first half really built our confidence as a defense and allowed us to make plays back in the secondary."

Moanalua held a 6-0 lead after Yuen's 3-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Ramones capped a 10-play, 72-yard opening drive that benefitted from three Waianae defensive penalties, including a pair of 15-yard facemask fouls.

The Seariders scored twice in a three-minute span later in the first quarter. Kade Ambrocio scooted up the middle for a 20-yard touchdown run to tie it before Tate Ebel's extra point gave his team the lead for good.

Yuen led Moanalua into the red zone on its ensuing drive, but his fourth-down pass fell incomplete for a turnover on downs. On the very next play, Rosario turned a short, screen-pass from Ulu into an impressive 77-yard scoring play.

"I just saw a big hole and I just ran to the end zone," said Rosario, who praised the play of his offensive line. "They executed on every play and moved their feet."

Kea Rodrigues pulled Moanalua to within a point at 13-12 with his 45-yard scoop-and-score early in the second quarter, but Rosario culminated Waianae's next drive with his 32-yard touchdown run. Rosario started out to his right before cutting back to the left behind a wall of blockers en route to the end zone.

It was Rosario's third rushing score of the season and fifth overall.

"It's deceiving because he's a bigger guy," Young said of the 5-foot-9, 200-pound junior. "A lot of people underestimate a bigger back being not as fast, but he's got some wheels under him."

Na Menehune got within 20-18 on Yuen's 3-yard touchdown run with 8:25 left in the second. They had a chance to tie it on the ensuing two-point conversion, but Yuen's pass fell incomplete.

The Seariders stretched their lead to 34-18 by halftime with touchdown runs of 39 yards and 33 yards by Jorell Pontes-Borje and Javen Towne, respectively. Pontes-Borje also hauled in a 12-yard scoring strike from Ulu two plays into the fourth quarter.
 
Brandon Bender had a game-high 10 receptions for 88 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown pass from Yuen, who completed 26 of 52 passes for 222 yards and three touchdowns. Ramones finished with eight grabs for 88 yards. He closed out the scoring with a 25-yard pass from Yuen with 3:53 left to play.

Moanalua was 2 of 12 on third downs and finished with 229 yards of total offense.

Waianae committed 12 of its 16 penalties in the first half. It totaled 168 yards in penalty yardage to six penalties for 46 yards for Moanalua.

The Seariders, who notched wins over ranked teams in each of the first two weeks of the season, will travel to the North Shore for a showdown against top-ranked Kahuku Friday.