OIA Football
Waipahu pulls away from Waialua, 26-7


  



Fri, Sep 23, 2016 @ Waialua [ 6:00 pm ]


Final 1 2 3 4 T
Waipahu (8-3-0) 7 7 6 626
Waialua (7-3-0) 7 0 0 07
Tevesi Toia 188 yd 1 TD
Braden Amorozo 232 yd 2 TD
Alfred Failauga 149 yd 2 TD

WAIALUA — Waipahu fought through a slew of injuries to get past a scrappy Waialua team, 26-7 in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II contest at Toshiyuki Nakasone Field Friday night.

The Marauders, ranked eighth in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Division II Power Rankings, scored 19 unanswered points after the first quarter to improve to 5-1 and 4-1 in the league standings. 

Junior quarterback Braden Amorozo passed for 232 yards and two scores and freshman running back Alfred Failauga rushed for a career-high 149 yards and two touchdowns to help Waipahu spoil Waialua's homecoming night.

The tenth-ranked Bulldogs saw their three-game winning streak come to a close as they dropped to 3-2 in league play.

Failauga, who was playing through a sprained ankle, carried the load for the running game with a season-high 32 carries. His 93 rushing yards in the second half helped the Marauders pound out 261 of their 401 total yards of offense after the break.

With starting wideouts Isaac Yamashita (strained back) and Alika Ahsing (severe wrist sprain) out with injuries, Amorozo went to slotbacks Ezekiel Kapanui Reyes and Cody Andres-Paguirigan for most of his completions. Kapanui Reyes caught seven passes for a season-high 133 yards and Andres-Paguirigan had a game-high 12 receptions for 68 yards. Both players caught scoring strikes from Amorozo.

Starting nose tackle Lafo Seiuli-Sanchez also had to deal with a neck injury throughout the week.

"They went through so much adversity this week, so many injuries and we challenged them to step up," said Waipahu coach Bryson Carvalho. "I told them to weather the storm. We had so much going against us, but I just told them to remain focused, trust each other, love each other and everything will be fine."

Waipahu's defense also did a better job in the second half against Waialua quarterback Tevesi Toia. The Bulldogs' junior signal-caller kept the Marauders on their toes with his scrambling ability, but had less room to operate outside of the pocket after the break. Outside linebackers Centennial Kulikefu and Devin Roque-Souza and defensive ends Jeminae Solomua and Jared Marcelo led the charge.

Safety Kobie Russell and cornerback Kamakani Kahalewai also intercepted Toia inside Waipahu territory to keep the Bulldogs off the board for most of the night.

"We just had to set the edge and make sure he can't get out," Carvalho said of Toia. "We made sure we made adjustments at halftime to make sure we keep him contained. I thought our secondary played pretty well, we missed a coverage on that first drive, but other than that they played really well."

Waialua showed promise early and outgained Waipahu 148 to 140 in the first half, but could not slow down Waipahu's running game as the night went on.

"They have big offensive linemen, right now we don't have that much depth," said Waialua coach Lincoln Barit.

The first quarter was a series of missed opportunities for the Bulldogs. A bad snap on Waipahu's opening drive was recovered by Waialua at the Marauders' 1-yard line, but the Bulldogs fumbled the handoff on the very next play to give possession back to Waipahu.

Waipahu gained just three yards on its next drive and was forced to punt from the back of its own end zone. Lancen Kuni returned the punt from the Waipahu 40-yard line to the 25, but Toia was intercepted by Russell on the very next play. The Marauders recycled Russell's interception into a seven-play, 60-yard drive and took a 7-0 lead on Amorozo's 10-yard TD pass to Andres-Paguirigan.

"I think that would have turned the tide. If we had scored on that, that probably would have changed everything," said Barit.

Waialua answered on its next possession with Toia's 23-yard TD pass to a wide-open Darin Valmoja-Khleang. Toia helped extend the drive with two third down conversions to Caleb Apau on passes of 34 and 11 yards.

The Marauders scored on their next drive, but it wasn't without some drama. A controversial face mask penalty against the Bulldogs wiped out a fumble recovery on a high Waipahu snap. The penalty erased a 20-yard loss and moved Waipahu to the Waialua 27-yard line. Six plays later Failauga ran in a 12-yard score to give the Marauders the lead for good.

Waipahu added another score midway through third quarter on Amorozo's 61-yard bomb to Kapanui Reyes in the right seam. Amorozo arched the ball over the top of the defender and Kapanui Reyes was able to catch it in stride to reach the end zone untouched.

The duo hooked up on the same play later in the period for a 43-yard connection, which helped set up Failauga's 4-yard TD run on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Dayton Kaopua-Lee made a game-high 12 tackles and Matthan Hatchie added 10 more, three for loss, to lead the Bulldogs.



Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].




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