Football
Pearl City, Waipahu vie for OIA White title


ScoringLive staff
November 4, 2011, 12:47am


There was a time not long ago when Pearl City High School was known more for its band than its football team.

This year's Chargers are trying to change that, and a victory today in the school's first-ever O'ahu Interscholastic Association White Conference championship game will go a long way toward achieving that goal.

Standing in Pearl City's way is Waipahu. Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. at Aloha Stadium, and the game will be televised live on OC16 and broadcast live on AM1500.

Pearl City has yet to win an OIA varsity football title of any kind, and win-or-lose today, the Chargers (9-1) are enjoying arguably their best season to date. They ran the table in the regular season before holding off McKinley, 26-12, in the White Conference semifinals two weeks ago.

Pearl City's pass-oriented offense is led by versatile junior quarterback Kaimi Paredes, who has completed 131 of 227 passes (57.7 percent) for 1,813 yards and 25 touchdowns and rushed for 444 yards and two more TDs.

Paredes has several talented receivers, led by Daicorri Briscoe (31 catches, 511 yards, 6 TDs), Kelson Laboy (29-473, 9) and David Laranol (21-226, 2).

Senior linebacker Kelson Kawaguchi and sophomore defensive backs Tanner Tokunaga and Jordan Mendiola help a defense that can but bend but doesn't break too often.

Waipahu (7-3) bounced back from consecutive losses last month to eventually upset Kaimuki, 36-22, in the playoff semifinals two weeks ago.

The Marauders have received a big boost with the return of starting quarterback Drake Yoshioka (1,100 yards passing, 6 TDs) and running back Gregorio Alip (896 yards rushing, 15 TDs), both of whom had been sidelined by injury.



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