Moanalua's Jayce Bareng (right) awaits the football after it was fumbled on an interception return by Kamehameha-Hawaii's Kealohi Ramos (left). Bareng went on to score on the play after a 61-yard return for touchdown. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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_24081808_MoaKHSH_9_TD_3487.jpg - Greg Yamamoto | SL

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MAKIKI — Just two weeks into the prep football season and the Moanalua Na Menehune have already surpassed their win total from a year ago. 

Led by a stout effort from its defense, Moanalua pulled away from Kamehameha-Hawaii for a 35-0 rout in a non-league game Saturday night at Roosevelt's Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium. 

A crowd of about 500 fans endured a constant drizzle to see Na Menehune improve to 2-0, while the Warriors fell to 1-1. 

Moanalua moved down to Division I this year after a 1-7-1 overall record in 2023, including a 1-5-1 mark in the Oahu Interscholastic Association's Open Division. 

"The players believe in the team, they believe in themselves, they believe in each other and they're starting to build great relationships," second-year Na Menehune coach Andrew Manley said. 

"They're with each other on and off the field every single day and they're just building that chemistry right now and it's starting to show on the field," he added. 

Saturday marked the first time Moanalua shut out an opponent since Sept. 27, 2019, when it posted a 42-0 win over Aiea. The Menes went on to win the OIA Division I championship that year. 

Meanwhile, the inter-division matchup proved to be a step up in quality of competition for Kamehameha-Hawaii, the reigning Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division II champion, which was coming off of a decisive 50-14 home win over Nanakuli in its season opener a week ago. 

"We were able to still hold it together, so I was really proud of the boys," Warriors coach Kealoha Wengler said. 

Wengler's squad certainly did not look overmatched for much of the first half. Both of Moanalua's two first-quarter touchdowns Saturday were off of turnovers. 

Nearly six minutes into the contest, KS-Hawaii's Kealohi Ramos intercepted a pass by Moanalua quarterback Isaac Harney. However, on the return, Ramos was stripped and lost possession of the ball, only to see Menes' wide receiver Jayce Bareng pick it up and take it 61 yards for the game's opening score. 

The Warriors' next possession came to an abrupt halt after quarterback Adam Perry had his pass tipped by Moanalua's Anthony Rosario. The ball ricocheted off of Rosario's hands to his teammate, Tyson Alualu-Iu, who went 36 yards untouched for the interception return for touchdown. 

"It was a great job by our corner, (Rosario), to drive on the ball. It went right through his hands, but when you're in position good things happen," Manley said. 

Moanalua's defense forced a turnover on downs to start the second quarter after Perry was dropped for a one-yard loss on a quarterback run on fourth-and-2. Five plays later the offense cashed in with a 27-yard touchdown run by Kalino Judalena, who broke four tackles en route to the end zone. The scoring play was set-up by a 33-yard pass completion from Harney to Kyson Kealoha to move the chains on a third-and-nine. 

Harney and Kealoha hooked up for a 57-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter on a third-and-14 situation. Kealoha ran for a post pattern from the right side of the formation and Harney hit him in stride on the long scoring play. Harney connected with Bareng on the ensuing two-point conversion to stretch the Menes' lead to 28-0 with six seconds left until the fourth quarter. 

The Warriors had their best opportunity to score after they drove to the Moanalua 8-yard line on their next possession. However, a fumble on first-and-goal gave the Menes the ball back with 9:12 to play. 

Moanalua then orchestrated a 13-play, 92-yard drive that culminated with a 2-yard TD pass from Harney to Duane Miller. Nguyen tacked on the PAT to send it into running time with 1:52 remaining. 

Harney finished 26-of-40 passing for 314 yards with one interception. Kealoha totaled nine receptions for 169 yards and Judalena carried 17 times for 76 yards. 

Moanalua posted 415 yards of total offense and tallied 13 of its 17 total first downs via pass. It finished 7 of 18 on third-down conversions and 3 of 5 on fourth downs. 

Kamehameha-Hawaii was held to 168 total yards. It picked up five of its seven first downs by rush and was just 2 of 14 on third downs. The Warriors converted one of their three fourth-down attempts. 

"The defense is leading us right now, they're flying across the field — they're the unit that we're gonna follow this year and we're gonna let them lead," Manley said. 

Both squads struggled on special teams. Nguyen had two field goal attempts from 42 and 30 yards blocked, while he pulled a 38-yard try wide left. Moanalua also had one extra point try go awry due to a low snap from center. 

Kamehameha-Hawaii's William Henderson lined up for a 49-yard field goal on the opening possession of the game, but had his kick blocked. 

"We had a lot of good things going on and we're really proud of the performance, proud of the effort, proud of how we just stuck together through it all," Wengler said. "We have a lot of room to grow. This was a good thing for us and they showed us a lot of things that we need to get better at, so we really appreciate this competition. We appreciate playing up at this level like that."

The Warriors will open the BIIF regular season Thursday night at Honokaa (0-1), while Na Menehune will continue non-league play Friday night, when they host Capistrano Valley (Calif.) at Kapolei's Alvin Nagasako Sports Complex.