Leilehua, KS-Maui march on to state flag football quarters

Rayden Aoki | SL

In the Mules' opening round win over Ka Makani, the best offense for Mules might have been its defense.

Leilehua got not one but two interceptions returned for scores to pull away from Hawaii Prep, 25-6, one of four games that kicked off the Hawaii Dental Service/HHSAA Flag Football Championships at Mililani High School's John Kauinana Stadium.

Minei Haiola-Borges had a 48 yard interception return at 1:40 mark of the fourth, and Starlette Rose Tugaoen put the finishing touches on the win with an 18 yard pick-six with just under a minute in regulation for the Mules, who trailed until the 7:07 mark of the third.

"I was honestly going to hit (the route), but I thought not to but then I did and just grabbed it," said Tugaoen of the play.

Hawaii Prep drew first blood with an eight yard run by Madie Byczyna with 8:01 in the first quarter, and that scored remained unchanged through halftime, as a relentless Ka Makani defense kept the Mules' offense largely grounded.

That changed in the third, when Cali Moniz-Kealoha capped a drive with a 13 yard pass to Maci Rivera, who made a leaping grab over a number of Hawaii Prep defenders to even the score at 6-all.

Leilehua got the go ahead score midway through the fourth when Moniz-Kealoha found Madi Powell from 27 yards out for her second passing touchdown of the game, and the ensuing extra point made it 13-6.

"I really just had to put all my trust into throwing that ball that she was going to get up there and catch it," said Moniz-Kealoha of the play.

Kealoha-Moniz completed 17 of 24 passes for 219 yards and two scores, but was also picked off twice. The duo of Powell and Rivera led the Mules' passing corps with a combined eight grabs for 117 yards.

Hawaii Prep managed just 128 yards of offense in the contest, with Buczyna accounting for 79 of that total. Quarterback Harley Kaniho completed just 9 of 24 passes for 55 yards, as the Mules' defense recorded seven pass breakups and an interception.

In other first round action in central Oahu, Kamehameha-Maui steamrolled Hilo, 46-0, getting two pick-sixes of its own to bolster an offense that saw two different quarterbacks find four different receivers for scores..

Myla Tuitele set the tone early, with a 27 yard interception return that make it 6-0 just seconds into the start of the contest, and Raejia-Li Librando had a pick-six of her own just before halftime that made it 26-0.

The Warriors pressured the Vikings on both sides of the ball all afternoon, scoring twice in each of the first three quarters, en route to a 40-0 lead heading into the fourth, as Tyra Shimizu completed just 7 of 13 passes for 163 yards, but had three of those tosses result in scores, and Ariana Oshiro connected on 9 of 17 attempts for 83 yards and another TD.

Librando also contributed on offense, as shescored on her only reception of the game, a 60 yard strike from Shimizu.

Defensively, the Warriors had four sacks, three picks and two passes defended, holding the Vikings to -1 yards of total offense.