Football
West tops East, 21-20, in HUB Goodwill Senior Bowl


   



Fri, Nov 30, 2012 @ Kamehameha [ 7:00 pm ]


Final 1 2 3 4 T
East (0-1-0) 0 6 6 820
West (1-0-0) 0 7 7 721

View a rebroadcast of the 2012 HUB Goodwill Senior Bowl at https://new.livestream.com/scoringlive/2012hubseniorbowl.

KAPALAMA - Mililani's Jarin Morikawa ran in a touchdown and threw for another score and Kapolei's Kaeo Kanoa recorded two interceptions to carry the West All-Stars to a 21-20 win over the East All-Stars in the 22nd Annual Hawaii Union Builders Foundation Goodwill Senior Bowl Friday night.

A crowd of about 2,000 fans saw the West rally from an early deficit, then hang on to win at Kunuiakea Stadium on the Kamehameha-Kapalama campus.

The game featured 100 seniors - at least one from every school in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu and the Oahu Interscholastic Association. The West squad was made up players from Damien, Kamehameha, Punahou and the OIA West schools, while players from Iolani, Pac-Five and the OIA East schools comprised the East team.

Morikawa threw for 128 yards on 11-of-22 passing, including a 3-yard touchdown pass to Leilehua's Keoni Piceno. Piceno, a wide receiver, caught three passes for 33 yards, completed 2 of his 3 pass attempts for 51 yards and rushed twice for eight yards. He was named Most Outstanding Offensive Player for the West.

"It's just good to get back out on the field again," Morikawa said. "Playing with all the boys you've been competing against all year long, it's just kind of cool to come together and play as one team and play against the East side."

Waianae defensive tackle Kennedy Tulimasealii, who earlier this week gave a verbal commitment to the University of Hawaii, was selected as the West's Most Outstanding Defensive Player, but it was a pivotal pass reception that was his most memorable play of the game.

Tulimasealii caught an 8-yard pass from Morikawa on a fourth-and-2 from the East's 10-yard line to set-up the Morikawa-to-Piceno scoring strike three plays later.

"I thought I wasn't going to catch it because it was a little too far (in front) of me, but miracles happen," said Tulimasealii, who is 6-foot-2 and 285 pounds. "We practiced that once, I think on the first day of practice."

Kanoa's first interception halted a 12-play drive by the East to open the second half. His second pick came with just three minutes and 25 seconds to play and sealed the win for the West.

"It was a good opportunity to come out here and play on this all-star team," said Kanoa, a 6-foot, 190-pound defensive back. "It was a really good experience and just being able to come out here and play and everyone did their part and coming out with two picks is a great feeling."

Farrington's Amo Silva opened the scoring late in the second quarter with a 94-yard run up the middle. On the previous play, it appeared the West had forced a safety when Kahuku's Aofaga Wily was brought down in the end zone. However, the West was penalized for an illegal defensive alignment and the result was first-and-5 from the East 6-yard line.

"It was a good opportunity," said Silva, who was named Most Outstanding Offensive Player for the East and finished with a game-high 100 rushing yards on just four carries. "It was the last game for all of us seniors and we just had to make the best of it."

Wily was stopped short of the goal line on the ensuing extra point and the East held a 6-0 lead.

However, the West answered in one play as Kamehameha's Makoa Camanse-Stevens connected with Warriors' teammate Alii Pedrina for a 10-yard pass. Before he was brought down, Pedrina lateraled to Pearl City's Daicorri Briscoe, who took it 65 yards the rest of the way for the West score. Radford's Cayman Conley tacked on the extra point to give the West the lead for good.

The West held a 7-6 lead at halftime.

Morikawa made it a two-score game with 1:19 left in the third on his 6-yard touchdown scamper, but the East answered with a trick play just 13 seconds later. Farrington's Tyler Taumua received the toss right from Kailua's Kahaku Iaea and pulled up before finding Pac-Five's Keoni Tom-Millare wide-open on a pass down the right sideline. The play resulted in a 85-yard touchdown pass for the East, which cut the West lead to 14-12, following a failed two-point conversion pass.

Morikawa's 3-yard TD pass to Piceno with 6:31 left in the fourth made it 21-12, but the East pulled within a point after Iolani teammates Reece Foy and Tanner Nishioka hooked up for a 3-yard score with 4:07 to play.

"It was definitely different from D2 football, but it was an amazing experience to play with these guys," Nishioka said. "We kind of improvised a little bit, and we got lucky a little bit, but we didn't pull it off in the end."

Kaimuki's Chansen Exzabe picked off Morikawa on the West's very next play, but Foy was intercepted three plays later by Kanoa and the West ran out the clock.

"There's no pressure about winning or losing and the players just made plays," West head coach David Stant, of Kamehameha, said. "They're real good athletes and real students of the game. We ran some plays that we never even practiced, but they picked it up. I think it was perfect because we kept it simple, employed a small package, let the kids make plays and let them have fun instead of thinking too much."

Kahuku linebacker Matai Paselio was named the East's Most Outstanding Defensive Player, while Conley was selected as Most Outstanding Special Teams Player for the West.

Proceeds from the game will be distributed through scholarships to outstanding student-athletes. Since 1989, the HUB Foundation has distributed nearly $600,000 to student-athletes and student organizations.

The lone school that was unable to participate this year was Saint Louis, whose seniors had a class retreat this weekend.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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