Bubba Sato scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with one minute remaining and Kailua held off Moanalua in the closing seconds last night, 23-20, in thrilling O'ahu Interscholastic Association football action.

A near-capacity Homecoming crowd of about 1,500 at Moanalua Stadium watched Kailua win its third straight game and improve to 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the OIA Red Conference Eastern Division. Moanalua, ranked No. 10 in the ScoringLive-OC16 Power Rankings, fell to 2-2, 1-1.

Na Menehune trailed 14-0 early in the second quarter but eventually took a 17-16 lead with 3:52 left in the third quarter after Charles Spencer's 18-yard TD scamper and Lee Arakawa's extra point. Arakawa added a 27-yard field goal to put Moanalua ahead, 20-16, with 9:38 remaining in the game.

Na Menehune then stopped Kailua on its next two series but faced a fourth-and-2 from the 50 with about three minutes left. They elected to go for the first down, but 6-foot-2, 240-pound tight end Richard Villasenor -- lined up at quarterback -- was stopped short on a sneak to the left side.

"I thought we could get it, we had our big package in there and we had a (line) surge," Moanalua coach Arnold Martinez said. "I figured we could get the first down, and even if we didn't, our defense had stopped them on the previous three possessions and was playing very well."

This time, however, the Surfriders kept marching thanks to some clutch pass plays and a crucial pass interference call against Na Menehune on third-and-3 from the Moanalua 31. Three plays later, sophomore quarterback Kahaku Iaea completed a 14-yard pass to Dustin Kalai in traffic over the middle, giving Kailua first-and-goal at the 1. Sato then ran it in on the next play and Eric Lum's PAT made it 23-20.

After the ensuing kickoff, Moanalua advanced the ball to the Surfriders' 46 in four plays, but eventually faced fourth-and-10. Keven Amaral completed a pass to Taylor Tanaka on the left sideline with six seconds remaining, but it was measured one yard short and Kailua took over on downs, taking a knee to end the game.

"We had a lot of miscues, we shot ourselves in the foot in many ways and can second-guess numerous things," Martinez said. "But give Kailua credit -- they made big plays when it counted."

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