Waipahu's Cody Morales and Tarynce Antolin gang tackles Nanakuli's Joey Vea Quitog Crizalmer Caraang Jr. | SL

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The Waipahu offense stole the show in the Marauders' 51-14 non-league win over host Nanakuli last Friday, but there were a handful of solid storylines that didn't make into my game recap.

Waipahu's pressurized defense
The Marauders utilize a 3-man defensive front, but will always send four guys after the quarterback. This means that a different linebacker will rush the quarterback on any given down. The exotic blitz scheme worked to great success against the Golden Hawks as the Waipahu defense totaled eight total sacks.

"All I know is we did our assignments and we came here to play," said senior linebacker Centennial Kulikefu, who had a game-high three sacks. "Like coach said, we didn't come here for a field trip, we came here for a business trip. We came here, took care of business and now we're going out. We're going to finish and play hard until the season is finished."

Sophomore defensive lineman Kealii Barrett was another key contributor, finishing with seven tackles and two sacks, which came on back-to-back plays. Also with sacks for the Marauders were Rylee Oneill, Azserus Moli and Jed Marcelo.

The Marauders did have a couple of defensive starters out on academic probation, but Waipahu coach Bryson Carvalho was proud of how the defensive reserves competed in their absence.

"There are guys in there that aren't maybe considered a starter, but there are fighting for a position right now," said the third-year coach. "Those guys stepped up tonight and they played really hard.

"That's just a credit to our JV staff coaching them up. We try to make sure that from top to bottom, we're running the same system so that when they get to varsity, there's no re-teaching and just a refining kind of thing. That's really the difference for the way they looked tonight."

Oneill had a game-high 9.5 tackles, Tarynce Antolin recorded an interception and a fumble recovery, while Deacon Kapea, Cody Morales, Samuel Guerrero and Justin Gollero each broke up a pass.

Nanakuli's veteran secondary
The Marauders may have put up 51 points, but they had trouble getting the passing game going for the first 18 minutes of play. The Golden Hawks' secondary featuring seniors Willis Yin, Chayce Morgan, Sean Souza and Thomas Nahinu did their part to contain a potent Waipahu offense.

Yin had the best statistical game of the group, recording three pass breakups and an interception that was nearly taken back for six points. The 5-foot-7 cornerback also stuck to his assignments and was not fooled when the Marauders attempted a wide receiver pass.

"They have experience, not only playing football, but also playing with each other," said Nanakuli first-year coach Kili Watson.

Depth ultimately hurt the Nanakuli defense as the game wore on as the Marauders started to get their running game going, which opened up the passing game towards the ending of the second quarter.

Taking flight
The Golden Hawks dabbled with a new offense in 2016, running an option-oriented attack using the flexbone formation, but have returned to the spread offense for this year.

Sophomore quarterback Nahum Kipi performed admirably in his first start behind center and improved as the game progressed. Watson praised Kipi after the game.

"He went out there and had a good game and a good showing. It did take him a half to warm up and get comfortable. In the first half, he escaped with the littlest pressure, but then he learned to work with what he had in the pocket and he was able to deliver the ball. We had glimpses of positive output with the offense."

Joey Vea-Quitog was Kipi's favorite target that night, hauling in a game-high eight passes for 73 yards.

Nanakuli fans will also be pleased to hear that several offensive linemen and receivers were out with either injuries or academic probation. With Kipi developing as a passer, the Golden Hawks have the potential to put up higher scoring numbers later in the season.

Adding to the arsenal
In addition to his top four pass catchers returning from a season ago, Waipahu quarterback Braden Amorozo now has two more capable receivers that he can count on in slotbacks Matthew Fiesta and Damien Oasay.

The duo combined for seven catches and 70 yards, which helped take the pressure off of outside receivers Alika Ahsing and Isaac Yamashita. Fiesta also caught a 19-yard touchdown pass that gave Waipahu the lead for good just before halftime.

"Damien played with me my sophomore year and has pretty secure hands while Matt is just a speedster," said Amorozo.