Hawaiian Electric Game of the Week
No. 9 Waianae slips by No. 10 Kapolei for postseason berth


Stacy Kaneshiro | ScoringLive
November 20, 2021, 12:55am

  

Fri, Nov 19, 2021 @ Kapolei [ 7:30 pm ]

Waianae

12

Kapolei

3

Final 1 2 3 4 T
Waianae (3-5-0) 0 0 6 612
Kapolei (2-4-0) 0 3 0 03



KAPOLEI - A blast from the past returned to Waianae football.

The No. 9 Seariders used an old-fashioned stout defense and grinding ground game - reminiscent Larry Ginoza football - to fend off No. 10 Kapolei, 12-3, Friday night at the Alvin Nagasako Athletic Complex in ScoringLive's Game of the Week.

Waianae (3-3) clinched the Oahu Interscholastic Association Open Division fourth seed with the victory and will appear in postseason for the first time since 2017. The Seariders will play the Open's top seed, which has yet to be determined. Kahuku (5-0), Campbell (4-0) and Mililani (3-1) also have clinched berths to the four-team tournament.

"It's big, not just for the team, but for the whole community," said Seariders wide receiver Joshua Santiago, who caught his first touchdown of the season on a 41-yard pass from Tarent Moniz-Babb late in the third period.

"This was a big game for all Seariders: past present and future," added Waianae first-year coach Matt Murakawa. "It's a big step for us and it kind of gives us confidence."

The Seariders not only spoiled the Hurricanes' homecoming celebration, but claimed the War Club perpetual trophy for when the two schools meet.

Waianae managed 155 yards of offense, 144 through the air. Yet, it was a 10-play, 70-yard drive in the fourth quarter that insured its lead. With receiver Akoni Halemano playing quarterback, the Seariders ran the ball nine times with running back Alvin Quisqurin-Sabagala packing it eight times for 41 yards, including the back-breaking 3-yard TD run with four minutes, 45 seconds left in the game. The drive consumed 6:14 off the clock. Murakawa called the series "our run-heavy set."

"We can do a lot of stuff with him," Murakawa added about Halemano. "We can run him and all kinds of stuff, too."

But it was a pass play that caught the Hurricanes off guard. On second-and-8 from the Kapolei 19, Halemano completed a 16-yard pass to Tevin Wilbur for a first down at the Hurricanes' 3. Two plays later, Quisquirin-Sabala pounded his way into the end zone. A 2-point conversion try failed, but Waianae held a 12-3 lead.

The drive reminded Murakawa of the Waianae days of Larry Ginoza, the school's winningest coach.

"I felt like they knew what we were running; we showed that we were in a run package and we just ran the game," said Murakawa, who played for Ginoza in the late 1970s. "That's kind of like how we go back to Mr. Ginoza. He would just yell, ‘Same play' from the sideline. When they know it's coming and we can still execute, that's when you know something really special is happening."

The game wasn't pretty for the offenses. Kapolei managed 157 yards of offense. The Hurricanes took a 3-0 lead on Hurley Kennedy's 22-yard field goal with 2:02 left in the first half. The short-field drive was set up by Diezel Kamoku's 23-yard punt return to the Waianae 20.

Waianae took the lead late in the third quarter on the strength of its passing game with Moniz-Babb's 2-of-3 passing for 59 yards on the four-play, 74-yard drive that ended with Santiago's TD grab. Santiago's PAT was blocked by Kapolei's Iosefa Tapeni.

The Seariders have a bye next week to prepare for the Open tournament. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes (1-4) will play at Leilehua (1-4) on Friday.


Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].




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