OIA Football
Uiliata lifts No. 11 Waipahu over Roosevelt


Brandon Ching | ScoringLive
September 24, 2022, 8:20am

  

Fri, Sep 23, 2022 @ Waipahu [ 7:30 pm ]

Roosevelt

24

Waipahu

59

Final 1 2 3 4 T
Roosevelt (2-5-0) 7 17 0 024
Waipahu (11-2-0) 7 15 23 1459
Liatama Uiliata 260 yd 3 TD
Kayman Lewis 356 yd 3 TD



WAIPAHU—Next man up.

Liatama Uiliata stepped up and accounted for six total scores to help No. 11 Waipahu defeat Roosevelt, 59-24 on homecoming and senior night at the Masa Yonamine Athletic Complex Friday.

The Marauders (5-1 overall, 4-0 OIA) trailed at halftime and blanked the Rough Riders in the second half with 37 unanswered points and posted 567 yards of total offense.

Waipahu lost Joshua "JJ" Manu to a knee injury after their first play from scrimmage at the 8:42 mark in the first quarter.

"I was hoping he would get back up. It tore me down watching him getting carried off the field. I trusted and depended on him. Him being out, looking like the rest of the season, it tears me apart knowing I won't be able to play with him the rest of my senior year," Uiliata said.

Uiliata took reps at quarterback before stepped in and threw for 260 yards on 18-of-21 passing without an interception and three touchdowns went to three different receivers.

"I took it here and there, but nothing too serious, but we were prepared for this moment," Uiliata said.

"It shows what kind of athlete he is, that's something we all knew. He doesn't play it often, but it was about getting him acquainted with all the checks we have. Once we're able to put together something he can understand in a game, things ran smoothly," Waipahu coach Bryson Carvalho said.

Anieli Teleaai rushed for a game-high 131 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Uiliata added 94 yards on nine attempts and three more scores as Waipahu got its run game going and finished with 307 net rushing yards.

"It was good we got a run game going, it eases stuff off of a quarterback. Our offensive line has been the unsung heroes all year. They have been battling injuries all season, they get it done. Hats off to them," Carvalho said.

The Rough Riders got a big night from Kayman Lewis who threw for 356 yards and all three touchdowns went to Jayden Montgomery-Gaopoa, who had five catches for 102 yards in the first half but fell to 2-3 overall, 1-3 in the OIA Division I standings.

"They are loaded. Watching film on Roosevelt, I was very concerned with stuff that they had. I thought they could stretch the ball down the field vertically," Carvalho said.

Each team traded scores in the first half. Roosevelt got on the scoreboard first after aided by a roughing the passer penalty that negated Keon Cabrera's interception and a defensive holding call. Lewis hit Montogomery-Gaopoa for a 5-yard touchdown for a 7-0 lead.

Uiliata threw his first touchdown pass since December 4, 2021, ironically against Roosevelt to tie the game up. The 5-yard touchdown to Chazen Rodillas-Vesido (six catches, 79 yards) capped a 10-play, 89-yard drive.

Roosevelt went the length of the field and Journey DePeralta tacked on a 34-yard field goal for a 10-7 lead.

Teleaai's first carry was a 12-yard gain and rushed for a 15-yard touchdown on the next play and Uiliata threw a two-point pass to Ia Fualema to make it, 15-10.

Lewis connected with Montomgery-Gaopoa for a 40-yard gain on the first play from scrimmage on their ensuing series. He completed a 12-yard pass to Kainalu Davis, who caught eight passes for 115 yards and a 5-yard completion to Kampala Kaaihue before throwing a 29-yard dart to Montgomery-Gaopoa to go up, 17-15.

Kaaihue knocked the ball out from Saige Marienthal's hand but Tai Aipia-Barrett was there to pick it up and gain extra yardage. Teleaai's 7-yard run set up Uiliata's 6-yard score and Xavier Transfiguracion (5-for-5 PATs) added the kick.

Davis returned the ensuing kick off 62 yards to set up Roosevelt at the Waipahu 31. On the fourth play of the drive, Davis caught a 16-yard pass from Lewis who found Montgomery-Gaopoa from 5 yards out on the next play to take a 24-22 lead at halftime.

"We didn't want to be the seniors that loses on homecoming so we dug deep and tried our best and did what we can," Uiliata said. "We weren't looking too good in the first half. Second half, I told them, we're not going to lose. Whatever it takes to win, we'll do it."

"In the first half they were attacking our seams, they were catching stuff down the hash marks. We had to adjust coverage in the second half. Even the second half, it was a chess match, they were changing things up and throwing things in the flat that countered what we were running. We shored up on defense and coverage and I thought our defense played a good second half for us," Carvalho said.

Waipahu went to Teleaai six out of their seven plays to open the third quarter and he finished the drive with a 2-yard run and Uiliata added two on the ground, 30-24 to start the scoring avalanche.

After DePeralta's 43-yard field goal attempt came up short, Waipahu gained chunks of yards on the ground and in the air that resulted in Uiliata's 8-yard run and Teleaai's run put the Marauders up by two touchdowns.

After Roosevelt punted, Waipahu went to the air five of the six plays and Teleaai hauled in a 13-yard touchdown from Uiliata for a 45-24 lead.

Seth Setu blocked and recovered the punt but was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. Uiliata weaved and reversed course for a would-be 49-yard touchdown run but it was called back by a blindside block. He made up for it with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Marienthal.

The Rough Riders lost 13 yards on a bad snap to the punter that set up Waipahu on the Roosevelt 5. Uiliata kept it for a 1-yard score on fourth-and-goal for the final points of the night to start running clock.

Kaaihue (six catches, 78 yards) and Kana Thompson each registered eight tackles.

Setu had six tackles and a pass break up and four other Marauders registered a sack to hold Roosevelt to minus-2 net rushing.

Waipahu finishes the regular season on the Windward side taking on Castle (1-5 overall, 1-2 OIA) on Friday, Sept. 30 and Kailua (2-2-1 overall, 2-1 OIA) on Oct. 7.

Roosevelt has a bye before hosting Farrington (4-3 overall, 2-1 OIA) on Oct. 7 before ending the regular season at Kailua on Saturday, Oct. 15.


Reach Brandon Ching at [email protected].




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