Kailua's size too much for Waiakea, 53-8
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By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
HILO — The sloshy field at Wong Stadium turned out to be just a minor inconvenience for the Kailua High School football team last night in the first round of the Chevron State Championships.
The Surfriders' size, speed and skill, however, turned out to be a huge problem for Waiakea.
Kailua marched past the Warriors, 53-8, after a 26-point second quarter helped it take a 32-0 lead into halftime. The Surfriders (10-2) rushed for 166 yards and four touchdowns in the first two quarters, led by tailback Brenton Harbottle's 81 yards on 14 carries.
Kailua finished with 374 yards rushing, led by Nathan Leaver (179 yards), quarterback Taleki Mailau (105) and Harbottle (90). The Surfriders also found success through the air, with Mailau completing 7 of 12 passes in the first half for 108 yards and one touchdown. He finished 8 of 13 for 125.
The Surfriders' defense, meanwhile, limited Waiakea to 18 total yards in the first 24 minutes. And that's including a 24-yard pass on a fake punt.
"Our defense did a great job, and our offense put together drives," Kailua coach Darren Johnson said. "We just played a great football game all the way around."
Waiakea coach Ed Rocha agreed.
"Kailua was all business tonight," Rocha said.
The Warriors (8-3) finished with 128 total yards, including minus-14 on the ground. Johnson said a key was containing Waiakea quarterback Jomo Young, who finished 7 of 26 for 118 yards.
"We focused on stopping him," Johnson said. "In our league, we have a lot of good quarterbacks, so we had to do that a lot."
Rocha said the Surfriders' containment of Young effectively rendered Waiakea's spread attack inoperative.
"If you shut him down, you're basically shutting our whole offense down," Rocha said.
Kailua's offensive line, which averages 287 pounds per player, had its way with the Warriors' defensive line, which averages only 210.
"They just ran counters and straight dives, but they dominated the line of scrimmage," Rocha said. "Their big boys were just pushing our guys out of the way."
Rocha said the Wong Stadium field, which was a quagmire three inches deep in mud last week, was "90 percent better" than it was seven days ago. But even on a dry night, Mailau said the turf "was like quicksand."
Not that it bothered Kailua's line or backs.
"They just chopped their feet and played through it," Mailau said. "It rained on our field this week, so we got to practice (in mud). The football gods were watching us."
