McKinley shuts out Wai'anae

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

McKinley quarterback Abel Werner has his eyes on a Tiger receiver during the second quarter against Wai‘anae. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Wai'anae (6-3) became the second perennial power to fall in two days, losing to McKinley, 35-0, last night in OIA quarterfinal action at Aloha Stadium. Kahuku lost to Farrington, 21-20, on Thursday.

McKinley advances to the semifinals on Friday and will play Kailua, which beat Mililani, 41-17.

Either Kahuku or Wai'anae had appeared in each of the previous 18 title games. The last time neither team was represented in the finals was 1983, when Nanakuli defeated Kalaheo.

"Other programs are really stepping up," Wai'anae coach Danny Matsumoto said. "They've raised their level of play, and that's a good sign for Hawai'i football."

McKinley's emergence as a new power was a really bad sign for Wai'anae, which suffered from three second-quarter interceptions that the Tigers (7-3) converted into touchdowns.

McKinley had taken a 7-0 lead with 3:34 remaining in the half after Abel Werner's 17-yard touchdown pass to Mike Vasconcellos. Two plays later, the Tigers' Elliot Twiggs made an interception, setting up a 62-yard scoring pass from Werner to Isaiah Iaea.

On the Seariders' ensuing possession, McKinley's Daniel Desoto intercepted a pass and returned it 85 yards for a touchdown, making it 19-0 with 1:15 left.

The Tigers got yet another interception, by Tony Mareko, two plays later, and Werner connected with Joshua Bumanglag on a 13-yard touchdown pass with 19 seconds remaining. A two-point conversion pass from Werner to Bumanglag gave them a 27-0 halftime lead.

"It was nice to do that, we hadn't really had that all year," said McKinley coach David Tanuvasa, referring to the forced turnovers. "It was a good time for it to happen, to put a lot of points on the board right before the half."

Wai'anae never recovered. Trailing by four touchdowns, the Seariders had to take to the air in the second half but failed to complete any of their 11 passes, and two were intercepted.

The Tigers' run-and-shoot offense, meanwhile, was clicking again for the third week in a row.

Werner completed 15 of 27 passes for 203 yards and four touchdowns, and added 27 yards rushing on four carries. McKinley also got 82 yards rushing on 17 carries by Vasconcellos.

"That's a great offense," Matsumoto said. "We couldn't get to the quarterback because he can scramble, and they got us with big timing patterns, hitting the receiver right on the outside shoulder."

Tanuvasa, in his 10th season as the Tigers' head coach, said the final result was a big step for the school.

"This brings a lot of pride and respect to our program," Tanuvasa said. "In the OIA, there's always the Kahukus, Wai'anaes and Farringtons. We'd like to be mentioned in the same breath as them."

Now they are, but Werner said the Tigers' work is not done yet.

"We've got to keep going forward," Werner said. "We've still got many big things to come in the future."

MCKINLEY (7-3) 0 27 0 8 — 35
WAI'ANAE (6-3) 0 0 0 0 — 0

• McK — Mike Vasconcellos 17 pass from Abel Werner (John Mai kick)
• McK — Isaiah Iaea 62 pass from Werner (kick failed)
• McK — Daniel Desoto 85 interception return (pass failed)
• McK — Joshua Bumanglag 13 pass from Werner (Bumanglag pass from Werner)
• McK — Iaea 7 pass from Werner (Bumanglag run)

RUSHING — McKinley: Vasconcellos 17-82, Werner 4-27, Iama Lauvao 1-4, Iaea 1-(minus 12), Bumanglag 1-(minus 2). Wai'anae: Sautia Lave 6-13, Chad Rodrigues 16-81, Addison Popa 6-24, Uilau Faliuga 4-22, Jared La'a 1-8.

PASSING — McKinley: Werner 15-27-2—203. Wai'anae: Popa 7-11-2—57, Faliuga 0-10-3—0, Kalani Ho'opi'i 0-1-0—0.

RECEIVING — McKinley: Iaea 4-90, Bumanglag 5-47, Lauvao 3-20, Vasconcellos 1-17, Anapuni Coleman 2-29. Wai'anae: Lave 1-12, Nathaniel Russell 1-6, Rodrigues 2-35, Roman I 3-4.