McKinley pounds way past Baldwin
By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
WAILUKU — McKinley literally threw its weight around in the second half to pound Baldwin, 28-14, in a quarterfinal of the Chevron State Football Championships last night at War Memorial Stadium.
"It feels awesome," McKinley quarterback Abel Werner said. "It goes back to that Wai'anae game, where we felt that (that game) was the hump. It's our first time in the states. It was our hump, our mountain climb. And we're here."
The Tigers (9-4), ranked seventh in The Advertiser Top 10, will play No. 3 Castle (9-4) in one semifinal, 8 p.m. Friday at Aloha Stadium in a rematch of O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red East foes. During the regular season, Castle won, 26-22.
"They're our nemesis," McKinley coach David Tanuvasa said of Castle. "They crawl up your skin. They're not very fast, but they play great ball."
The No. 5 Bears (8-2) had an eight-game winning streak snapped, the longest among the eight teams entering the tournament.
The Tigers took a 7-6 first-half lead by passing more. But the athletic Bears' defense was able to neutralize the Tigers passing game to 112 yards and an interception by Jonathan Honda that set up Michael Donohoo's 22-yard field goal.
But in the second half, the Tigers came out pounding. They marched 69 yards on nine plays — seven on runs — with fullback Michael Vasconcellos bolting up the middle for a 3-yard TD run with 8:23 left in the third quarter to cushion McKinley's lead to 14-6.
"We came out flat in the second half," Baldwin coach Chad Kauhaahaa said.
"They just marched down. You can't do that. It was smart on their part. 'I guess we could just pound 'em.' (is what McKinley probably said)."
Tanuvasa said his team had a tough time securing the outsides.
"We thought they were very quick on the perimeter," Tanuvasa said. "We just decided to keep it simple and we're going to go out there and ball control and try to push them to their limits there."
But McKinley's ability to run opened the passing lanes for quarterback Werner. A 61-yard completion from Werner to Anapuni Coleman set up Werner's 9-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter to make it 20-6.
The Bears threatened on their ensuing possession after a 62-yard pass play from Donohoo to J.J. Eno put the Bears at the Tigers' 11. Four plays later — not counting a 2-yard TD pass that was nullified by an ineligible receiver down field penalty — the Bears scored on a 1-yard run by Kaluka Maiava with 9:18 left in the game. Eno's run on the two-point conversion pulled the Bears to 20-14.
But McKinley marched back on its next possession, culminating a 10-play, 80-yard drive with a 28-yard run by Quinton Sayers with 5:29 left in the game. Werner completed a pass in the end zone to Vasconcellos for the two-point conversion to make it 28-14.
A pair of interceptions by Daniel Desoto stopped Baldwin's next two drives, the last one with 1:02 left in the game. The Tigers took a knee to run out the clock.
"Just staying on top of the receiver and just trying to judge the ball," Desoto said of the interceptions.
McKinley opened the game by forcing Baldwin to punt after three downs — a holding penalty nullified a first down earlier in the series — and then quickly responded with a score. A five-play, 68-yard drive ended with an 8-yard TD pass from Werner to Joshua Bumanglag to give McKinley a 7-0 lead.
But the Tigers passing game struggled the rest of the half, as the Bears chipped away with a pair of field goals by Donohoo.
MCKINLEY 7 0 7 14—28
BALDWIN 0 6 0 8 —14
McK—Iama Lauvao 8 pass from Abel Werner (John Mai kick)
Bald-—FG Michael Donohoo 22
Bald-—FG Donohoo 45
McK—Michael Vasconcellos 3 run (Mai kick)
McK—Werner 9 run (kick failed)
Bald—Kaluka Maiava 1 run (J.J. Eno run)
McK—Quinton Sayers 28 run (Vasconcellos pass from Werner)
RUSHING—McKinley: Werner 12-(minus 10), Vasconcellos 20-75, Bumanglag 3-20, Golden Lawrence 1-(minus 3), Sayers 1-28. Baldwin: Donohoo 4-(minus 4), Waylen Costa 13-20, Akamu Aki 1-8, Gered Mochizuki 1-7, Maiava 1-1.
PASSING—McKinley: Werner 15-27-1--248. Baldwin: Donohoo 15-32-2--207.
RECEIVING—McKinley: Lauvao 2-49, Bumanglag 4-32, Iakopo Taumua 1-12, Isaiah Iaea 7-94, Anapuni Coleman 1-61. Baldwin: Aki 6-59, Eno 5-95, Mochizuki 2-9, Cody Nakamura 1-38, Reid Kaya 1-6.
