Castle rallies past McKinley, 26-22
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
In a long game of give-and-take, the Castle High School football team took control late and gave McKinley a stunning homecoming defeat, 26-22, at Roosevelt Stadium.
With the victory, the Knights (3-3 overall) improved to 3-2 in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red Conference-East and solidified their playoff hopes.
McKinley, ranked No. 5 in The Advertiser's statewide Top 10 poll, dropped to 4-2, 3-2.
Each team gave the other several opportunities to win, but McKinley could not cash in on Castle's final gift. The Knights could not get a punt off with 1:36 remaining, allowing the Tigers to take over at the Castle 25-yard line.
McKinley advanced to the 11 with 30 seconds left, but was out of timeouts and spiked the ball on second down. The next two passes fell incomplete, and the Knights took over on downs with 21 seconds remaining and ran out the clock.
"It came down to who made the most mistakes," Tigers coach David Tanuvasa said. "But Castle's defense is fast. They were pretty terrific."
The Knights took a 26-22 lead with 5:56 left, on a 1-yard run by Kawika Sebay. Their two-point conversion run failed. Castle had gained possession at the McKinley 28 after the Tigers fumbled.
The Knights had closed to 22-20 less than two minutes earlier, on Jared Suzui's 28-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Ramos. They failed on a two-point conversion run.
McKinley had built its 22-14 lead after a Castle fumble gave the Tigers first-and-goal on the 5. Mike Vasconcellos cashed in on a 1-yard touchdown run with 11:56 remaining.
On that play, McKinley offensive lineman Brandon Tatupu was injured and lay motionless for about 25 minutes. He was taken to a hospital by ambulance.
"He had some numbness on the left side," Tanuvasa said. "But he started to regain some movement, so that's a positive."
The Tigers had taken a 15-14 lead with 4:30 left in the third quarter on John Mai's 23-yard field goal.
Castle led 14-12 at the half despite 248 passing yards by Tigers quarterback Abel Werner.
Castle (3-2, 3-3) 8 6 0 12—26
McKinley (3-2, 4-2) 0 12 3 7—22
Cast—Blaze Soares 18 interception return (run coversion)
McK—Michael Vasconcellos 9 run (pass failed)
McK—Isaiah Iaea 84 pass from Abel Werner (pass failed)
Cast—Jacob Ramos 80 run (kick failed)
McK—FG John Mai 23
McK—Vasconcellos 1 run (Mai kick)
Cast—Jared Suzui 28 pass from Ramos (run failed)
Cast—Kawika Sebay 1 run (run failed)
RUSHING—Castle: Sebay 16-37, Ramos 11-81, Emil Kruse 2-2, Suzui 1-4. McKinley: Joshua Bumanglag 4-3, Werner 10-(minus 23), Vasconcellos 17-61, Quinton Sayers 3-14, Iakopo Taumua 2-(minus 5).
PASSING—Castle: Ramos 11-16-1—114. McKinley: Werner 15-30-1—252.
RECEIVING—Castle: Suzui 7-86, Ernesto Lopez 1-9, Soares 1-13, Ethan Gonsalves 1-5, Ikaika Ho 1-1. McKinley: Iaea 5-179, Bumanglag 2-9, David McGhee 1-(minus 9), Vasconcellos 1-(minus 6), Iama Lauvao 5-73, Tuamua 1-6.
JV—McKinley 35, Castle 14
• • •
• WAI'ANAE 17, RADFORD 0: Sautia Lave rushed for 140 yards, including touchdowns of 2 and 56 yards, to give the Seariders a victory over the visiting Rams.
Radford (2-4, 2-5) 0 0 0 0— 0
Wai'anae (4-1, 5-1) 7 0 7 3—17
Waian—Sautia Lave 2 run (Kalani Hoopi'i kick)
Waian—Lave 56 run (Hoopi'i kick)
Waian—FG Hoopi'i 45
RUSHING—Waian: Lave 17-140, Chevy Teves 3-29, Chris Lave 4-15, Charles Wills-Aldeguer 1-6, Addison Popa 6-17, Uilau Faliuga 1-3, Roman I 1-(minus 3), Faanoa Tuifao 1-0, Bryson 2-1, Maka Tanele 1-7. Rad: Lino Kakiua 9-1, Jeremy Hoover 11-35, Stephen Baughn 8-(minus 17).
PASSING—Waian: Addison Popa 6-16-0—46, Uilau Faliuga 0-1-0—0. Rad: Stephen Baughn 7-20-2—37.
RECEIVING—Waian: Dillon Guzman 2-16, Kalani Hoopii 1-15, Joe Lave 3-15. Rad: Raymond Burciaga 1-10, Jeremy Hoover 2-7, Adrian Ragadio 2--13, Jose Perez 1-7.
JV—Wai'anae 41, Radford 7
