MILILANI — The ball definitely bounced Leilehua's way last night.

The Mules scored 36 unanswered points to knock off Castle, 36-13, in an opening round game of the O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red football tournament at John Kauinana Stadium.

Leilehua (5-4) will play West champion Mililani (7-1) in a quarterfinal Friday here. Castle (3-6) ends its season having dropped its last three in a row.

Mililani beat Leilehua, 16-14, during the regular season.

"That's just these kids," Leilehua coach Nolan Tokuda said. "They have fight in them. They can fall down eight times, but these guys are going to get up nine. But that's how these guys have been."

Rico Newman's 61-yard punt to the Castle 1 set up a barrage of scoring by the Mules after the teams came out at the half deadlocked at 13. His punt took a high bounce inside the 10 and then took a sideways bounce out of bounds at the 1. That set up a safety when Leilehua linebacker Robert Siavii tackled quarterback Thomas Ilae in the end zone.

The ensuing free kick to the Mules' 49 set up Kaipo DeRego's 48-yard TD pass to Allan Macam to make it 22-13.

Siavii then returned an interception 35 yards for another TD to make it 29-13 early in the fourth quarter.

Later a six-yard punt by the Knights gave the Mules the ball at the Castle 26, setting up Rick Jones' two-yard TD run to cap the scoring that made it 36-13.

Castle coach Nelson Maeda said the tide changed in the first half when a short punt set up the Mules at the Knights' 40 and ignited the Mules' comeback.

"That got'em back in the game," Maeda said. "Then we had that fumble and that changed the whole momentum in the game."

The fumble led to another Mules' TD that tied the game at 13.

Turnovers were a factor in the 13-13 standoff at the half.

After a scoreless first quarter, Castle linebacker Kawehi Sablan picked up a Newman fumble, returning it 56 yards for a touchdown at 10:28 left in the half. KJ Aipia's PAT gave the Knights a 7-0 lead.

Garrett Paredes recovered a Kaipo Kea fumble on the Mules' ensuing series at the Castle 37. The six-play drive was aided by a 44-yard run by Ilae and capped by running back Dylan Matsuda's 10-yard TD run. Aipia missed the PAT, but Castle led 13-0 at 7:13.

But the Mules got on the board after getting good field position following a Castle punt. A personal foul penalty on first down from the Castle 40 moved the ball to the 25, where Kea hit Macam on a slant over the middle, where the receiver bumped off a tackler to complete a 25-yard TD pass. Newman's PAT pulled the Mules to 13-7.

"I was just thinking end zone," Macam said.

On the Knights' next series, linebacker Peter DeSaulniers returned a Matsuda fumble 12 yards to the Castle 9. Two plays later, Bronson Pausa scored on a four-yard run. But Newman missed his PAT as the game stayed tied 13-13 at 1:30 remaining in the half.

The Knights had an apparent 58-yard TD run by Bronson Kekahuna nullified by an illegal shift penalty in the first quarter.

Leilehua quarterback Kea injured his ankle and was supposed to check into a hospital after the game, Tokuda said. Also, the other QB, DeRego, also left the game with an ankle injury, but it wasn't as severe as Kea. Running back Joedee Taua played quarterback the rest of the game, but only handed the ball off on runs with the lead already secured.

NOTE

There was a moment of silence prior to the game for former Castle JV football player and student Cory Aiwohi, who drowned last weekend while diving with friends.

LEILEHUA (5-4) 0 13 9 14—36

CASTLE (3-6) 0 13 0 0—13

Cast—Kawehi Sablan 56 fumble return (K.J. Aipia kick)

Cast—Dylan Matsuda 10 run (kick failed)

Lei—Allan Macam 25 pass from Kaipo Kea (Rico Newman kick)

Lei—Bronson Pausa 4 run (kick failed)

Lei—Safety, Thomas Ilae tackled in end zone by Robert Siavii

Lei—Macam 48 pass from Kaipo DeRego (Newman kick)

Lei—Siavii 35 interception return (Newman kick)

Lei—Rick Jones 2 run (Newman kick)

RUSHING—Leilehua: DeRego 1-(minus 4), Kea 5-(minus 20), Newman 12-56, Pausa 6-23, Jones 3-15, Joedee Taua 2-11, Noel Cabato 4-9, Team 3-(minus 3). Castle: Ilae 13-114, Blake Rapozo 1-(minus 2), Devin Spotkaeff 5-18, Bronson Kekahuna, 7-9, Matsuda 6-16, Maui Enos 2-(minus 3).

PASSING—Leilehua: Kea 10-17-0—141, DeRego 2-5-1—52. Castle: Rapozo 6-13-2—70, Ilae 4-17-0—22.

RECEIVING—Leilehua: Newman 1-21, Pausa 1-11, Macam 5-111, Elijah Manaea 3-37, Aaremy Palomares 2-13. Castle: Shayne Carvalho 2-11, Kekahuna 2-10, Kainoa Aki 1-6, Breydan Torres 3-42, Nainoa Haitsuka 2-23.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.