Believing the best way to stop Leilehua quarterback Andrew Manley was to not give him a chance to throw the ball at all, Kamehameha's renowned defensive front seven made sure Manley would meet each of them face-to-face.

The Warriors' relentless pass rush produced six sacks in the first half alone last night to help Kamehameha shut out Manley and the Mules, 40-0, in the First Hawaiian Bank/Hawai'i High School Athletic Association semifinals at Aloha Stadium.

Manley, The Advertiser's 2008 State Co-Offensive Player of the Year, entered the game with 231 completions in 374 attempts (62 percent) for 3,068 yards and 27 touchdowns, but finished 14 of 28 for 120 yards against Kamehameha.

"We knew we had to get to him with pressure," said Warriors defensive tackle Landon A'ano, a 5-foot-9, 285-pound senior who had two first-half sacks for 21 yards. "So we came after him with a lot of stunts and blitzes. Pressure is a key for Andrew Manley, because we knew if we gave him time to throw, he would just pick us apart."

The pressure came from all angles, as six players shared in the sack attack. Beau Yap, Wave Rider, Tamatea Graham each had a sack, and Keko'o Weisbarth-Tafaoimalo and Maka Pickard combined for another.

That didn't include added pressure from end Koa Ka'ai and linebackers Kawika Stant, Brandon Marfil and Kikau Pescaia.

"We knew they couldn't double-team everybody, so we just left seven in the box and one-on-one, our guys made big plays," said Kamehameha coach David Stant. "Coach (defensive coordinator Jimmy) Nakamura came up with a great scheme mixing blitzes and coverages, and the kids executed it almost to perfection."

Leilehua coach Nolan Tokuda said he scouted the Warriors in person against Punahou three weeks ago, but trying to stop them was a different story.

"I knew they were good, but I didn't think they would be THAT good tonight," Tokuda said. "You cannot simulate their athletic ability in practice."

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