West defense swarms to the ball
December 7, 2007
David Kawada - Content Editor
dkawada@digitalsports.com
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When it rains, it pours. The city of Honolulu endured that for much of
the day. But the skies cleared up in time to see the West pour it on
to the East in the 4th quarter. The West defeated the East squad 37-16
in the 17th Annual HUB Goodwill Senior Bowl played at Aloha Stadium
last night.
Both teams were comprised of senior football players from the OIA and
the ILH and this would be the last time high school football fans would
be able to see these players wear their school helmets on the field.
The West, lead by head coach Wendall Say of Aiea, started off the game
with a sonic boom. Damien star running back Kama Bailey, who plans to
major in architecture, took the opening kickoff 94 yards for a
touchdown. This electrifying run exhibited why Bailey was the leading
rusher in the state with 2045 yards and a whopping 10.6 yards per carry.
But Pac 5 coach Kip Botelho, heading the East team, would answer later
in the 1st quarter as he and offensive coordinator Bobby Grey of
Mckinley opened the playbook. Slotback Tamatoa DeMello from St Louis
took the handoff going left to right, then threw a 36 yard strike to
Bruce Andrews of Kalaheo for the tying score. Andrews, a fleet wide
receiver, is one of 6 players that will be attending the Max Emfinger
All-America Bowl in Jackson, Mississipi on January 5.
Toward the end of the 2nd quarter, Mckinley’s Earvin Sione, a 6-4, 205
pound receiver, caught a touchdown pass from Micah Mamiya of St Louis.
The conversion failed and the East went into the locker room with a
13-7 lead. Sione, who played quarterback for the Tigers, verbally
committed to Hawaii and will most likely be used as a receiver.
"It
was really fun to play with these guys, who we normally play
against," said Mamiya, who compiled one of the best 2 year runs
as a starting quarterback. He lead the Crusaders to 22
consecutive wins, 2 ILH titles, 2 consecutive undefeated regular
seasons, and consecutive appearances in the State Championship Game.
In the 2nd half, it was the West who connected on a big play.
Mililani’s Rustin Funakoshi, who was one of the state’s top
quarterbacks with 1361 yards and a rating of 128.8, connected with
Aiea’s James Buchanan for a beautiful 71 yard touchdown pass.
At that point, the fans knew that they were in for some excitement.
Except the excitement totally belonged to the West in the 4th quarter.
With the East leading 16-14 going into the last quarter, the play that
started the game would start again.
Kama Bailey, doing the kick return duties, took the ensuing kickoff
that started the 4th quarter, and blasted through for a 95 yard score.
This second kickoff return for a touchdown would spark the downpour
that the West would put on the East in this quarter.
Matt Ibanez from Waianae recovered an East fumble, a play in which
everyone thought the play was dead, and sprint it in for a touchdown.
Mililani’s Colin Lund would get into the act with a 43 yard field goal
with 9:12 remaining to make the score 30-16. Then with 4:11 left, the
East had been driving down the field in their attempt to score
quickly. But Damien’s Christian Vasconcellos intercepted the pass and
moved quickly up the field for an 81-yard touchdown.
"These kids worked really hard. We only had 7 days of practice because of the rains," said West Coach Wendall Say.
Final Score: West 37 v
East 16
Congratulations to all the participating high school seniors!