By Wes Nakama

Sophomore quarterback Tyler Gines-Hufana threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to junior receiver Kyson Kealoha with 17 seconds remaining Friday night to help lift Moanalua to a thrilling 17-13 comeback victory over visiting ‘Aiea.

A Senior Night crowd of about 2,500 watched Na Menehune overcome a 13-0 third-quarter deficit to improve to 7-2 overall and 5-1 in the OIA Division I standings, tied for first place with Leilehua (6-3, 5-1) with one week left in the regular season. Na Ali’i, who started the season 3-0, dropped their fourth game in the past five outings to fall to 4-4, 2-4.

After Andy Nguyen’s extra point made it 17-13, he sailed the ensuing kickoff into the end zone for a touchback. ‘Aiea completed two quick passes to gain 10 yards, then threw a Hail Mary way down field only to have it intercepted by Shonn Keaunui as time expired.

Moanalua’s victory was especially hard-fought considering it was missing starting quarterback Isaac Haney and starting running back Kalino Judalena due to a hand and knee injury, respectively.

“We always have a chance,” Gines-Hufana said. “It’s always ‘Next man up,’ and we try to stay ready for anything.”

Gines-Hufana was intercepted on both of Na Menehune’s first two possessions, although Na Ali’i could not capitalize with scores and the first half ended tied at 0-0. But on the opening drive of the third quarter, ‘Aiea marched 80 yards in seven plays, capped by Elijah Mendoza’s 53-yard touchdown pass to Jeremiah Hill, who was wide open downfield on a post route. Dominic Okada’s extra point made it 7-0.

On the very next play, Kamuela Ohia Pratt recovered a pooch kick at the Na Menehune 33, and Mendoza connected with Evan Mendoza on a 20-yard scoring pass just three plays later. The two-point conversion pass attempt failed, but Na Ali’i still led 13-0 five minutes into the second half.  

“We started slow,” Gines-Hufana said, “but we just had to pick it up as a team in the second half and lock in.”

Moanalua finally got on the scoreboard with 1:16 remaining in the third quarter, when Nguyen’s 36-yard field goal capped a 12-play, 78-yard drive to cut it to 13-3. After forcing a punt on the ensuing possession, Na Menehune marched 74 yards in 14 plays, culminating in Jayce Bareng’s 1-yard plunge after taking the handoff from a fly motion. Nguyen tacked on the PAT to close the score to 13-10 with 4:41 on the clock.

After forcing another punt, Moanalua regained possession at its own 47 with 1:45 left. Seven plays later, Gines-Hufana found Kealoha on the eight-yard scoring pass near the goalpost.

“It was a rollout play,”  Gines-Hufana said. “Everybody came down after me, so I just dumped it to the open man,”

Na Menehune coach Andrew Manley said with his team well within range for a Nguyen 3-pointer, the plan on second-and-goal was to look for the TD pass but also avoid another interception.

“It was either throw it away (if necessary) or find a touchdown — don’t go short,” said Manley, a former standout quarterback at Leilehua and New Mexico State. “It was either (TD), or out of bounds, and (Gines-Hufana) did a great job finding our guy in the back of the end zone.”

Gines-Hufana, who was making his first career varsity start, said he and the team had confidence despite the absence of Haney and Judalena.

“We just gotta stay prepared, because you never know what’s going to happen on the field,” Gines-Hufana said.

Manley said Nguyen’s third-quarter field goal to get Moanalua on the board was a turning point.

“That put us within 10, and we knew the defense was going to get us a couple of stops,” Manley said. “They made the adjustments.”

Leilehua ends its regular season at Pearl City (0-7, 0-5) on Friday, and Na Menehune wrap up on Saturday at Nanakuli (2-8, 1-5). Should Leilehua and Moanalua both finish 6-1 in league play, Leilehua owns the tiebreaker for the No. 1 seed in the playoffs based on its 13-10 overtime victory over Na Menehune on Oct. 12.   

“We’re just worried about us right now,” Manley said. “We still have Nanakuli (to play), so we gotta get ready Monday and fix mistakes, and go from there.”

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