Mainland 22, Hawai‘i/Polynesia 8 – Waimea High School senior Siasau Matagiese and a handful of the country’s best prep football players took the field for the first-ever All-Star Classic doubleheader yesterday at Aloha Stadium. First up was the annual Hawai‘i
Mainland 22, Hawai‘i/Polynesia 8 – Waimea High School senior Siasau Matagiese and a handful of the country’s best prep football players took the field for the first-ever All-Star Classic doubleheader yesterday at Aloha Stadium.
First up was the annual Hawai‘i Goodwill Senior Bowl in which the West All-Stars, led by Mililani’s Iosua Manuma and Kahi Perbera, defeated the East All-Stars 21-14. That was followed by the inaugural headlining event, the Hawai‘i All-Star Football Classic, featuring a team comprised of Hawai‘i and Polynesian players against some of the best players from the Mainland.
The Hawai‘i/Polynesia team featured Matagiese, Billy Ray Stutzmann of Saint Louis, and the powerhouse trio from Punahou: quarterback Cayman Shutter, Robbie Toma and the nation’s top prep linebacker Manti Te‘o.
But the pressure from the Mainland players proved to be too much for the local stars as the Mainland All-Stars defeated Hawai‘i/Polynesia 22-8.
The Mainland was ahead the entire game going up 22-0 and holding onto that lead until the last five minutes of the game.
Toma scored the only touchdown for the local team on a 5-yard pass from Corey Nielson — a player from California, but playing for the Hawai‘i/Polynesia team. Nielsen the rushed for a successful two-point conversion.
The Mainland’s top quarterback finished 6-of-16 for 124 yards and two touchdowns. The playmakers were David Wilson, Nick Taush and Travis Ward.
Te‘o finished with five tackles. Matagiese finished with two.
In the Senior Bowl, the East got on the boards first, when Shon Fuji completed a 22-yard pass to ‘Iolani’s Keenan Ho‘ohuli. That was answered by the West in the second when Campbell’s Arthur Aiwohi caught an 8-yard pass from Saber teammate Lalo Respicio.
The West then scored two unanswered touchdowns in the second half — Perbera caught a 6-yard pass from Farrington’s Dayton Kealoha and Wai‘anae’s Jonathan Ligsay rushed for a 5-yard touchdown.
Perbera finished with 8 carries for 73 yards and one receiving touchdown. Radford’s Shawn Putnam-Curry had four carries for 44 yards and Manuma finished 7-of-10 for 92 yards.
