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Kevin Burke and and Ezekiel Anahu came through with a combo sack in the final seconds, and Chaystin Senas followed with a game-ending interception on Ali Togafau's hail Mary pass as time expired to give Leilehua a 28-21 win over Radford on Saturday night at Hugh Yoshida Stadium.
The win lifts Leilehua to 5-1 in OIA Division I play with one game remaining before the playoffs.
Radford dropped to 4-2 despite a hearty effort from Togafau and his teammates.
A packed house celebrated both a homecoming and senior-night win. Burke, a 5-foot-10, 185-pound senior, had 1.5 sacks, and sophomore Braden Liua had two sacks as the Mules' relentless defense dug deep to contain Togafau, who was an escape artist for most of the night.
"He's a great quarterback. Give all the credit to him. He out-executed us, you know. Whenever we had a timeout, our coaches just told us to calm down and just relax, do our jobs. Alignment and assignments. Technique. Hustle. Finish," Burke said. "Tonight means everything, just being with my brothers. This is the closest I've ever been to my teammates. I'm really blessed to have this as my last ride."
Homecoming night brought out the legacy spirit at Leilehua.
"The second half was about not letting homecoming get to them. For both teams, this was probably the biggest crowd we've played in front of in a long time," Mules coach Mark Kurisu said. "When you get Hugh Yoshida and the 1984 (Oahu Prep Bowl) championship team, then you follow that up with the 2007 state championship team. For them to be here, all the alumni, it's a lot of weight for them to carry. We have leadership, but when I think of those teams and their history, they set the standard for us. We may win the game, but if we didn't win it the right way, I wouldn't care about the win."
The two teams and Moanalua entered Friday's action in a three-way tie atop the standings. Moanalua edged Aiea 17-13.
The Mules will visit Pearl City next Friday to end the regular season.
Coach Fred Salanoa's Rams will close the regular season with a home game against Waianae (3-3) next Friday with a playoff berth on the line. Kailua (3-2), which plays Pearl City today, is also in the mix.
If Leilehua and Moanalua finish the regular season tied, Leilehua has the head-to-head tiebreaker via a 13-10 overtime win over Na Menehune last week.
The Mules offense was in attack mode immediately after the opening kickoff sailed out of bounds. In three plays, Bennett Strobel connected on three passes, including a 37-yard bomb to Talon Tarpley, then a 26-yard strike to Tarpley in the end zone for a 7-0 Mules lead with 10:49 left in the opening quarter.
Radford drove into Leilehua territory, where Togafau rolled out and threw directly to Burke, standing at the 36-yard line in zone coverage, for an easy interception.
Four plays later, the Rams returned the favor. Leilehua receiver Brennan Kepaa stumbled on a deep route and fell, allowing Devin Hogan to haul in the interception.
The Rams drove to the Leilehua 10-yard line, but Togafau's sneak attempt on fourth and 1 was stonewalled by the Mules for a 1-yard loss.
Radford's next series stalled at the Leilehua 44-yard line, but on fourth down, the punter, Togafau, scooped up a bad snap on the hop and threw a strike to Collin Murphy on an out pattern for a 19-yard gain and a first down. On the next snap, Togafau faked a throw to the left flat, then fired a strike to Michael Robinson near the left sideline. He raced to the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown, tying the game at 7 with 10:14 remaining in the second quarter.
The Mules regained the lead with a 13-play, 80-yard march. Strobel had scrambles of 13 and 18 yards for first downs, then found running back Kyin Rivera-Galbraith on a swing pass for a 19-yard TD. Leilehua led 14-7 with 6:41 to go before halftime.
The visitors began the second half with a bang. Togafau narrowly eluded the pass rush, fired an off-balance pass to Robinson near the right sideline, and Robinson put on a show. He escaped several defenders, shuffling laterally to avoid what appeared to be sure tackles, got key blocks from his receivers and raced down the left sideline for a 62-yard TD. That tied the game at 14 with 10:01 to go in the third quarter.
After blocking a Radford field-goal attempt, the Mules drove to the Rams' 21-yard line. Sacks by Deon Tiva and Chief Togafau-Paleafei cut the drive short.
Leilehua's best starting point on offense came after stopping Togafau on a fake punt run at the Rams' 44-yard line late in the third quarter.
Strobel was intercepted for a second time on a similar play to the turnover in the first half. His receiver ran straight down the left hash mark instead of a deep post, which allowed two-way starter Jacob Sullivan to haul in an easy pick, returning it almost to midfield.
With both teams bringing heavy pass rush, the Mules went into smashmouth mode in the fourth quarter. They drove 70 yards in eight plays, all on the ground. Cameron Keeve rushed four times for 47 yards, and Rivera-Galbraith finished off the drive with a 1-yard TD to give Leilehua a 21-14 lead with 7:23 remaining.
After a Radford three-and-out, Senas fielded the punt, eluded a tackler and raced down the right sideline 54 yards to pay dirt. The Mules led 28-14 with 4:52 left.
Radford drove and scored on a 5-yard TD pass from Togafau to Zeke Schulz with 2:05 to go, cutting the lead to 28-21.
With Leilehua's hands team on the field for the kickoff, the Rams elected to go with a normal kickoff for a touchback. An illegal procedure call on the Mules was costly, and after a punt, Radford got the ball at the Mules' 41-yard line with 58 seconds left -- and no timeouts.
Togafau's 20-yard pass to Robinson gave the visitors first down at the 21-yard line, and an injury time out for a Leilehua player stopped the clock with 44 seconds left.