Paradise Football Classic: Hawaii West routs American Samoa 43-6

Justice Young (Kamehameha) and Mark Lehrner (Kalaheo) passed for two touchdowns each as Hawaii West overwhelmed American Samoa 43-6 in the JPS Paradise Bowl third-place game on Saturday at Aloha Stadium.

The Hawaii West defense was almost impenetrable, coming up with six interceptions, including three by Iosefo Ah Ching-Noga (Farrington). Stokes Nihipali-Botelho (Kahuku), who also handled all kicking duties, had one pick, as did Leonard Lee (Kapolei) and Jonah Soakai (Radford).

Young hurled a 32-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Ramones (Moanalua) to give HW a 13-6 lead with 1:06 left in the first half. Moments later, a shotgun snap sailed high and out of the end zone for American Samoa, and the lead was 15-6.

Lehrner threw a 12-yard scoring pass to Jaymin Sarono (Kapolei) with 4:40 left in the third quarter to increase the lead to 16 points. Starter Jaren Ulu found Kingston Moses-Sanchez open for a 16-yard TD toss with 11 seconds left in the third, making it 29-6.

Young later fired a quick pass to Grey Ihu (Pac-Five), who sliced through the defense and across the field for a 55-yard TD that made it 36-6 early in the fourth quarter.

The West All-Stars capped their scoring with a 20-yard TD pass from Lehrner to Chyson “Bo” Morgan (Nanakuli).

The all-star team from Samoa held its ground defensively in the first half, led by LB/DL Blessman Ta‘ala, a 6-foot-1, 278-pound senior (Fagaitua).

Click to read stats at Hawaii Prep World