Sagapolutele slings it for Campbell victory

Jonathan Chen, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser
·2 min read

Oct. 8—Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, No. 1 in the Open Division in passing yards, led his No. 4 Campbell Sabers to a 49-21 beatdown of host Waianae on Friday night.

Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, No. 1 in the Open Division in passing yards, led his No. 4 Campbell Sabers to a 49-21 beatdown of host Waianae on Friday night.

"It's a great win to finish off the season, " Campbell coach Darren Johnson said. "Now we have to get rested up to see what happens. We're focused on what happens next week now. We just had to get out of here alive. Waianae is always physical, rough and rugged, and tough."

Sagapolutele came into the game with 1, 893 yards, tops in the Open Division, and 17 touchdowns, second best in his class. He added to those totals with a monster game against the Seariders. He completed 27 of 36 passes for 450 yards and five touchdowns.

"We expect that from him, " Johnson said of Sagapolutele's performance. "It's not like 'wow' when he plays like this. We expect him to do good things for us—that's why he's our guy right now. He moved the ball around good tonight."

He may be "the guy " for Campbell, but Sagapolutele knows he can't do it all by himself.

"I gotta give thanks to my offensive line, for giving me the time to throw, " Sagapolutele said. "And shout out to my receivers, catching the ball and doing the hard work while I just sit back and sling it."

Three of his receivers eclipsed 90 yards. Rowan Bucao led the Sabers with 110 yards on seven catches, Rusten Abang racked up 95 yards on four catches and Mason Muaau added 92 yards on six catches.

After a fumble and a turnover on downs on their first two drives of the game, the Sabers bounced back in a big way, scoring on their next five drives in the first half. Sagapolutele hit on three passes on the five-play drive that kicked off the scoring.

His third pass of the drive wound up in the hands of Muaau for a 5-yard touchdown.

"We just picked it up together, " Sagapolutele said of the turnaround. "We talked it over with the coaches, thought of plays that would work, and turned it around."