Teammates help get Umiamaka going as Heritage beats Hudson’s Bay 30-6

Kalani Umiamaka has made a habit of carrying the Heritage football team from time to time.

But on Friday at Kiggins Bowl, it was the senior running back who needed a lift from his teammates.

“All of our players were trying to keep my head up,” Umiamaka said. “My head was low. I started slow. But all of these guys believed in us. Our coaches told us ‘Hey, keep your heads up and play like you can play.”

Umiamaka overcame that slow start to finish with 133 yards rushing and two touchdowns as Heritage rolled to a 30-6 non-league over Hudson’s Bay.

“We told our kids ‘Don’t get caught in the quicksand’,” Heritage coach Matt Gracey said. “And we just started putting together some good plays. Our offensive line did an excellent job.”

Heritage quarterback Gavin Lee finished with 88 yards rushing and a touchdown, and Lafi Sosene ran for another 87 and a score as the Timberwolves (2-0) outgained the Eagles on the ground 321-51.

Despite dominating the stat book, Heritage took a while to take over the scoreboard. Heritage led only 9-0 at halftime. And when Shawn Morgan had a 2-yard TD run, Hudson’s Bay only trailed 9-6 with 2:05 left in the third quarter.

But then then Timberwolves regained control, driving 82 yards in five plays to take a 16-6 lead before the end of the quarter on Sosene’s 4-yard touchdown run.

“We kept going,” Lee said. “We knew we were making them tired, so we kept going.”

After stopping the Eagles on downs, Heritage made it 23-6 on Umiamaka’s second touchdown run with 9:29 left in the game. Lee’s 1-yard keeper with 3:43 left sealed the deal.

Lee also passed for 168 yards. Nick Somboun caught five passes for 96 yards.

On defense, Matthias Rivera, Amman Garrison and Sosene intercepted passes.

“Our defense was lights out,” Gracey said. “They really kept us in the game until our offense got going.”

For Bay (1-1), Jordan Hickman passed for 162 yards, and Julio Vara caught four passes for 48 yards.

HERITAGE 30, HUDSON’S BAY 6

Heritage               3              6              7              14–30

Hud. Bay              0              0              6              0– 6

First quarter

Her–Kyle Hood 33 FG

Second quarter

Her–Kalani Umiamaka 11 run (kick failed)

Third quarter

Bay–Shawn Morgan 2 run (kick failed)

Her–Lafi Sosene (Hood kick)

Fourth quarter

Her–Umiamaka 4 run (Hood kick)

Her–Lee 1 run (Hood kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING–Heritage: Umiamaka 19-133, Lee 16-88, Sosene 12-87, Hayden Klimas 5-13. Hudson’s Bay: Toa Kaumatule 7-22, Tristan Maxwell 3-19, Morgan 6-3, Julio Vara 1-3, Jordan Hickman 5-2, Logan DeGrandpre 1-2, Nathan Newo 3-0.

PASSING–Heritage: Lee 11-26-1-168; Hudson’s Bay: Hickman 10-24-3-162; Jake Shulakov 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING–Heritage: Nick Somboun 5-96, Hood 3-50, Tashiem Hurse 1-11, Matthias Rivera 1-10, Ammon Garrison 1-1. Hudson’s Bay: Vara 4-48, Marcus Cadiz 2-46, Nathan Buslach 1-20, Stone Sabourin 1-19, Alphonso Barajas 1-17, Myle Artis 1-12.