Punahou tops Kailua, 31-7, for 2nd straight road win

Punahou WR Malik Johnson pulls down a pass over a Kailua defender. Eugene Tanner | SL

KAILUA -- Malik Johnson caught two touchdown passes and Punahou forced five turnovers last night en route to a 31-7 victory over Kailua in interleague football action.

The Buffanblu, ranked No. 3 in the ScoringLive Power Rankings, improved to 2-0 with their second straight road victory while the Surfriders fell to 0-2.

Johnson caught a 28-yard TD pass from Tui Tuileta in the first quarter and Christian Fairbairn added a 22-yard field goal midway through the second quarter to give Punahou a 10-0 halftime lead.

The Buffanblu then took advantage of three Kailua turnovers to stretch it to 31-0 in the third quarter. Zachary Hernandez recovered a fumble on the Surfriders' 6-yard line and three plays later Johnson leaped to catch a 9-yard touchdown throw by Luke Morris in the back right corner of the end zone.

After Hernandez scored on a 2-yard touchdown run, DeForest Buckner recovered a fumble and ran it in 10 yards for another score to help make it 31-0 with 3:08 remaining in the quarter.

The Kailua offense often sputtered against Punahou's quick and aggressive defense throughout the night. Surfriders quarterback Kahaku Iaea, who completed 35 of 51 passes for 305 yards and three TDs in last week's 36-34 loss at Kealakehe, finished just 14 of 37 for 193 yards with two interceptions last night and was sacked five times.

Only a 43-yard touchdown pass to Jarrin Young -- in which Young weaved his way through the secondary after making the catch -- prevented a shutout with 7:04 left in the game.

"They applied more pressure and forced us out of our game plan too early," Kailua coach Gary Rosolowich said. "We started throwing deep instead of sticking to moving the chains, because their corners were playing our short game so well. They were well-prepared and well-coached, and we didn't have enough of a mix on offense."