No. 3 Kahuku rolls past Castle, 56-19

Kahuku's Salanoa-Alo Wily rushed for 118 yards and a touchdown against Castle. Johnny Wilson | Special to SL

KANEOHE – The Kahuku express is back in business.

Salanoa-Alo Wily rushed for 118 yards and a touchdown to help Kahuku, ranked No. 3 in the ScoringLive/OC16 Division I Power Rankings, improve to 4-0 with a 56-19 win over Castle (1-3) Friday night. Wily also added a team-high five tackles and a sack on defense.

Offensively the Red Raiders dominated the trenches, racking up 234 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.

“It felt good. In the beginning of the season I wasn’t really seeing the run game established as well as much as we wanted to like in our previous teams with guys like Aofaga Wily. It was good seeing our running game do well,” Wily said on the team’s run game.

Other contributors to Kahuku’s ground game were Kesi Ah Hoy (seven carries, 37 yards, two touchdowns), Reupena Fitisemanu (five carries, 30 yards, touchdown) and Soli Afalava (four carries, 20 yards, touchdown). Ah Hoy also threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Keala Santiago for the Red Raiders’ first points of the game.

“We have a stable of guys and we try to give them all reps to see if they can go,” said Kahuku coach Lee Leslie. “It’s fun to have all these horses.”

Despite the lopsided final score, Castle held its own in the early stages of the game. The Knights held a 7-6 lead after the first quarter thanks to a one-yard sneak by quarterback Willie Ewaliko and a PAT by Laura Tyler.

Afalava and Wily ripped off touchdown runs in the first half of the second quarter to put the Red Raiders up 18-7. Castle struck back with Ewaliko’s 19-yard strike to Chad Figueora and retook the lead when with Pono Ilae’s fumble recovery in the end zone after Kaikiohua Piena stripped sack Kahuku quarterback Tuli Wily-Matagi. The Knights led 19-18 with 5:33 to play in the second quarter.

Ilae’s defensive score ignited the home crowd for the time being, but it was all Kahuku for the remainder of the game. Alohi Gilman’s 82-yard return on the ensuing kickoff jumpstarted a string of Red Raider scores that put the game out of reach. Castle snapped the ball out of its own end zone for a safety and Ah Hoy ran in two second quarter scores to make it 42-19 at the break.

“We gave them a game for a quarter and a half, and then we had some breakdowns that kind of open the flood gates,” said Nelson Maeda. “Special teams gave (them) great field position – they scored off a kickoff return so that put is in a bind.

“It’s encouraging that they were able to battle, but we need it to sustain for more than a quarter.”

Kahuku scored two more touchdowns in the third quarter on a 12-yard jaunt by Fitisemanu and a 55-yard interception return from Semisi Kauvaka.

The Red Raiders take on Kaiser (2-2) next Friday while Castle looks to get back on track against Waianae (2-2).

Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].