Pac-Five rallies past Kalani, 16-14


Pac-Five's Daven Pila celebrates after hauling in a pass for the game-winning touchdown against Kalani. CJ Caraang | SL

HALAWA— Kainoa Ferreira's 25-yard touchdown pass to Daven Pila with six seconds remaining pushed Pac-Five (1-0) past Kalani (0-1), 16-14 in the opener of the 52nd Annual Father Bray Memorial Classic on Saturday afternoon at Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium.

The Wolfpack got a decent return to the Kalani 48-yard line with 23 seconds left on the clock. Ferreira threw an incompletion for the first play and on the next play, Kalani aided Pac-Five with a passing interference penalty. Ferreira threw another incompletion, but shook it off to throw the winning touchdown pass to Pila, who was wide open in the end zone. The PAT was no good as Pac-Five went up, 16-14 with 0:06 left on the clock.

"I saw the D-end come around the corner, I stepped up in the pocket and found the open receiver. In the beginning, the offense started off rough and the defense held us up. We never gave up and we had heart. We kept fighting till the end and we had no doubt in our minds we could pull it off," said Ferreira.

"We drew that up on the sideline based on how they were playing us. It was a good game, we're trying to find our receiving core—all new guys so it's going to take time," said Pac-Five coach Kip Botelho.

Kalani received the ball on their own 36-yard line. With 2 seconds left Seth Tina-Soberano threw a Hail Mary, but it was overthrown and fell incomplete. Tina-Soberano went 7-of-13 for 54 yards in his start at quarterback.

Following a punt, Payton Awaya recovered the ball after it touched a Pac-Five player. Kalani cashed in the turnover to take a 7-0 lead in the first quarter after Sean Silas rushed for a 5-yard touchdown. Silas rushed for a game-high 163 yards on 29 carries to lead the offense.

"They did well, we want to throw the ball, but the way they were aligned to us and gave us an opportunity to run," said Kalani coach Greg Taguchi.

The Wolfpack got on the score board after Tyler Fukuroda tacked on a 29-yard field goal with 1:18 remaining in the second quarter as Pac-Five trailed 7-3 at halftime.

Pac-Five rotated juniors Kainoa Ferreira and Ryan Johnson in at quarterback for the game. Both combined for 278 passing yards--Ferreira went 14-of-37 for 163 yards and Johnson went 7-of-21 for 115 yards and two interceptions.

Royce Angelo rushed for a 2-yard touchdown to reclaim the lead for the Wolfpack in the third quarter with 7:15 remaining.

The Falcons used a six play drive that ate up 2 minutes and nine seconds and Jaemi Harris' 10-yard touchdown with 42 seconds left put Kalani back up, 14-10. Harris added 55 rushing yards on 12 carries.

Kalani's defense caused problems for the Wolfpack as Hunter Benson and Cody Uehara each intercepted Johnson. Awaya and Micah Iaea each recovered fumbles for the Falcons.

"I was proud that they fought back at the end of the game, they fought to the end and came back to score. Give Pac-Five credit they battled back and scored at the end of the game," said Taguchi. "Penalties and turnovers will kill you and it's an opportunity to learn and I'm proud they kept battling."

The Wolfpack got sacks from Matt Falser and Roger Napoleon.

Pac-Five will travel to Kauai to play Waimea at Hanepepe Ballpark on Aug. 22. Kalani begins the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II regular season at Waialua on Aug. 14.



Reach Brandon Ching at [email protected].