Junior SB Sam Okamoto caught eight passes for 106 yards and a TD in Na Alii's season-opening win over host Nanakuli. CJ Caraang | SL

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_16081332_20160812-KF1A9841_FB_AIEA_NANA_CJCARAANG.jpg - CJ Caraang | SL

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NANAKULI — Aiea defeated host Nanakuli in a battle between two contrasting offenses, 27-14 in both teams' regular season-opener Friday night. 

Quarterbacks Zelius Maae-Liupaono and Kobe Kato combined to complete 25 of 34 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns to help Na Alii improve to 1-0 in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I standings. 

Nanakuli, who moved up from Division II in the offseason, dropped its second straight game in as many weeks (0-2 overall, 0-1 league).

Na Alii slotback Sam Okamoto led all receivers with eight catches for 106 yards and a touchdown, which came on a 45-yard catch-and-run 31 seconds into the second half. Aiea wideout Ty Matsunami was another key contributor with six receptions for 41 yards and two TDs.

"I think (Aiea) did a good job at picking us apart," said Nanakuli coach Keala Watson. "We haven't seen teams like this too much in recent years. They got deep gains, and they got short gains. We couldn't get to the quarterback. We couldn't put pressure on them so we were struggling to find an answer and make adjustments." 

While the Aiea offense was able to carve its way down the field, the Nanakuli offense struggled to string together scoring drives. Nanakuli quarterback Nainoa Banks led the Golden Hawks' triple-option offense with 80 yards rushing, but was picked off twice in the loss.

Gabe Asing and Treau Tupuola were Na Alii's leading defenders with nine and eight tackles respectively. Maae-Liupaono also started at middle linebacker and finished with six tackles while Allen Keohokapu and Demeiko Hill each had a pick on Banks.

Aiea coach Wendell Say was pleased with his team's effort, especially since most players had to go two-ways with 15 players out with injuries and academics, but noted that there is room for improvement. Na Alii missed out on an opportunity to score at the end of the first half and also helped Nanakuli score on its first possession with two 15-yard penalties on the defense. 

"We're getting better," said Say. "We got a lot of clean up we got to do. I mean you know we're not perfect. We should've scored on a couple of more drives and punched it in. It's just rust in the first game. We just have to get better. The potential is there, but the performance level is not there yet."

After the Golden Hawks scored on Charleston Mahoe's 3-yard run to start the game, Na Alii answered with a nine-play 60-yard drive that culminated in Ryan Panuelo's 1-yard burst. Kobe Kato was good on the PAT to give Aiea a 7-6 lead with 2:38 to go in the opening period. 

The Na Alii defense forced a three-and-out on its next possession to help set up the team's next score. Starting from its own 46-yard line, the Aiea offense was able to march down the field in 11 plays before Maae-Liupaono completed a 1-yard TD pass to Matsunami to give Na Alii a 14-6 lead.

Aiea received the second half kickoff and wasted no time with Okamoto's 45-yard scoring play coming on the second play of the third quarter to give Na Alii a 21-6 advantage.

The Golden Hawks punted and turned over the ball on their next two possessions before getting the ball back on the Aiea 46-yard line, their best starting field position of the game. A 10-play drive that ended in Banks' 3-yard TD run and subsequent 2-point conversion made the score 21-14 just before the end of the third quarter.

Na Alii responded with a 12-play, 54-yard drive that featured a 6-yard reception by Okamoto on fourth down and a 2-yard TD grab by Matsunami for the final score of the game.

Nanakuli marched the ball all the way down to the Aiea 1-yard line, but saw a TD run wiped out by a false start penalty and turned it over on downs after Nick Souza-Meyers landed out of bounds while catching an apparent touchdown pass from Banks.

"There were a few plays in the game that could have turned the tide, and the game could have easily been like up and down, maybe one score down," said Watson. "There were some turnovers and some goal line stands where we dropped the ball a few times and had penalties, but I like where we're going. It's a good start to a pretty good season and we just got to keep working."

Aiea goes on the road next weekend to take on defending Division I state champion Kahuku while Nanakuli will have a week off to heal up and get more players cleared. Watson said that there were about 12 players that were unavailable against Aiea.