OIA Football
Kapolei grinds out win over Waipahu, 22-18


   



Fri, Aug 30, 2013 @ Kapolei [ 7:30 pm ]


Final 1 2 3 4 T
Waipahu (2-7-0) 6 6 6 018
Kapolei (6-4-0) 6 7 0 922
Aizon Kahana 221 yd 2 TD
Kai Mercado-Aiona 91 yd 1 TD
Triston Pebria 39 yd 1 TD
Kai Mercado-Aiona 60 yd 2 TD
Kazden Reis 83 yd 1 TD
Andrew Polk 50 yd 1 TD

KAPOLEI – It wasn't pretty, but a win is a win.

The Kapolei Hurricanes (3-1 overall, 1-1 Red West) rallied from an 18-13, third quarter deficit, to score nine unanswered points in the fourth quarter to defeat the visiting Waipahu Marauders (1-2, 0-1). Kapolei was ranked at number 10 in this week's ScoringLive/OC16 Division I power rankings.

"It was hard fought," said Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez. "What I like about the win is that we had the guts to come from behind. We came together, and played as one, and played hard in the fourth quarter. Hopefully we can build on that momentum we had in the fourth quarter to continue next week."

Kapolei used a different personal grouping in the final period, something that the Marauders had not seen all game. Alton "Panaewa" Julius played quarterback sending starting QB Aizon Kahana out wide, while fullback Kainoa Brown was a changeup back from the usual duo of Tristan Pebria and Mana Reis.

"It's something we've had in our package," explained Hernandez. "Tonight it was really successful; we looked pretty good with Alton (Julius) in there. (Kainoa Brown) is a big bruising back; he really stepped up."

This personnel grouping helped Kapolei score the go-ahead score with Kahana finding Reis for a 14-yard touchdown pass. The grouping also set up a 25-yard field goal by Arielle Stoyanow with two minutes and 16 seconds remaining for the final score of 22-18.

"The offense finally started to click in the fourth quarter after three quarters of not much," said Hernandez.

Free safety Bryson Hughes, sealed the game with his pick on Waipahu quarterback Kai Mercado-Aiona and all Kapolei needed to do was run the clock to hold on. Hughes also picked off Mercado-Aiona earlier in the game and had another one go through his hands. Had he recorded three interceptions in the game, he would have broken a school record.

"It feels good," said Hughes. "We played hard today. (The win) brought back that spark to the team and hopefully we can keep this momentum going in the season."

Waipahu got on the board first off of a Pebria fumble. Waipahu's Johnny Tuia stripped the ball from Pebria and Levi Wong recovered it for Marauders. Three plays later Mercado-Aiona found a streaking Andrew Polk down the right sideline for a 41-yard TD pass play. The two-point conversion failed leaving the score 6-0, two minutes and 42 seconds into the game.

Kapolei appeared to strike back on the ensuing kickoff with Tristan Centeio taking it to house. However, the play was nullified on a holding penalty, which resulted in Kapolei starting their drive at their 25 yard line.

The Marauder defense looked like they had the Kapolei offense in check when they forced the home team into an early 3rd and 12 situation. It was all for naught though, as Kahana scrambled and found Ty-Noah Williams for a 45-yard pass play to give Kapolei a first down in the red zone. Pebria banged in from a yard out three plays later. Paige Mahuka's kick sailed wide right and the score was tied 6-6, with five minutes and 56 seconds left in the first quarter.

Waipahu scored again on their next drive, which took of six minutes and 16 seconds off the clock. Mercado-Aiona capped the 13-play, 73-yard drive with his 11-yard touchdown run on a quarterback keeper around left end. Marauders went for two again but came up short giving the visiting team a 12-6, lead early in the second quarter.

The momentum from the offense carried over to the Waipahu defense as they forced the Kapolei offense into a three-and-out situation. Unfortunately for the Marauders, Jordan Taylor could not hold on to the punted ball and Hughes recovered it for the Hurricanes. Kapolei was unable to cash in on the extended drive, but the muffed punt served as a turning point in the game.

The Hurricane defense forced Waipahu to punt on their next series, which wasn't good news for Marauder punter Sword De Asis. His first punt attempt of the game resulted in a 7-yard shank giving Kapolei good field position at their 45-yard line. Nine plays later, Kahana found Julius in the end zone for a 17-yard score. Stoyanow's kick sailed through the uprights and Kapolei had their first lead of the game. The score was 13-12, heading into halftime.

Turnovers really hampered the Marauders early on in the 3rd quarter with Polk fumbling the second half kickoff and Mercado-Aiona throwing his first pick of the game on the following drive.

"That kind of hurt us really bad," said Waipahu coach Eric Keola. "Crucial turnovers came at a crucial time while we were driving."

Unfortunately for the home team, Kapolei was unable to turn these turnovers into points giving the Marauders the ball back with six minutes and 34 seconds left in the third.

Waipahu would then go on their most impressive drive of the night which went 87 yards on 13 plays. Mercado-Aiona's one-yard touchdown run was set up by back-to-back 12-yard runs by slotbacks Matthew Leilua and Nehemiah Palimoo. The two-point try failed again giving Waipahu an 18-13, lead heading into the final period. Kapolei scored the last nine points of the game and the Marauders were sent home with another mark in the loss column.

"We had it where we could have closed out the game," said Keola. "Our defense just got tired in the end. (Kapolei) had a pretty sized o-line that weighed on us in the fourth quarter."

A standout for the Marauders defensively was corner back Rustin Ho, who had five pass deflections, three of which could have been interceptions. This was Ho's first game back after playing for the Waipahu team in the American Legion league.



Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].




Show your support

Every contribution, no matter the size, will help ScoringLive continue its mission to provide the best and most comprehensive coverage of high school sports in the state of Hawaii and beyond.

Please consider making a contribution today.

ADVERTISEMENT


IMAGE GALLERY



MORE STORIES

Castle takes down Kaiser in four sets to keep pace in OIA East

Cody Pili-Rumusod had nine kills and a game-high 35 assists to pace the Knights, winners of four straight...

Radford wins on walk-off wild pitch to turn back Kalaheo

Mataio Tauanuu batted 4-for-4 and scored the game-winning run in back-and-forth game for the Rams.

Punahou continues unbeaten streak, hands Kamehameha second straight loss

Third-ranked Warriors suffered consecutive losses in the regular season for the first time since 2017.

No. 4 Iolani rallies to hand No. 1 Kamehameha first ILH loss

Ethan Akagi and CJ Taira scored the winning runs for the Raiders off a wild pitch to hand the top-ranked...

Punahou pulls away from PAC-5 to notch first ILH win

The Buffanblu ended a five-game skid and broke into the win column to keep the Wolfpack winless in the...

Kalani's Nishigaya headlines All-OIA East selections

Forward/midfielder Kaiulani Nishigaya helped lift Falcons to first-ever league title; Kaiser's Noelani...