Kaiser's defense denies Kahuku's Reupena Fitisemanu access to positive yardage under lights at Kaiser Stadium. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Kaiser celebrates as they upset No. 3 Kahuku on senior night and on the last home game of the season for the Cougars. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Fri, Sep 19, 2014 @ Kaiser [ 6:30 pm ]

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Kahuku

19

Kaiser

20

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Kahuku (9-3-0)	6	6	7	0	19
Kaiser (5-4-0)	7	6	0	7	20

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Kalawaia Judd 321 yd 2 TD

Tuli Wily-Matagi 157 yd 1 TD

Jensen McDaniel 100 yd

Tuli Wily-Matagi 83 yd 1 TD

Destin Moss 177 yd 1 TD

Chance Maghanoy 70 yd 1 TD

HAWAII KAI — It’s official, Kaiser is one of the big boys.

A crowd of about 3000 was on hand to witness the Cougars, the 2013 Division II state champion, knock off undefeated Kahuku, 20-19, in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Red Division contest Friday night. This was Kaiser's first win over the Red Raiders since 1989.

Kaiser continues its winning streak to improve to 3-2 in league play. Kahuku, ranked No. 3 in the ScoringLive/OC16 Division I Power Rankings, fell to 4-1.

Kahuku committed seven total turnovers in the game, two of which came in the fourth quarter. Red Raider quarterback Tuli Wily-Matagi was intercepted three times in the first half, twice by Kaiser cornerback Cody Kim. The other four turnovers were all on fumbles, twice by running back Kesi Ah Hoy, once by fullback Salanoa-Alo Wily and the last on a bad handoff.

“Defense was huge in this win. We knew what we had to do.” said Kaiser linebacker Parker Higgins. Higgins finished with a team-high seven tackles, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. “We had the best week of practice this whole week. Everyone just did their assignments and the plays just happened for themselves.”

Kahuku’s final turnover the night gave the Cougars the ball back on their own 46-yard line trailing 19-13 with 1:59 remaining in the ballgame. Kaiser quickly went 29 yards on three handoffs to running back Jensen McDaniel. This forced Kahuku to call its final timeout of the game with 1:33 left on the clock. 

After the Kahuku timeout Kaiser continued to roll with McDaniel, handing it off to the junior running back five more times. McDaniel finished the game with 100 yards rushing on 29 carries.

“Our game plan was to go fast, but the coverage they were giving us, didn’t allow us to go as fast as we wanted to. At the end we saw that we can give to Jensen, Jensen is a guy even though he’s a junior. He’s coming up big for us,” said Kaiser quarterback Kalawaia Judd.

The Cougars’ game-winning 10-play drive was capped on Judd’s one-yard plunge on 3rd-and-goal. Matt Sai’s PAT gave the final point total with 15.9 remaining in the game.

“Words can’t describe what I’m feeling,” Kaiser first-year coach Cameron Higgins said after the game. “I told the boys they won this game not this past week preparing, they won it back in March and April when they were putting in the work day in and day out. They bought in from back then. I think that’s what helped us win the fourth quarter. By no means was it a perfect game, we fought through adversity. Sometimes the ball just bounces in your favor sometimes.”

The game was delayed about an hour due to Kahuku bus getting stuck in traffic.

“We came out flat. I don’t think we were ready to roll. It was a bad day travel wise,” said Kahuku coach Lee Leslie. “We made too many fumbles. Give (Kaiser) credit, they came out here and played their tails off. (We) just couldn’t hang on to the ball.”

Kahuku drew first blood on a Wily-Matagi 70-yard touchdown pass to Chance Maghanoy down the left sideline. Kaiser got called for offsides on the PAT, prompting the Red Raiders to go for two. The gamble failed as the 2-point try was stopped short.

Kaiser quickly struck back on a 88-yard touchdown catch by McDaniel on the Cougars’ next play from scrimmage. Sai’s PAT gave the Cougars the lead with 5:49 to go in the first quarter.

The Red Raiders got their second touchdown of the night on a fake punt on fourth down. Ah Hoy fired a 56-yard strike to Keala Santiago to put Kahuku back on top 12-7.

Kaiser’s second touchdown of the night was on a Judd 99-yard play-action pass to Destin Moss. The scoring play helped Judd finish with 321 yards on 10-of-18 passing.

“I was licking my chops because one safety came up to watch Jensen. The safety came up and I just put it over the top. We worked on that play all week, just a well drawn play,” Judd said on the touchdown.

The Cougars travel to Castle (1-4) next week Friday. Kahuku will look to rebound with a home game against Leilehua (5-0).

“It was a roller coaster ride, I think I almost lost my voice,” said coach Higgins. “I think I experienced every single emotion tonight: happy, sad, crying, scared. It was just a great game. Our fans were in it, they were awesome and (Kahuku) always bring the house. it was just a good experience.”