It has been quite the turnaround for the Kailua football team in 2015.

The Surfriders, who are ranked ninth in the latest ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Division I Power Rankings, ran their record to 3-0 with Monday night's 20-6 win over No. 7 Kapolei.

Just a year ago — its first under coach Joseph Wong — Kailua went winless and was just one of two Division I teams to miss the Oahu Interscholastic Association playoffs.

"I'm ecstatic for them," Wong said following Monday's win. "These kids have laid the groundwork last year. We were all here together when we were 0-7 and nobody gave us a care in the world and these kids kept plugging away. They bought into the system and we built off of last year. We took that and we ran with it."

Wong's team got a few bounces in its favor against the Hurricanes Monday, but also made plays when it had to — like a winning team so often does.

Kailua was just 4 of 17 on third-down conversions, but 4 of 8 on fourth downs.

"That was awesome, because we just got the ball moving," Auld said. "That kind of got us into our rhythm and we needed that because if not, our defense would have been coming back on the field and we just wanted to keep our defense off the field."

Conversely, fourth downs were a sore spot for the Hurricanes.

Late in the second quarter, Kapolei drove to the Kailua 28-yard line, but turned it over on downs when quarterback Ezra Savea was sacked by Uhi Mikaele. Its second drive of the third quarter ended much the same when, on fourth-and-5 from the Kailua 32, a low shotgun snap forced reserve quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa to simply cover up the pigskin for an eight-yard loss and another turnover on downs. About midway through the fourth quarter — on a fourth-and-8 from the Kailua 49 — Tagovailoa had to leap to try and snag a high snap from center and ended up losing nine yards, stalling yet another drive.

The Surfriders were opportunistic on defense, recovering three Kapolei fumbles in the first half and converting two of them into scores on Noah Auld touchdown passes.

"That's real big," Wong said. "We've got to capitalize on those turnovers and (Auld) did a great job doing that. It's a learning process for him, too. We just want him to be successful, which he has been. The kid is a great kid. He prepares and I can't ask anything more of him."

Auld, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound senior, found Martin Tigilau for an 8-yard touchdown six plays after Taylor Tagupa's fumble recovery and hit Koolau Gaspar for an 18-yard scoring strike just one play after Isaiah Damo-Agcaoili recovered another Kapolei fumble.

Tigilau leads the team in receptions (15), receiving yards (232) and receiving touchdowns (6), but Wong said the Surfriders' passing game is far more than a one-man show.

"It's just that unselfish mentality they have," Wong said. "They understand, you know. I mean, Tigilau is getting the attention, but you forget those other (receivers) on the other side and you forget the two (slotbacks) on the inside and then you bring those tight ends into the system … to me, I like to say, I tell them ‘to pick your poison, because everybody is going to get their share.' Whoever you take away, we've got somebody else and that's the mentality. It's just unselfish."

With a 14-0 lead at the intermission, Kailua turned to its run game in the second half to hold on to possession and keep the Kapolei offense off the field. Wong credited the offensive line for moving the line of scrimmage and keeping drives going.

"That comes down to those big nasty guys on the inside," Wong said. "Those hogs, they got a reward this week. The offensive line coaches took them to go eat for their prior weeks, the rushing. That's a big thing for them and you've got to give credit where credit is due. They were rewarded and so were the pockets of our offensive line coaches, so they want to continue that type of buffet atmosphere."

The offensive line did not allow a sack of Auld in the game.

"The hogs did a hell of a job sustaining their blocks, Noah did a great job managing the game and it all worked out," said Wong, who preaches a team concept. "Like I said, all eleven (players on the field) at all times and they all pitched in: defense, offense, special teams, so you can't ask for anything more."

Wong deferred credit for his team's hot start to the season back to his players.

"These kids, I have nothing but praise for them," Wong said. "They come and work every day, they take care in the class, they take care on the field and then they go home and they take care of their families. It's a circle and they continue to work that each and every day and I can't thank them more and praise them more because they get everything done."

Auld, a third-year starter, appreciated the victory to be sure, but said he is not satisfied just yet.

"It feels great, but this is only one win," Auld said. "This is not where we stop. We're not going to let this 3-0 record dictate our season. We're going to keep on moving forward and keep on pushing and keep on working hard every day."