Kapolei's Jaymin Sarono, a junior slotback who missed last week's game at Kailua due to injury, had 15 receptions for 156 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown in a win over Moanalua. Jim Lebeau | Special to SL

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It took a total team effort to end a three-game losing streak for the Kapolei football team Saturday night.

The Hurricanes got contributions — some large, some small — from a number of different players in all three phases of the game to come away with a much-needed 33-21 win over ninth-ranked Moanalua.

Most notable — statistically speaking, anyway — were the efforts of a trio of offensive standouts in quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa and receivers Alika Bantolina and Jaymin Sarono.

Tagovailoa, a freshman quarterback who was making just the second start of his young prep career, passed for 464 yards and four touchdowns. He completed 44 of 70 passes in the game.

Sarono, a junior slotback who missed last week's game at Kailua due to injury, had 15 receptions for 156 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown to open the scoring, while Bantolina, a senior wide receiver, was on the receiving end of Tagovailoa's three other touchdown passes.

Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez calls Sarono "the total package."

"He's our most explosive slotback on the team," Hernandez said. "The guy is like a running back that can play slotback. He's got moves, hands, speed. We're excited about him and what he brings to the table for us. He's putting up some big numbers for us."

Sarono caught each of the first 12 balls thrown his way, including a remarkable snag of a ball thrown behind him that he had to lay out for.

"In practice — I mean, that's when you guys don't see it — but this guy makes some ridiculous catches sometimes," junior defensive back Leonard Lee said of Sarono. "I mean the ball is just stuck to his hands sometimes."

Tagovailoa targeted Sarono a total of 17 times throughout the course of the game.

"It felt good on the first drive and then after that I made a selfish mistake and our (offensive coordinator) took me out," Sarono said. "After that I realized that it's a team effort and after that he gave me the opportunity to go back in and I had to make it up."

Meanwhile, Bantolina was seeing his first considerable game time after recovering from an ankle injury suffered during fall camp. He finished with six grabs for 41 yards.

Tagovailoa completed passes to nine different teammates Saturday, including Keanu Barboza (4 receptions for 94 yards), Boogie Tago-Sue (4 for 42), L.J. Esperas (8 for 41) and Ezra Savea (4 for 24).

Barboza, who did all of his damage after halftime, was taken by ambulance to the hospital minutes after the game due to what is believed to be a head injury. Esperas, who rushed for a team-high 40 yards on 12 carries, was sidelined late in the gMe with a possible knee injury. In his place, Kainoa Bardon rushed for 36 yards on seven carries.

"We've got some weapons, we've just got to make sure we score when we're in the red zone," Hernandez said.

The Hurricanes' defense had no shortage of contributors on the other side of the ball.

Leonard Lee recorded a pair of interceptions off Moanalua quarterback Alakai Yuen, but gave credit to the defensive line and linebackers for forcing Yuen to get rid of the ball earlier than he would have liked.

"That makes our job as (defensive backs) a lot easier, because when the d-line gets to the quarterback we don't have to guard as long or stay downfield, so they did a great job and helped us out with those sacks."

Junior linebacker Tyler Vasega (six tackles, one sack, one forced fumble) and senior defensive end Johnny Morrison (six tackles, one sack, one fumble recovery) had solid efforts, while senior linebacker Jericho Kahooilihala (four tackles, one sack, one fumble recovery) also contributed to the cause.

In all, the Hurricanes made nine tackles for loss, including five sacks.

"I think we played great team defense," said Hernandez, whose team held Moanalua to 22 points and more than 100 yards under its per-game average.

Finally, there were the contributions on special teams from junior placekicker Beau Meyer, who accounted for nine points. He was a perfect 3 of 3 on extra-point tries and made both of the field goals he attempted from distances of 42 and 33 yards. Meyer also averaged 53.8 yards on his six kickoffs.

It all added up to Kapolei's first win in nearly a month — since a season-opening 47-28 win over Kaiser — and its first victory in league play.

"It was a must-win game for us with the season coming down to an end and we just had to get a ‘W' and from here on out, we just have to win all our games," Sarono said.

The Hurricanes now find themselves among three teams at 1-3 — the others being Moanalua and Aiea — in the seven-team Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I Blue conference with three games remaining in the regular season.

The top six teams will qualify for October's OIA tournament.