ILH Football
No. 1 Punahou rallies by No. 5 Kamehameha, 28-17


  



Fri, Sep 18, 2015 @ Aloha Stadium [ 8:00 pm ]


Final 1 2 3 4 T
Punahou (8-2-0) 7 0 0 2128
Kamehameha (5-4-0) 14 3 0 017
Nick Kapule 311 yd 3 TD
Wayne Taulapapa 129 yd 1 TD
Jaykob Cabunoc 125 yd 2 TD
Keala Martinson 115 yd 1 TD

HALAWA — Punahou scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to rally from a 17-7 halftime deficit for a 28-17 win over Kamehameha in the second game of an Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I double-header at Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium Friday night.

The Buffanblu, the top-ranked team in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Division I Football Power Rankings, improved to 5-0 and 2-0 in conference play with the win. This sets up a battle for first place in the ILH when they take on No. 2 Saint Louis (4-0, 2-0) next Friday.

"They rose up and dug deep," Punahou coach Kale Ane said. "I'm very proud of the effort and attitude of the coaches and kids. It's a very humbling to be a part of an experience like this."

Junior quarterback Nick Kapule made his first start of the year in place of the injured Ephraim Tuliloa (shoulder) and completed 23 of his 39 pass attempts for 311 yards and three touchdowns in the win.

"I'm just happy that the team trusted me," Kapule said. "We all got fired up at halftime and we just knew we had to win this game."

Kapule looked for the deep ball often in the first half and was sacked five times, but took what the defense gave in the second half and led the Buffanblu to three fourth quarter scores.

"He just needed to make decisions quicker," Ane said on Kapule. "I think he just needed to go through the process of being in a situation like that. It's still relatively new for him. At halftime we just talked about being more poised; take what they give you and not try to go deep all the time. He came through, didn't panic and he did great."

The Warriors lost starting quarterback Boogie Yam for the year in their contest against Saint Louis and turned to long-time starter Fatu Sua-Godinet to fill the void against Punahou. Kamehameha had the Punahou defense on their heels in the first half thanks to multiple quarterback draws, wide receiver reverses and a handful of faux laterals, but could not get anything going in the second half.

"We just had to buckle down and just believe we could do it," said linebacker Laakea Look, who had a sack and a fumble recovery. "It was just the little things we were making mistakes on. We corrected those things and it allowed us to play faster and harder."

Punahou jumped out to an early 7-0 lead after Kapule's 77-yard touchdown pass to Keala Martinson on the Buffanblu's second play from scrimmage. Martinson ran a quick 7-yard slant route and turned on the jets for the score.

"Kamehameha's defense is always tough, especially against a young quarterback," said Ane. "It was nice to get that first play, first touchdown on a long pass. They came out hard and that kept them from blitzing much."

The Buffanblu finished with the game with 441 yards of total offense, but had just 171 yards and two costly turnovers in the first half. Kamehameha got its first score of the game after Akili Gray recovered a Wayne Taulapapa fumble that was forced by Andrew Aneki. The Warriors were able to recycle the turnover into Justice Young's 48-yard touchdown pass to Jaykob Cabunoc to knot things up at 7 apiece midway through the first quarter.

Kamehameha would take a 14-7 lead before the end of the opening period after Tainoa Foster stripped Punahou's Judd Cockett and Brayden Miyamoto recovered it at the Punahou 25-yard line. Three plays later wide receiver Kumoku Noa took the reverse and tossed a 23-yard scoring strike to Cabunoc.

Punahou had a chance to add a field goal in the second quarter after Logan Williams recovered intercepted a lateral attempt by Noa after a screen pass, but Jet Toner's 38-yard attempt went wide left with 1:10 left in the first half.

The Warriors quickly got it into Punahou territory on Sua-Godinet's 49-yard pass to Noa down the left sideline and were able to add a Ryan Stack 23-yard field goal on an untimed down to end the first half.

Neither team would find the end zone until the fourth quarter when Punahou pieced together an impressive 15-play, 90-yard drive that was capped with Cole Arceneaux's first career touchdown reception, a 14-yarder from Kapule.

"We made adjustments," said Kapule, who had two scrambles for seven and 10 yards on the drive. "We recognized the blitz earlier and we just hit our hot routes and my receivers made plays for me. I'm thankful for them."

Kamehameha went three-and-out on its next possession, which paved the way for the Buffanblu's next score. Punahou got the ball at its own 23-yard line and moved it into Kamehameha territory on Ethan Brady's 52-yard reception four plays later. This helped set up Kapule's 10-yard play-action touchdown pass to Christopher Tuliloa to put Punahou the lead for good, 21-17 with 6:37 left in regulation.

The Buffanblu defense forced another three-and-out on Kamehameha's next series and grew their lead to 11 on Taulapapa's 37-yard burst up the middle, his longest run of the game.

Kamehameha drove the ball all the way down to the Punahou 10-yard line on its next possession with 2:43 left in the game. However, Sua-Godinet took a sack on 1st-and-goal and threw three straight incompletions to turn it over on downs.

"We just didn't make the plays that we needed to make," said Kamehameha coach Doug Cosbie.

The Warriors will host Iolani next Friday while Punahou's contest with Saint Louis will follow the Damien and Pac-Five game at Aloha Stadium.



Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].




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