Fri, Oct 2, 2015 @ Kapolei [ 8:00 pm ]

---

Aiea

6

Kapolei

16

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Aiea (1-7-0)	0	3	0	3	6
Kapolei (6-4-0)	0	0	0	16	16

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Taulia Tagovailoa 173 yd 1 TD

Kobe Kato 140 yd

Kainoa Bardon 13 yd

Zelius Maae-Liupaono 18 yd

Ty-Noah Williams 92 yd 1 TD

Kame Kim Choy-Keb-Ah Lo 65 yd

KAPOLEI — As the old adage goes, defense wins championships. It also wins regular-season games.

Led by its defense, Kapolei staved off an upset bid from visiting Aiea Friday night, 16-6, in the regular-season finale for both teams before a homecoming crowd of about 900 fans.

The eighth-ranked Hurricanes won their fourth consecutive game to improve to 5-3 overall and 4-3 in the Blue Division of the Oahu Interscholastic Association. They can finish no lower than the fourth seed and would assume the third seed if Campbell beats Farrington Saturday.

"It was an ugly game," Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez said. "It was a defensive struggle. (Aiea) had two weeks to prepare and in that bye week they did a great job of preparing their defense and really we didn't have an answer until the end."

Kapolei was shutout for the first three quarters until it stormed back with scores in all three phases of the game.

"They were all over our short passes, they were covering our deep receivers; they did great," Hernandez said of Aiea. "They played well enough to win, we just made a couple more plays than they did, but they played well enough to win, no doubt. They're the best one-win team in the OIA."

Lorenzen Panapa sparked the comeback after he blocked an Aiea block out of the back of the end zone for a safety on the very first play of the fourth quarter to pull the Hurricanes within 3-2.

"(Aiea was) running that rugby(-style) punt and I asked for clarification from the referee if we could go after it because (Na Alii punter Kame) Kim Choy-Keb-Ah Lo is a great athlete and when he's rolling out to his right or his left he's a dangerous runner," Hernandez said. "He said yes, so we came after him and pressured him and that was a great job for us."

Panapa, who fractured a toe early in the season after dropping a dumbbell on it during a workout and consequently missed a number of games, said he simply did his part on the play.

"It depends on the call," Panapa said. "Coach called a strong call, so my assignment was to just stay outside of the shield, stay outside, tackle shield, put my hands up and next thing you know the ball came right up to my hands, I blocked it and it went back and that was good for me and my teammates and the community that was behind us."

After a 37-yard field goal by Aiea's Cody Lau stretched the visitors' lead to 6-2 with 7:28 to play, Kapolei got the go-ahead score two possessions later when Taulia Tagovailoa connected with Ty-Noah Williams for a 23-yard scoring strike. Beau Meyer tacked on the extra point to give the ‘Canes a 9-6 advantage with 3:44 remaining.

Na Alii went three-and-out on its next drive, but Jamal Mauai recovered a Kapolei fumble to give them the ball back with 2:34 left in the game.

Three plays later, however, Ezra Savea put the finishing touches on the Hurricanes' win with a 64-yard interception return for a touchdown.

"I had a feeling that it was coming my way, so I stayed deep then I saw the ball and I went up for it," said Savea, who did not play in last week's win over Farrington or the first half of Friday's contest. "It felt awesome to make a play and help my team. I was hungry to get in. The first and second quarter I didn't get in, but that was all on me, but I made up for it and I feel good now."

Hernandez credited defensive coordinator Brad Hewahewa for inserting Savea into the secondary in the second half.

"That was one of the adjustments that we made at halftime was we went to a different package and we brought Ezra in at strong safety and that package it worked like a charm for us," Hernandez said. "We were able to put pressure on the quarter and when Ezra took that to the house it was sweet because it was nice for the defense — because they played so well — to put an exclamation point on the game for us like that."

Kapolei sacked Aiea quarterback Kobe Kato five times, including three by defensive end Johnny Morrison.

Tagovailoa completed 18 of his 33 pass attempts for 173 yards with one interception. Williams was his favorite target, finishing with five grabs for 92 yards.

"I think this game actually brings us back to reality we were going in here after our first time beating Farrington, so everyone was pretty hot-headed, but when the first half ended I think everybody kind of cooled down and we started playing our game," Williams said. "Every time we go into the second half, we just think the game is zero-zero and we just play from the start. Our motto is always finish strong and that's what we did tonight."

The Hurricanes' 194 yards of total offense was a season-low mark.

"We did not execute well," Hernandez said. "A lot of it had to do with Aiea's defense and the great job they did against us, but some of it was our own doing: missed reads, missed assignments, dropped passes, but our defense and special teams, what can you say? They brought it. We've finally got everyone back and healthy and I think they're playing really well as a unit, so I'm pretty excited about where we can go."

Aiea, which held a 3-0 lead on a 32-yard Lau field goal in the second quarter, finished with just 133 offensive yards. Kato threw for 140 yards on 23-of-45 passing and Kim Choy-Keb-Ah Lo caught seven passes for 65 yards in the loss.

It was the sixth straight defeat suffered by Na Alii (1-7, 1-6), which eliminated them from playoff contention.