Quarterback Jaren Ulu's 54-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Freeney with 1:14 left in the game rallied the Seariders against the relentless Warriors. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Fri, Aug 5, 2016 @ Kamehameha [ 7:00 pm ]

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Waianae

26

Kamehameha

20

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Waianae (9-5-0)	0	0	12	14	26
Kamehameha (3-6-0)	0	0	0	20	20

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Boogie Yam 138 yd

Jaren Ulu 124 yd 1 TD

Braden Akima 58 yd 2 TD

Rico Rosario 45 yd 1 TD

Sundance Solatorio 71 yd

Isaiah Freeney 85 yd 1 TD

KAPALAMA HEIGHTS – The 2016 Hawaii high school football season opened with a thrill on the hill.

Jaren Ulu's 54-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Freeney with one minute, 14 seconds left capped five second-half lead changes and No. 4 Waianae survived a 26-20 win against No. 8 Kamehameha at Kunuiakea Stadium Friday night.

The Warriors' rally fell short after two untimed downs, including the apparent 6-yard game-tying TD pass that was nullified by a holding penalty. On the next play from the 16, quarterback Boogie Yam's pass to the end zone was incomplete to end the game.

Following Ulu's TD pass and Tate Ebel's PAT, the Warriors started their ensuing drive from their 21 with 1:05 left. They converted a crucial fourth-and-8 from Kamehameha's 23 with a 10-yard pass to Christopher Ah Mook Sang. Yam then completed a 14-yard pass to Matthew Aio to the Seariders' 47. After stopping the clock with 16 seconds with a spike pass Yam completed a 35-yard pass to Sundance Solatorio to the Seariders' 12 as time ran out. A defensive holding penalty on the play moved the ball to the Seariders' 6 with no time left on the clock. Since a defensive foul can't end the game, the Warriors had an untimed down. Yam hit Trever Kahunahana on a 6-yard TD pass was nullified by a holding penalty. From the 16, Yam's incomplete pass in the end zone ended the game.

"It showed the character," Waianae coach Walter Young said of his defense holding on against the relentless Warriors' offense. "They believed in each other. They were there for each other. They held their own for the team. They're never going to give up. They're going to work hard with their backs against the wall. They were ready to go."

It was heart-breaking loss for the home team, but overcame a 12-0 third-quarter deficit with 20-fourth-quarter points, but fell one play short of catching the Seariders.

"They literally played until the last play," Kamehameha first-year coach Abu Maafala said. "I'm proud of that fact. They didn't quit. They didn't give up and our football team grew up right before our very eyes and I'm so excited for what the future has to offer."

 Ulu's game-winning pass came 20 seconds after the Warriors took a 20-19 lead on running back Breden Akima's one-yard TD run and Micah Mizo's PAT.

"I kind of saw it coming," Freeney said of the play. "He played on me, I just kind of went around him.

After a scoreless first half, the teams combined for 46 points, 34 in a wild fourth quarter. Leads changed four times after Waianae took a 12-0 lead in the third quarter that was jump-started by Kanai Mauga's 25-yard interception return for a TD, but the Warriors blocked the PAT. Running back Rico Rosario then capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive with a 4-yard TD run breaking multiple tackles en route to the end zone to pad the Seariders' lead to 12-0 with 1:16 left in the third period.

The Warriors responded with an 11-play 70-yard drive that ended with RB Breden Akima's 1-yard TD run and Micah Mizo's PAT pulled them to 12-7 with 8:34 left in the game.

The Seariders were forced to punt on their ensuing series and

Tiger Peterson's 75-yard punt return for a TD gave Kamehameha a 13-12 lead, its first for the game with 6:13 in the fourth quarter. But Kade Ambrocio took the ensuing kickoff 99 yards to give the Seariders the lead at 19-13 at 5:53.

The second half was nothing like the scoreless first half. Ulu completed 2 of 5 passes for minus-5 yards. He then completed 11 of 17 for 129 yards in pass-heavy second half.

"We were going to come out in the first half and throw the ball, but the field position, we were always backed up all the time," Young said. "Second half, we had decent field position and we wanted the throw the ball a little bit."

Ulu, always a threat to run – he had 27 yards on six carries - improved his passing game from last year.

"He worked on his foot work," Young said. "He was able to move around more. The grown-up thing about it was when he moved around, he was able to keep his eyes down the field, make throws. The receivers were coming back (for passes). The chemistry is getting there. It's not perfect yet, but we're getting better at it."

Ulu worked on his passing game over the summer.

"This summer I've been going to a lot of quarterback camps," Ulu said. "Coach Vince Passas' camps every Sunday at Saint Louis had a lot to (do with it)."

Meanwhile, Kamehameha Yam ran the first three series of the first half and Justice Young the last two series. But Yam played the entire second half.

"I just got involved in the game and I didn't think about it," Maafala said. "I should've put Justice back in the game, but Boogie started to get comfortable and we just didn't want him to lose his rhythm, but Justice is just as good as Boogie is."

Maafala said both will be used in coming games.

"Both have earned the right to play," he said. "I have to do a better job of making sure they're getting the time that they deserve."