CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 1 of 2

Andrew Kafusi scored on a reception, a run and an interception return to help lead Kaiser past Radford in a Blue Division I game. CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 2 of 2

Fri, Aug 26, 2016 @ Radford [ 7:30 pm ]

---

Kaiser

34

Radford

7

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Kaiser (2-7-0)	7	6	21	0	34
Radford (0-8-0)	0	0	7	0	7

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Randy Wright 96 yd

Kainoa Torres 107 yd

Robert Ishii 28 yd

Andrew Kaufusi 15 yd 1 TD

Kyle Corpuz 54 yd

Andrew Kaufusi 113 yd 1 TD

ALIAMANU—Andrew Kaufusi returned from injury to be Kaiser's Mr. Everything to score three touchdowns and the Cougars (2-2 overall, 1-2 league) pounced on turnovers to cream Radford, 34-7 in a Oahu Interscholastic Association Blue Division I game at John E. Velasco Stadium on Friday night.

Kaufusi scored on a 65-yard reception, a 16-yard run and an 89-yard interception return to lead the Cougars. He also handles duties as the punter.

"It's not me, I'm one out of 11. Everything I do is based on my team. All of that I couldn't do it without the coaches and the teammates. It's exhausting at times, but I have to do it for them," said Kaufusi.

"It's great to have him back, he's so versatile and does so many different things. He was a game changer," said Kaiser coach Arnold Martinez, on Kaufusi.

This was the first home game for Radford (0-3 overall, 0-2 league) in over three years. The school renovated and installed a new track surface, however, toxic chemicals were found in the soil of the football field and it delayed the renovations further. The Rams had to play all their home games at Aiea High School. After some issues with the lights, tonight was the first night Radford got to host a game. However, Kaiser gave Rams' fans little to cheer for as the Cougars set the tone early.

Kainoa Torres lateraled the ball to Lincoln Lima, who tossed a 65-yard strike to a wide-open Kaufusi 20 seconds into the game for the first score. The Cougars could've scored again after Kaniala Lum-Kim recovered the fumble near the 1-yard line after a bad exchange, but came away empty-handed as they went backwards and eventually turned it over on downs.

"We wanted to attempt something new. We installed that play last week and we wanted to try and catch them off guard," said Kaufusi, on the trick play.

"We have to clean that up. It's disappointing to have those opportunities and you let them slip by. A bad snap here, a penalty there, the next thing you know you're from the red zone to the punt zone," said Martinez.

Kaufusi, who lined up at running back, kept the legs churning and shed multiple tackles for a 16-yard score on a drive that covered 93 yards on 12 plays. The PAT was no good to make it, 13-0 going into halftime.

Kaiser intercepted Randy Wright three times and turned them into 21-unanswered points to blow the game wide open. Radford received the ball to start the second half and three plays in, Micah Mashima intercepted Wright's pass to return it for 41 yards. Mashima also had two pass breakups.

"When the momentum wheel goes your way, it's hard for the other team. When guys listen and pay attention, we have enough athletes to compete. The depth is an issue because we get tired. They compete and are athletic, when they play together, they do a great job," said Martinez.

On the ensuing kickoff, Jonah Soakai returned it 83 yards for Radford's only score. This is his second kickoff returned for a touchdown and he had a punt return for a touchdown against Castle. So far Soakai scored all of Radford's three touchdowns in their first three games.

After Kaiser's punt, the Rams took over on the Cougars' 42. They drove all the way down to the Kaiser 16, but Kaufusi stepped into passing lane and returned it for an 89-yard score.

"We were competing against each other. Since one guy got a pick, we all got to get one. We were trying to get a competition," said Kaufusi.

Radford began to string together a consistent drive that took them down to the Kaiser 9 after a pass interference call on a fourth-and-9. Wright's pass was deflected and intercepted by Keoni Pangan in the end zone and he went untouched for a 100 yard score.

Radford's Michael Pritchard had two sacks and a tackle for loss to lead the defense and Kyle Sudog had an interception.

Kaiser travels to Waianae (3-1 overall, 2-1 league) on Sept. 2, while Radford hosts Salt Lake rival Moanalua (1-2 overall, 0-2 league) on the same night.