Football
Kapolei's defense made key stops to slow down Punahou




HALAWA — Taulia Tagovailoa and Jaymin Sarono may have gotten all the attention for putting up points, but the Hurricanes' defense did the dirty work and made the key stops to give their offense a chance to shine.

"It's amazing. We gave the ball back to the offense and they did something with it. Props to coach June Jones, every time we gave the offense the ball, they took the opportunity to do well," said defensive lineman Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa.

Kapolei's defense bent, but didn't break as it stifled Punahou to advance to the semifinals against Kahuku.

"I was very proud of the defense tonight, they stepped up and played tremendously. They really did their job. The chemistry was there and we're so blessed to be in this position," said Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez.

The Hurricanes held the Buffanblu to 289 yards of net offense—their second-lowest offensive output of the season. Punahou's lowest output (279) came against Saint Louis in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu final.

"People were talking about Punahou could have the best receiving corp in the state. I wanted to stress to the DBs to work hard this week and get everything down. Brad Hewahewa was strict on us and helped our technique and it was a success," said Leonard Lee.

Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa led the defense with 4 and 1/2 of the Hurricanes' six sacks. His first sack on Nick Kapule for a 7-yard loss signaled he would a force to be reckon with all night and the Buffanblu punted on their opening offensive series .

Kapolei also registered four tackle-for-losses and forced two turnovers—one led to a score.

The defensive linemen Dylan Naehu, Treven Maae, and Junior Tuia
got a good push against Punahou's offensive line and held the Buffanblu to minus-2 net rushing yards. The pass rush along with the linebacking corp made Nick Kapule and Stephen Barber uncomfortable for most of the night.

"That was the game plan this week was forcing Nick or Stephen into the pocket and making them scramble, I think we executed that well. Coach Brad (Hewahewa) emphasized our stunts and blitzing," said Tagovailoa-Amosa.

Naehu sacked Stephen Barber for a 21-yard loss that led to a fourth-and-34, which Punahou miraculously converted on a 46-yard pass from Barber to Martinson. However, four plays later on a fourth-and-10, Tagovailoa-Amosa and Treven Maae combined to sack Barber to force a turnover on downs.

Players commented that going against Taulia Tagovailoa and the offense helped the defense prepare against Punahou's prolific offense.

"When you go against the best, you tend to become better. Taulia helps us become better," said Lee.

The Kapolei secondary had its hands full, but Adam Berg had two pass breakups—while covering Keala Martinson and Leonard Lee had the game's only interception off a tipped ball by Berg.

"I had deep middle, seen the running back leak out and saw him cock it back. He threw it I seen it was a little high so I tried to play the ball, Adam Berg did a great job tipping the ball and I got my hand under it," said Lee, on the interception.

"I thought they played well as a group, they (Punahou) moved the ball, but we did a pretty good job of keeping them out of the end zone," said Hernandez, on the secondary.

Punahou's top four receivers Ethan Takeyama, Keala Martinson, Judd Cockett and Eamon Brady have combined for 2,917 receiving yards and 33 touchdowns this season.

"We had to prepare against him (Martinson) and also Ethan Takeyama all week. You can't stop them, you just have to slow them down," said Lee.

"They did a lot of work this week, a lot of 7-of-7. Our DBs stepped up big," said Tagovailoa-Amosa.

Omar Mareko's fumble recovery was rewarded as Kapolei used an eight play, 70 yard drive that resulted in Tagovailoa's fifth total touchdown and the insurance score almost midway through the fourth quarter.



Reach Brandon Ching at [email protected].




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