Pearl City nudges Radford, 7-6; 3-way tie for 2nd


Pearl City's defense came up with three turnovers and stopped Radford three times in the red zone Friday night -- including a final stand with 54 seconds remaining -- to pull out a 7-6 victory at John Velasco Stadium.

The Chargers improved to 6-3 overall and finished 6-2 in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association's White Conference, forcing a three-way tie for second place. The Rams fell to 7-2, 6-2.

A coin flip between Kalani, Radford and Pearl City will be held today, with the odd team receiving fourth place and a first-round playoff game at first-place Kaiser. A second coin flip will then determine second place and home field advantage in the semifinals.

The Rams faced first-and-goal from the 8 with under two minutes left, but a first-down run went for only two yards and was followed by three straight incompletions, the last one with 54 seconds remaining.

The Chargers took a 7-0 lead with 4:35 left in the first half after Jordan Ta'amu's 21-yard touchdown pass to Kierren McGhee and Dominic Maneafaiga's extra point. Radford opened the second half with an 8-play, 85-yard scoring drive capped by Cody Lui-Yuen's 29-yard pass to Justin Lugo, but a fake run on the two-point conversion attempt fell short.