Kapolei flips No. 9 Kailua, 33-0


The Hurricanes jump for a loose ball against the Kailua Surfriders Saturday night. Sylvia Lee | SL

KAILUA — The monkey is finally off the Kapolei football team's back.

The Hurricanes forced eight turnovers and Lonenoa Faoa threw three touchdown passes in his first-ever career start to help Kapolei snap a three-game losing streak with a 33-0 win over Kailua at Alex Kane Stadium Saturday night.

"After three losses in a row, it feels good to get off the schneid," said Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez. "I thought we played well as a team. I thought the boys played hard. I was very excited about their effort."

Kapolei recorded five interceptions in its shutout win to improve to 3-3 overall and 2-3 in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I-Red Conference standings. Kevin Burkel also recovered three Kailua fumbles to spoil the ninth-ranked Surfriders' homecoming game.

Faoa, a sophomore transfer from Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas), shook off some early jitters to throw for 247 yards and three scores on 16-for-32 passing in three quarters of work.

"It feels good being back home playing with my boys, getting this ‘W,' especially against a tough team like Kailua," said Faoa. "It was good to pull out a victory."

After both teams was forced to punt on their first two drives, Kapolei got the ball back in good field position when Kailua's Aaron Mejia was intercepted by Matt Gututala. On the next play Faoa hit Titus Mokiao-Atimalala for a 14-yard score to give the Hurricanes a 7-0 lead with 2:33 to play in the first quarter.

Kapolei's next score of the night came after a high snap on fourth down sailed into the back of the end zone to make it a 9-0 game.

Faoa's 53-yard TD pass to Isaiah Ahana three plays later gave Kapolei a 16-0 lead heading into the break.

The Hurricanes received the kickoff to start the second half and scored in two plays, cashing in on Faoa's 48-yard scoring strike to a wide-open Keanu Barboza over the middle to make it a 23-0 game within the first minute of the third quarter.

Things took an even worse turn for Kailua when it muffed the ensuing kickoff. Burkel was on the spot for the recovery, which helped set up Braden Bantolina's 27-yard field goal.

"It just brought the momentum towards us and helped us secure the win in the second half," Burkel said of his recovery.

Kapolei's final score of the night came after Peni Naulu picked off Kailua backup Cole Weber while the Surfriders were in the red zone. Naulu returned the interception 97 yards for a pick-six and Bantolina tacked on the PAT for the final points of the game.

"You can't have that against the foes in our division," said Kailua coach Hauoli Wong, whose team suffered its second straight loss and dropped to 3-2 and 2-2. "Kapolei took advantage of every mistake we made."

Other players with interceptions for the Hurricanes were Teriq Lacaden, Christian Broome and Burkel.

Alika Teramoto had two sacks to lead the Surfriders in the loss.



Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].