PEARL CITY — For the second week in a row, the Chargers pulled out another close victory.

Pearl City rallied twice in the second half to defeat Kaiser, 15-12 in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II contest at Bino Neves Stadium on Friday.

The Chargers escaped Waialua last week with a 14-12 win and their come-from-behind win tonight helped them improve to 2-1 overall, 2-0 league. The Cougars, who beat Kalaheo last weekend, 28-12, for their first win in two years, dropped to 1-1-1.

"Winning these games and in the future if we can make the playoffs it could help our confidence. Every game in Division II is going to be like this. I can see the fourth quarter whoever has the ball on the last series could possibly win the game," Pearl City coach Robin Kami said of the close win.

Tex Kang lost a fumble early in the third quarter, but redeemed himself as he led all rushers with 61 yards and his 9-yard go-ahead touchdown in the fourth with 4:43 remaining made the difference for Pearl City.

"It was a team effort. Offense did the blocking. When you mess up, you have to pick it up and move on to the next play," Kang said of bouncing back.

"It was a confidence builder because he came off the sideline and he was frustrated and mad at himself, he knew he was better than that. They gave us the running game and Tex did a good job of running the plays," Kami said of Kang's resiliency.

After the Chargers turned it over on downs, Kaiser's final offensive possession started off with intentional grounding followed by an incompletion and minus-7 yards on a sack. Another incompletion by Koa Tom turned it over on downs as Pearl City was able to take a knee.

"Anything can happen, and keep your head up high until it reaches double zeroes," Kami said of the final defensive stand.

Christian Tielu threw for 70 yards with one touchdown and one pick on 10-of-25 passing for the Chargers.

"He did alright for a guy who hasn't played for the last three or four years," Kami said of Tielu. "He did what he was supposed to do and did a good job running the offense for us."

Pearl City started their three offensive drives on Kaiser's 39, 45, and 38 yard line in the first quarter but came away empty-handed.

The Chargers had a perfect opportunity to score after the punter mishandled the snap giving the ball to Pearl City on the Kaiser 4. Tielu lost 10 yards and had to spike it to stop the clock. Their field goal attempt from 31 yards out was blocked for a scoreless first half.

It felt like a boxing match as both teams were trying to feel each other out for the first two quarters.

"It kind of did," Kami said. "We didn't play Kaiser for like five years so we didn't know what to expect and Tim (Seaman) did a good job getting the kids back and getting the program back on track."

Kaiser took a 6-0 lead with 6:11 in the third after Tom's 49-yard pass to Dre Falls helped set up another connection, this time a 26-yard touchdown, but the run failed.

Tom had 161 passing yards with one touchdown and one pick while Falls had a game-high five receptions for 126 yards.

Pearl City started on the Kaiser 27 after a penalty and scored six plays later as Tielu threw a 14-yard touchdown to Thomas King on fourth-and-goal and Kyle Hyun put through the PAT for a 7-6 lead.

The Cougars responded with a 60-yard, nine-play scoring drive as Tom punched it in from 1-yard out and the run failed again for a 12-7 lead early in the fourth.

Pookela Moses-Espanto's 30-yard punt return took it to the Kaiser 31 and Pearl City used five rushing plays, four went to Kang before he found the end zone and Tielu added the two-point run for a 15-12 lead.

Kaiser was 1-for-4 on fourth down conversions while Pearl City was 1-for-5.

The Chargers take on McKinley at Roosevelt's Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 25, while Kaiser hosts Saint Francis on Friday, Aug. 24.