PAC-5 pushes past Kalani

PAC-5 two-way player Laitin Bradley (56) accounted for 8.5 tackles in a win against Kalani. CJ Caraang | SL

Chase Hedani threw two touchdown passes and the Wolfpack defense did its job in PAC-5's 20-9 win over Kalani Saturday night at the Ted Fukushima Athletic Complex.

PAC-5 also rushed for 210 yards and totaled four sacks on defense to improve to 4-3 overall with two games left in the regular season.

"It's really good," said senior linebacker Laitin Bradley, who also handled center duties on the offensive line. "We did what we had to do."

After going three-and-out on their opening possession, the Wolfpack got the ball back in good field position thanks to a combo sack on third down by Max Torcia-Burke and Joshua Arcayena on Kalani quarterback Logan Lim.

A 17-yard punt put PAC-5 at the Falcons' 48-yard line, which eventually led to Hedani's 26-yard TD pass to William Reed, who also caught a six-yard pass on fourth down to extend the drive.

Kalani (4-4) got the first turnover of the game after recovering a fumble near midfield, but gave the ball right back after Kama Espinda intercepted Lim in the end zone on the first play of the second quarter.

However, a high snap two plays after the interception resulted in Hedani getting called for intentional grounding in the end zone for a Kalani safety, making it a 7-2 game with 10:53 to play in the first half.

The Falcons pieced together a solid drive after the free kick and moved the ball inside the Wolfpack's 5-yard line, but Espinda intercepted another pass in the end zone to stop the threat.

"That was a good play by him," Bradley said of Espinda. "It was just a good catch and interception."

One play after the second interception, Ian Canute took a handoff 84 yards to pay dirt to give PAC-5 a 14-2 lead at the break. Canute led all rusher with 104 yards on six carries.

PAC-5 did not allow a single first down in the third quarter and later added to its lead on Hedani's 9-yard TD pass to Angelo Coluccio with 7:32 left in regulation. Coluccio also made two sacks on defense for a solid two-way effort.

Kalani would not find the end zone until late in the fourth quarter when backup quarterback Nicholas Sakamoto led a scoring drive against the Wolfpack's reserves. With 5.5 seconds left in the game, Sakamoto completed a 13-yard fade route pass to Dillon Cortez, who led all receivers with six receptions for 76 yards.