No. 7 Kapolei holds off No. 10 Aiea to remain unbeaten


Kapolei's Riley Camarillo (8) is greeted by Liatama "Tama" Amisone (7) after scoring on an 11-yard pass from Tuli Tagovailoa-Amosa at the Alvin Nagasako Sports Complex. CJ Caraang | SL

KAPOLEI—Too close for comfort.

A top ten showdown came down to the wire after No. 7 Kapolei denied No. 10 Aiea's comeback attempt to squeak out a 27-24 win at the Alvin Nagasaki Sports Complex Friday.

The Hurricanes outscored their first two opponents 112 to 0, but faced their stiffest test from Na Alii (1-1 overall) so far to improve to 3-0 overall in non-league play.

"The first two games, we were on cloud nine. We had two lopsided wins and I think our kids came in thinking we're on a roll. But these guys (Aiea) were ready to play. I'm proud of them that they stood the test and they ran the race and finished even though it was a nail biter," Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez said.

"Our team was used to smashing, we needed some motivation from this win. It was a close one, but we have to go through adversity," Riley Camarillo said.

Liatama "Tama" Amisone threw for 250 yards on 21-of-24 passing with a touchdown and no picks and rushed for 52 yards and another score to lead the Hurricanes.

Tuli Tagovailoa-Amosa was perfect on the night and his touchdown passes went to Halai Kamohalii and Riley Camarillo.

"They both bring something different to our offense. We have two guys get the job done," Hernandez said.

After hauling in a 12-yard touchdown to bring Na Alii within three, Geronimo Ulgaran recovered the onsides kick with 17.0 seconds left in the fourth quarter that would've started on Kapolei's 40, but Aiea was pushed back to its own 45 due to a penalty.

Ezekiel Olie (309 passing yards) threw two incompletions and his third attempt fell short but Kapolei was penalized. On an untimed down, Olie threw it to Jheremie Cacpal, who tried to lateral it to Ulgaran, but was taken down immediately to end the game.

"We tell our kids, we cannot beat ourselves, we cannot have selfish penalties. Preseason, a tie ends the game. We wanted to get that opportunity," Aiea coach Wendell Say said.

Both teams felt each other out in the first quarter until Bryson Boyea Quiton got Aiea on the scoreboard with a 30-yard field goal at the 9:46 mark in the second quarter.

A personal foul, facemask penalty on Aiea set up a 12-yard touchdown from Tagovailoa-Amosa to Kamohalii to give the Hurricanes the lead.

"On the sideline, we brought it together and motivated everyone. We went out there to ball out," Camarillo said of the second quarter scoring.

After Na Alii went three-and-out, Kapolei responded with a eight play, 80-yard drive capped by Amisone's 4-yard rushing touchdown but the PAT was blocked for a 13-3 lead that held up until halftime.

Kaimana Lale-Saole rushed for a game-high 108 yards, gained most of it with a 50-yard run up the middle for the first points of the third quarter.

Kapolei responded with a score of their own, marching 60 yards, capped by an 11-yard touchdown from Tagovailoa-Amosa to Camarillo, who finished with a game-high nine catches for 117 yards.

"Riley is just one of those guys. He's a clutch player, he's a senior that makes big plays. He's very reliable, tough in the weight room, 3.9 GPA, he's an all-around guy," Hernandez said of Camarillo.

"It starts with the trenches. We have two strong QBs throwing the ball. It's easy yards," Camarillo said.

Na Alii started on their own 25 and converted a fourth down to extend the drive. The Hurricanes made a defensive stop to hold Lale-Saole for no gain on their own 7 to force a turnover on downs.

"I told the kids, ‘you have to do the job'. Kapolei is a good team, but I keep telling our kids, that the only thing that beats us is ourselves," Say said.

Kapolei rewarded its defense with a score eight plays later after Diezel Kamoku caught the touchdown that ricocheted off a Hurricane receiver to go up, 27-10 with 8:51 left in the fourth quarter.

Aiea capitalized on untimely penalties on the Hurricanes and Olie scored on a 1-yard keeper bring Na Alii within 10.

"They had a lot of fight and came to play. They're well-coached, well-prepared and they took advantage of our mistakes also. I think Aiea is a quality team," Hernandez said.

Na Alii's defense forced a Hurricane punt and their 90-yard, 12 play drive resulted in Olie's only touchdown pass of the night to Ulgaran for the final points of the night.

Kapolei was flagged 12 times for 128 yards.

"I'm not happy with the amount of penalties we had. No penalty is good, but when you get that after you run for a first down. We had holding on first down runs, it killed our momentum. I told the team, ‘You have to rise above adversity. You have to have the guts to keep the lead, I was happy about that," Hernandez said.

Kapolei continues its nonleague with a game at Kailua (0-1-1 overall) on Aug. 26.

Aiea will start the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I play against Roosevelt (1-0 overall) at Radford on Saturday, Aug. 27.



Reach Brandon Ching at [email protected].