Nanakuli rallies past Pearl City, takes sole possession of first in OIA D2 standings

Greg Yamamoto | SL

Down at the half, Nanakuli rallied in the second half to take down Pearl City in a battle of OIA Division II unbeatens, 21-3.

Hansen Salausa-Kaawa passed for 140 yards and David Kalili had six grabs for 63 yards and the go-ahead touchdown, in what was an unsually low scoring affair for both teams.

The Chargers got on the board first on a 38 yard field goal by Marcus Rodriguez at the 1:13 mark of the second quarter, and that lead stood all the way until the 2:31 mark of the third, when the Golden Hawks capped off a seven play, 62 yard drive with a five yard run by Nathan Pele-Tukumoeatu to give the visitors a 6-3 advantage.

Nanakuli went for two on the PAT, and converted it on a pass from Micah Nihoa to Richard Federico to make it 8-3.

The game continued to hang in the balance through the remainder of the third and deep into the fourth quarter, where Nanakuli tacked on an insurance score on a 26 yard pass from Salausa-Kaawa to Kalili with just under a minute left in the contest.

Pearl City got the ball back with 53 seconds left to play and drove to its own 44, setting up one final play that was intercepted by Harley Lee. The pick was returned 72 yards and was eventually ruled to be a touchdown, making the final score 21-3.

The Golden Hawks defense racked up four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries to go along three interceptions on the evening. Pearl City's defense was also opportunistic, causing two turnovers on an interception and a recovered forced fumble, and also logged five tackles for loss.

Taohi-John Williams had a game-high 11 total tackles and had both forced fumbles for the Chargers.

Nanakuli did not have a pass catcher notch more than 65 yards, nor a ball carrier that broke the 60 yard mark as well.

Marcus Rodriguez had seven grabs for 105 yards in the loss for Pearl City, the only player in the game to break the century mark in offense output.