Kapaa running back Shain Davis carries the ball against Pearl City. Manuel Henriques | Special to SL

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Sat, Nov 8, 2014 @ Vidinha Stadium [ 3:00 pm ]

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Pearl City

22

Kapaa

30

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Pearl City (8-3-0)	8	14	0	0	22
Kapaa (7-2-0)	7	7	16	0	30

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Rudy Agoot 16 yd 1 TD

Jordan Taamu 256 yd 3 TD

Shain Davis 102 yd 2 TD

Jordan Taamu 78 yd

Austyne Carvalho-Toloai 10 yd 1 TD

Dominic Maneafaiga 117 yd 1 TD

LIHUE, Kauai – A trip to the locker room seemed to be the remedy Kapaa needed to ground Pearl City's aerial assault.

The Warriors, winners of the Kauai Interscholastic Federation, scored 16 unanswered points in the third quarter to rally past Pearl City, 30-22 in a first round game of the First Hawaiian Bank/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II Football State Championships at Vidinha Stadium Saturday afternoon. Kapaa advances to take on seven-time Division II champion Iolani in a 2:30 p.m. contest on Nov. 15.

"That was some good football," said first-year Kapaa coach Phillip Rapozo. We knew what we was going to get against these guys and they brought it."

Kapaa, the third-ranked team in the ScoringLive/OC16 Division II Power Rankings, improved to 7-1 with the victory. Fifth-ranked Pearl City, the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II runner-up, saw its season end at 8-3. 

"I thought we had a great season this year. I'm very proud of this team and how they played from the beginning to the end. Hopefully this gave the underclassmen some experience for next year," said Pearl City coach Robin Kami. 

This was also Pearl City's third appearance in the Division II state tournament in the past four years. All three appearances by the Chargers saw them fall at the hands of the KIF champions.

Kapaa, who is making its second appearance in the state tournament, had its defense put to the test early with Pearl City quarterback Jordan Taamu orchestrating an air show in the first half. Taamu was magnificent right out of the gates, completing 18 of 26 passes for 191 yards and three touchdowns with one interception to help the Chargers take a 22-14 lead at halftime.

"They were taking advantage of the middle. They were going right behind our backs as they were dragging across. Our linebackers were not really seeing it a lot," explained Kapaa free safety Chaz Pacleb who finished with five solo tackles and one pass breakup. "We're not used to passing as much because we mainly faced run (first) teams." 

But the Warriors were able to buckle down defensively in the second half to contain Taamu and company. Taamu completed just 10 of his 22 second half pass attempts for 65 yards and Kapaa was able to keep Pearl City scoreless the rest of the way. Cornerback Bryce Dato led the effort with a game-high five pass breakups.

"At first (the Chargers) was moving the ball down the field with their passing game. It was pretty much unstoppable," said Rapozo. "We made some small adjustments, which wasn't much, but we just executed this time. First half we didn't execute and that was what hurt us."

Offensively Kapaa showcased an up-tempo running attack that wore down the Pearl City defense as the game went on. The Warriors averaged 5.1 yards per rush attempt and finished with 204 yards on the ground.

"Our game plan was to keep our tempo high because these guys don't normally play in the day time," said Kapaa left guard and four-year varsity player Maka Ah Loo.

All-Purpose Shain Davis led the ground attack with 10 carries for 102 yards and two touchdowns. Davis also added two 2-point conversion runs. Most of the yards Davis accumulated were out of a wildcat set that had defensive players Brooks Bethel, Mosese Fifita and Sosaia Koli in as blockers. Davis' 41-yard touchdown run around left end in the third quarter gave Kapaa its final lead of the game.

"Those are our ‘bad boys,'" Davis said on his blockers in the wildcat formation. "I feel so protected when we bring in all those guys because I know they'll get their blocks and seal the outside for me."

Pearl City drew first blood thanks to a pair of Kapaa miscues. Zebadiah Selu's interception on Kapaa quarterback Rudy Agoot regained possession for the Chargers and a roughing the passer penalty against Kapaa would extend the ensuing drive. The byproduct of the Warriors' misfortunes was Taamu's 18-yard touchdown pass to Israel Kaleo. Taamu ran in the extra point attempt to give Pearl City and early 8-0 lead. 

The Chargers would repay the favor with a pair of errors of their own. Jumpstarting the next Kapaa possession was a pair of encroachment penalties that moved the ball inside Pearl City territory. Six plays later Davis cashed in on a 12-yard blast off right tackle. Noah LaMadrid's PAT made it a one-point game. 

Kapaa would take its first lead of the game with a 7-play, 49-yard drive midway through the second quarter. Agoot's 19-yard touchdown run off a read-option keeper around right end helped give Kapaa a 14-8 lead with 6:49 let to play in the first half. 

After the ensuing Kapaa kickoff attempt went out of bounds, Taamu completed an 11-yard pass to Kaleo and a 54-yard scoring strike to Dominic Maneafaiga on back-to-back passes to retake the lead. Taamu found Garrett Kanamu on the extra point attempt to make it 16-14 in favor of Pearl City. 

The Chargers pushed their lead to 22-14 after a Kapaa fumble inside the Warriors' 14-yard line with under a minute to play in the first half. The turnover led to Taamu's 5-yard touchdown pass to Keelan Domingo-Ishikawa.

Kapaa got its first score of the second half after defensive end Mana Kupihea blocked a Christopher Kaku punt and recovered it at the Chargers' 25-yard line. Four plays later Agoot found Austyne Carvalho-Toloai in the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown pass off of play-action.