Kapolei's Jaymin Sarono (14) and Ty-Noah Williams (10) combined for 202 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns in a win over Kaiser. Jim Lebeau | Special to SL

Purchase image 1 of 1

Fri, Aug 7, 2015 @ Kapolei [ 7:30 pm ]

---

Kaiser

28

Kapolei

49

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Kaiser (4-5-0)	7	0	14	7	28
Kapolei (6-4-0)	7	14	14	14	49

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Ezra Savea 185 yd 2 TD

Nicolas Tom 165 yd

Ezra Savea 62 yd 2 TD

Nicolas Tom 200 yd 2 TD

Ty-Noah Williams 114 yd 3 TD

Jonny Hanawaihine 60 yd

KAPOLEI — Not bad for an opening act.

Ezra Savea factored into four touchdowns to lead Kapolei to a 49-28 season-opening win over Kaiser on its home field Friday night.

Savea, a junior quarterback, threw a pair of touchdown passes to Ty-Noah Williams — who had three on the night — and rushed for two other scores for the Hurricanes (1-0), who are ranked eighth in the Hawaiian Electric Division I Power Rankings. Taulia Tagovailoa, Savea's backup, saw time in the second half and passed for three TDs, including two to Jaymin Sarono.

"We did good, everyone did good," Savea said. "We executed. In the beginning we kind of had a rough time, but we picked it up. We weren't able to lose on our own field. Everyone came together as one and that's how we got the victory."

Savea completed 12 of his 16 pass attempts and threw for 185 yards while also rushing for 62 yards on 13 carries. He connected with Williams on scoring strikes of 19 and 39 yards within a span of 19 seconds late in the second quarter and also found the end zone on runs of 9 and 38 yards.

Tagovailoa, a freshman, completed eight of 11 passes for 163 yards. He found Sarono for 15- and 26-yard TD passes and also hit Williams for a 12-yard score in limited action.

"We can't really improve too much offensively — I mean, we can't expect to score 49 (points) every week — but having two quarterbacks that have the different skill sets that they do, that was big for us," Hurricanes' coach Darren Hernandez said. "Ezra can throw it and scramble and then Taulia is a freshman and he threw three touchdowns tonight, so we're excited about both of them."

The teams exchanged scores on their opening drives — Kapolei on Savea's 9-yard keeper and Kaiser on Jensen McDaniel's 7-yard TD run — and the score remained tied until the first Savea-to-Williams TD pass with 3:01 left in the first half.

On the play, Savea rolled to his right before finding Williams, who made a diving grab in the end zone.

"I was supposed to look off the left side and come back to the right side," Savea explained. "I ended up scrambling — he knows when I scramble that he has to come back to me — so that connection is just chemistry between us."

Kaiser fumbled on the ensuing kickoff — which was forced and recovered by Kapolei's Nikeo Miguel — to give the hosts possession deep in Cougars' territory.

The ‘Canes made them pay, as Savea found a wide-open Williams for a 39-yard TD pass on the very next play.

"Boogie Tago-Sue, the slotback, was the one that actually baited the safety, so it opened me up in the back," said Williams, who finished with team-highs of seven receptions for 114 yards. "We just work on that and the key concept was just he baited the safety, the safety bit on him and Ezra just made a nice read and threw me the ball. It could have went to either one of us, but I guess it just ended up in my hands."

Kaiser coach Cameron Higgins said the turnover and back-to-back Kapolei touchdowns were tough to overcome.

"That really hurt us momentum-wise," Higgins said. "We weren't able to keep that momentum and that rhythm that our offense had the previous drive, so those kinds of plays are crucial. We lost the ball and the next play they scored right after that and it's a 14-point swing just like that."

The Cougars made it a one-score game less than a minute into the second half on Nic Tom's 46-yard TD run. However, the Hurricanes answered in two plays with Tagovailoa's 15-yard touchdown pass to Sarono.

Tom, who finished with 200 yards rushing on 20 carries, scored his second TD of the game on Kaiser's ensuing drive on a 42-yard run, but the Hurricanes added three more second-half scores to pull away.

Tom, who also played defensive back and returned kicks Friday night, threw for 165 yards on 18-of-24 passing for the Cougars (0-1). McDaniel added 124 yards on 30 carries.

Kaiser, which suited up just 25 players for the game, saw several players cramp up in the second half — including Tom — but Higgins said there were no major injuries.

"I thought the boys played hard and they didn't quit until the final snap," Higgins said.

The Cougars continue their string of four consecutive road games to open the season at Aiea Friday, while the Hurricanes will host fourth-ranked Kahuku next Saturday.