Steve Erler | Special to SL

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KAPOLEI — Defense and special teams led the way once again for Kahuku Friday night.

Kekoa Sasaoka booted three field goals and the defense forced a pair of safeties to lead Kahuku to a 27-7 win at Kapolei in the Oahu Interscholastic Association opener for both teams.

A crowd of about 2,000 at the Hurricanes' home field saw the Red Raiders, who are ranked fourth in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Division I Football Power Rankings, led throughout to improve to 2-0 overall, 1-0 in league play.

The seventh-ranked Hurricanes fell to 0-2 and 0-1.

Kahuku, which used three different quarterbacks in the game, rushed for 196 of its 259 yards of total offense. Kesi Ah-Hoy, who carried a game-high 14 times, ran for 35 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown run to open the scoring less than three minutes into the game. Sefa Ameperosa, who ran for 89 yards on nine attempts, found the end zone on a 38-yard fourth-quarter TD run.

In all, the Red Raiders averaged 4.7 yards per rush with a stable of 10 different ball carries, eventually wearing down the Hurricanes' defense.

"You can't stop it, you just can't," Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez said of Kahuku's ground attack. "They just keep coming. They've got a whole slew of running backs. I thought we played reasonably well on defense, in fact I thought we played much better than we did last week when we gave up a ton of yards to Kaiser, so I thought we tightened the ship a lot, but their defense — that was the key — their defense is just air tight and it's hard to find a weakness in their defense."

It was the second straight week that Kahuku's defense and special teams got into the scoring column. In a season-opening 50-0 win over Campbell, the two units combined for 20 points for the Red Raiders.

"All the praise goes to them — their run game, their defense and their special teams is just spot on — but having said that we didn't exactly help our own cause," said Hernandez, whose team turned it over twice on offense and made multiple mistakes on special teams. "It was just a lot of little things, but Kahuku is a great team and they showed tonight that they're a top contender and we're not. We've got a lot of work to do on offense."

The Hurricanes, who had just 17 yards and two first downs before halftime, shot themselves in the foot on multiple occasions.

A muffed punt return by Ty-Noah Williams deep in Kapolei territory — just four plays into the game — was recovered by Kahuku's Kekaula Kaniho at the 10-yard line. Three plays later, Ah-Hoy rumbled in for his 2-yard TD run.

One play into the second quarter — facing a third-and-9 from its own 11 — Kapolei had a high snap from center Sean Auwae go over the head of quarterback Ezra Savea, who was forced to kick the ball out of own end zone for a Kahuku safety.

The Red Raiders got the ball back with a short field and ended up getting a 39-yard Sasaoka field goal to make it 12-0 with 7:20 left in the second quarter.

Sasaoka lined up a 45-yard attempt with just seconds remaining on the clock in the first half, but the hold was botched and Stokes Botelho took off with the ball down the right side. He picked up 10 yards — short of the first down — but a personal foul against Kapolei gave Kahuku an untamed down and Sasaoka another chance. He drilled a 26-yard field goal on the final play of the half to send his team into the intermission with a 15-0 lead.

"We had a horse-collar tackle on that play," Hernandez said of the penalty. "That was tough. The entire first half was played on our side of the field and we had terrible field position because of the mistakes we made."

The problems didn't end there for the Hurricanes. Three plays into the second half, Savea was penalized for intentional grounding in his own end zone, which resulted in another Kahuku safety.

Hernandez said it was the first time he can recall in his 20 years of coaching prep football that he was involved in a game where his team allowed two safeties.

"Not only do you give up four points on those two safeties, but you also give up possession and force the defense to be on the field for two more series," Hernandez said. "It's almost like a turnover."

Kapolei put together a nine-play drive later in the quarter, but Savea fumbled near the goal line and Bradlee Anae recovered the loose ball for the Red Raiders.

The Hurricanes finally got on the board early in the fourth quarter on Taulia Tagovailoa's 6-yard scoring strike to Dillon Pakele to cut Kahuku's lead to 17-7. However, the visitors added another touchdown on its ensuing drive — on Ameperosa's 38-yard run to pay dirt — and Sasaoka converted a 37-yard field goal in the closing minutes.

"I always tell him that he's our offensive savior," Ah-Hoy said of Sasaoka, who transferred from Farrington this year. "Even if we're like 50 yards away, it's almost guaranteed points. He's just got a monster leg."

Despite the win, Kahuku coach Vavae Tata was far from pleased with his team's execution Friday night.

"We didn't play well," Tata said. "We can improve in everything: defense and offense."

The Red Raiders committed 19 penalties for 171 yards, while the Hurricanes were flagged 14 times for 141 yards.

It was the third meeting between the teams in the past year. Kahuku won both times last year, including a 9-0 win in the quarterfinal round of the OIA D1 tournament.

The Red Raiders will host Kaiser (0-2, 0-1) Friday, while the Hurricanes visit Kailua (2-0, 1-0) Saturday.