Hawaiian Electric Game of the Week
No. 1 Kahuku shuts down No. 6 Waianae, 37-0


   



Fri, Aug 18, 2017 @ Waianae [ 7:30 pm ]


Final 1 2 3 4 T
Kahuku (11-2-0) 0 17 13 737
Waianae (7-5-0) 0 0 0 00

WAIANAE — Another meeting, another goose egg.

Top-ranked Kahuku defeated No. 6 Waianae in shutout fashion Friday night, 37-0, before a crowd of about 3,000 at Raymond Torii Field to improve to 2-0 in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I-Blue Conference standings.

It was the fifth straight meeting between the two teams where the Seariders failed to score a point against the Red Raiders. Waianae has not scored against Kahuku since a regular season game on Oct. 4, 2014.

Kahuku amassed 271 yards of total offense while holding the Seariders to just 16 in the win.

Sol-Jay Maiava and Enoch Nawahine led the Red Raiders offensively with two touchdowns each. Maiava completed 8 of his 20 pass attempts for 114 yards and two scores against one interception while Nawahine rushed for 98 yards and two TDs on just eight carries.

"They always come ready to play," Waianae third-year coach Walter Young said of the Red Raiders. "They're a good team on both sides of the ball, (and) that's why they're one of the top teams in the state."

Waianae dropped to 0-3 overall and 0-2 in league play with the loss. All of the Seariders' losses have come at home and have been against the top three teams in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Division I Football Power Rankings.

"We have to get better as team and we'll get there," said Young. "Our kids, they play hard to the end. We just have to get that breakthrough game. Once we get that, we'll be OK."

Kahuku running back Enoch Nawahine (left) celebrates with Izaya Vimahi (right) after scoring on a 1-yard run. CJ Caraang | SL    Purchase image

For the first six minutes of the game, Waianae looked like it was going to turn the corner. Even with running back Rico Rosario playing quarterback in place of the injured Justin Tacgere, the Seariders were able to convert two third downs to take Waianae near midfield.

However, Waianae failed to convert a single third down attempt the rest of the way as the Red Raiders defense started to take over.

"We calmed down, we just played our game and stayed focused," said Kahuku first-year coach Makoa Freitas.

The Red Raiders punted on their first possession of the contest, but got the ball right back after Tausili Fiatoa picked off Rosario on a pass that went off a linemen on third down. Kahuku recycled the turnover into a 6-play, 34-yard drive that ended in a 1-yard scoring run by Nawahine on the first play of the second quarter.

"It pushed the offense harder and raised morale," Kahuku senior defensive end Samson Reed said of the Waianae turnover.

After the Seariders went three-and-out on their next drive, Nawahine went back to work. The senior running back had rushes of 13 and 11 yards before running in a 34-yard TD to make it 14-0 in favor of Kahuku.

Duke Heffernan tacked on a 27-yard field goal just before the end of the first half to give the Red Raiders a 17-0 halftime lead.

The Red Raiders utilized its passing game more in the second half and scored on Maiava's 28-yard pass to Peter John Mataira on the team's first drive of the third quarter.

Kahuku's next score of the game came when junior linebacker Miki Ah You scooped up a partially blocked punt and returned it 52 yards for a TD to make it a 30-0 game.

Maiava's 8-yard TD pass to Joseph Purcell at the 6:46 mark of the fourth quarter wrapped up the scoring for the Red Raiders.

Fiatoa led the Red Raiders defensively with 7 1/2 tackles, three for loss, two forced fumbles and an interception.

GAME NOTES
-Nawahine did not have another carry after his 34-yard scoring run. He was seen on the sidelines without a helmet with an undisclosed injury during the second quarter.
-As dominant as Kahuku was on both sides of the ball, one area where it struggled in was in penalties. The Red Raiders were flagged 19 times for 157 yards.



Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].




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