Kapolei senior Isaiah Ahana accounted for three touchdowns on the night. John Lujan | SL

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Kaniala Kalaola (right) passed for 272 yards and four touchdowns in the Hurricanes' win. John Lujan | SL

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Sat, Aug 19, 2017 @ Kapolei [ FORFEIT ]

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Castle

2

Kapolei

0

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Castle (3-6-0)	0	0	0	0	2
Kapolei (5-5-0)	0	0	0	0	0

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Kaniala Kalaola 272 yd 4 TD

Kawai Naki 28 yd

Antoneo Filipo-Brown 37 yd

Kawai Naki 60 yd

Tamatoa Mokiao-Atimalala 114 yd 1 TD

Makana Smith 22 yd

» UPDATE (8/22/17): Kapolei forfeits Castle victory

KAPOLEI — An early gut check was all Kapolei needed to get going Saturday night.

Kaniala Kalaola passed for 272 yards and four touchdowns to lead Kapolei to a resounding 41-7 win over visiting Castle before a crowd of about 800 on a balmy evening at the Hurricanes' stadium.

The Hurricanes, ranked third in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Division I Power Rankings, overcame an early deficit with six unanswered touchdowns to improve to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I Red Conference.

The Knights fell to 1-2 and 1-1.

Kapolei's decisive victory came one week after narrowly getting by Waianae, 7-0.

"It feels great to put up some points," said Kalaola, who completed 23 of 28 passes and was not intercepted. "When we came out here as an offense, we knew we had to make a statement, so we had to finally click with each other, get our assignments done and just execute, so it feels great."

Kaniala Kalaola (right) passed for 272 yards and four touchdowns in the Hurricanes' win. John Lujan | SL    Purchase image

The Hurricanes got off to a slow start on offense, going three-and-out on their first possession.

Castle's lone score was set-up by a Kalaola's lone miscue of the night when he fumbled the first play of Kapolei's second possession deep in Kapolei territory. Kalaola was unable to grasp the shotgun snap from center, which was recovered by the Knights' Damien Fauolo at the ‘Canes 2-yard line.

The very next play yielded a 3-yard TD run by Makana Smith on a quarterback draw and Cheyden Costa added the extra point to put the Knights ahead about five minutes into the game.

"That was a kick in the teeth and I think a wake-up call for our guys," Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez said. "I guess it was good because we finally woke up. We were just kind of playing sloppy football and we got that kick in the gut and we woke up and we started playing much better."

It didn't take long, either.

Three plays after the score, Kalaola found Tamatoa Mokiao-Atimalala over the middle on a short pass, which the latter turned into a 51-yard scoring play. Mokiao-Atimalala notched game-highs of six receptions for 114 yards.

The Hurricanes took the lead for good at the 3:26 mark in the first quarter when Dylan Naehu strip-sacked Castle quarterback Kawai Naki and Treven Maae pounced on the loose football for a scoop-and-score from seven yards out.

"That was awesome when (Maae) picked that up," Kalaola said of the fumble return. "When he scored we knew that the offense had to score because the defense has been doing a lot these past three games so we knew we had to step up and do what we gotta do."

Kalaola's 8-yard TD pass on third-and-goal to Isaiah Ahana with 6:53 left in the second quarter was followed by Braedon Bantolina's recovery of his own squib kick on the ensuing kickoff. Five plays later, Kalaola and Ahana hooked up again, this time for a 34-yard scoring strike.

Ahana, one of two returning starters on offense from the season ago, was seeing his first game action of the season.

"The past two games I wasn't playing so I was kind of hungry — I was starving out there," said Ahana, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound wide receiver. "I was just eager to get in there and make some plays and come back for my brothers and back them all up."

Ahana finished with four catches for 87 yards and also closed out the scoring with his 6-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter.

"The first two games he didn't play at all, so I think he showed what a weapon he is," Hernandez said of Ahana.

Late in the third quarter, Kalaola hit Ikari Stokes for a 12-yard TD pass two plays after he moved the chains on fourth-and-12 with his 14-yard scramble. Bantolina tacked on the PAT to stretch the lead to 34-7.

"That scramble, we were kind of setting up a long route, but the hole collapsed early and I just saw that hole wide open and I just took it and tried to get to the first down," Kalaola said.  

Castle had just 29 net yards by halftime and finished with 120.

"I thought the defense played well again," Hernandez said. "We didn't give up any real big plays, we were stopping the run, we were rushing the passer. I was very happy with the defense."

Naehu posted a team-high six tackles. He and Rocky Savea each notched two sacks. Kapolei did not allow a first down by pass.

Much to the dismay of Hernandez, the Hurricanes were flagged 15 times for 140 yards.

"Penalties are the bane of my existence and we've got to clean that up," Hernandez said.

Smith and Naki split duties between quarterback and wide receiver in the absence of starting QB Jaylen Uyemura-Lee — one of about 20 players unavailable Saturday. The pair combined to go 6 of 16 for 33 yards through the air, but Naki rushed for a team-high 60 yards on 12 carries and Smith led the receiving corps with three grabs for 22 yards.

Bronson Buck led the Knights' defensive effort with a game-high 15 1/2 tackles with a sack.

Kapolei led at halftime, 27-7.

Both teams continue league play next Saturday. Castle will host No. 5 Mililani (2-0), while Kapolei will visit Farrington (1-2).