OIA Football
Adkins-Kupukaa strikes again; Campbell beats Aiea, 48-13


  



Sat, Aug 19, 2017 @ Campbell [ 6:00 pm ]


Final 1 2 3 4 T
Aiea (2-6-0) 7 0 6 013
Campbell (7-5-0) 7 20 13 848
Krenston Kaipo 191 yd 2 TD
Ty Matsunami 150 yd 1 TD
Sky Lactaoen 68 yd 1 TD

EWA BEACH — For the second consecutive week, the ubiquitous Pokii Adkins-Kupukaa made his presence known in helping No. 9 Campbell beat Aiea, 48-13, Saturday night in Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I Blue football at the Sabers' field.

The game went into running-clock mode with 3:16 left in the game after Campbell reached the 35-point differential.

The sophomore receiver/defensive back/return specialist had five receptions for 140 yards, including TDs of 41 and 47 yards, and returned an interception 87 yards for another score to keep the Sabers (1-2 overall) tied for first with No. 1 Kahku in the OIA Blue; both are 2-0.

"He's an athlete," Campbell coach Darren Johnson said. "I can't believe UH hasn't offered him (yet)…You have a kid like this, he's going to stay home. You gotta offer a kid like him."

Campbell won the coin toss, elected to receive and scored on its first series that ended with Adkins-Kupukuaa's 41-yard TD catch from Krenston Kaipo on a streak toward the left pylon.

With 45 seconds left in the half, Adkins-Kupukaa intercepted a Ty Matsunami pass, dodged all would-be tacklers en route to an 87-yard TD return.

Early in the third period with Aiea threatening, Leonardo Lainez returned an interception from the Campbell 4 to the Aiea 44 that set up Adkins-Kupukaa's 47-yard TD catch from Kaipo.

"Feels good," Adkins-Kupukaa said of his big night. "They always triple-team me and stuff. You just have to run hard (to beat the coverage). Coach always tells us to run hard everytime."

On the pick-6: "Choke adrenaline going through me. When I started running, all I could feel was my heart beat going fast."

Aiea (0-2) showed fight. Right after the Sabers scored on their first drive, Na Alii returned the favor quickly. They made two fourth-down conversions, including Ferenisi Lualemana's 8-yard TD pass to Teron Kitashima on a look-in jump pass over the middle. What made it unusual was that Lualemana is a 5-foot-9, 333-pound senior defensive lineman.

On two previous running plays before his pass, he lined up as a wildcat. But on fourth-and-5 from the 8, he took the pistol snap, took several steps forward as if to run, then made a left-handed jump pass to Kitashima. Kaitlyn Hamilton made the PAT to tie the game at 7 with 2:00 in the first quarter.

Lualemana was just as dangerous on defense, making numerous tackles. His biggest stop came late in the game when Campbell threatened to score. On fourth-and-goal at the Aiea 1, Lualemana let out a growl that got the Aiea fans cheering. He then dropped Tasi Faumui for a 1-yard loss.

"He's a good player," Aiea coach Wendell Say said. "He's one to be reckon with. But that's only one person, but a team effort is important. As a freshman, he played running back, too. He's a four-year varsity player, so he knows we try to get him to do whatever he can."

Aiea moved the ball against the Sabers, but were stymied by the three interceptions. Besides Adkins-Kupukaa and Leonardo, Tyrese Tafai also had a pick.

"We'll be fine," Say said. "We have to cut out the mistakes. We don't have numbers; injuries hurt us so defensively, we have to shift guys around. They're (the Sabers) are a good team. We could've been a little better."

The Sabers could've done better in the penalty department. They were called 14 times for 118 yards. Seven of those penalties resulted in first downs for Aiea, which had 17 overall. Adkins-Kupukaa has flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct after one TD. Another was thrown after another of his TDs, but the unsportmanlike call was called against Johnson. Had either one gotten two, he would have been ejected and suspended the next game.

"The other one was on me," Johnson said. "The guy scored, they kicked him off to the sideline (to) celebrate. It's a happy moment. It's not like he's he taunting, it's not like he's going on the other side. He's not taunting."

Kaipo had a good game at QB. He was 9 of 16 for 191 passing yards, including the two TDs to Adkins-Kupukaa. The Sabers also used an assortment of running backs with Sky Lactaoen leading the charge with 68 yards on six carries, including a 7-yard TD.

After Aiea tied the game at 7, the Sabers took the lead for good early in the second period when freshman RB Viliami Vaimoui scored on a 11-yard run.  Later in the half, Tafai scored on a 1-yard run to make it 21-7. Adkins-Kupukaa's intercepton return before the half made it 27-7.

Adkins-Kupukaa's 47-yard TD catch to start the second half to make it 33-7, but Aiea cashed in on an interception by Fabian Bautista to set up Ty Matsunami's 10-yard TD pass to Romance Maae-Liupaono to pull Na Alii to 33-13.

Lactaoen's 7-yard TD run increased Campbell's lead to 40-13.

After Lualemana's goal-line stop, Aiea took over at its 2, but new QB Christian Rapis was tackled in the end zone by Carlos Bettencourt for a safety giving Campbell a 42-13 lead.

The ensuing free kick gave Campbell the ball at the Aiea 36, where it needed two plays with Joshua Salvido scoring from 24 yards. Even though the PAT was blocked, the 35-point differential set off the running clock.



Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].




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