Punahou was led by a stout effort from its defense to overcome five giveaways with three defensive takeaways of its own. John Lujan | SL

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Punahou was led by a stout effort from its defense to overcome five giveaways with three defensive takeaways of its own. John Lujan | SL

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HALAWA — Led by a stout effort from its defense, No. 4 Punahou opened its Interscholastic League of Honolulu season with a 21-0 win over fifth-ranked Kamehameha Saturday night.

A crowd of about 2,500 at HawaiianTel FCU Field at Aloha Stadium saw the Buffanblu improve to 4-0 overall despite turning the ball over five times on offense and a season-low in both points scored and yards gained.

The Warriors (3-2 overall, 0-2 ILH) were shut out for the second straight week.

The teams combined for eight turnovers — five of them by Punahou. Quarterback Stephen Barber threw for 124 yards on 11-of-21 passing, but was intercepted four times. He also rushed for a team-high 113 yards — including a 54-yard touchdown run to close out the scoring late in the fourth quarter — but lost a fumble on his second rush attempt of the game.

"It was a tough game; Kamehameha played great," Buffanblu coach Kale Ane said. "We made a lot of mistakes, but probably a lot of those were because of the way they played, so I was happy that we fought back and never gave up and when we had a chance, we took advantage of it."

After a scoreless first quarter, it was the Punahou defense that accounted for the game's first points.

Defensive back Tanner Ono stepped in front a pass from quarterback Brandon Baniaga near the left sideline and returned it 31 yards the other way for the pick-6.

"My teammate (Alakai Gilman) actually told me before the play even happened that the receiver was running a hitch, so then I just watched the receiver, he ran a hitch, I broke on it, I looked at the quarterback and the ball was right there," Ono said. "I just caught it and scored."

Timothy Horn tacked on the extra point to give the Buffanblu a 7-0 lead with 5:35 left in the first half.

The score held until late in the third quarter, when reserve running back Vincent Terrell went untouched on a 48-yard TD run down the left sideline.

"It was my first varsity touchdown in the ILH and it just felt great to help out the team," Terrell said. "We were a little slow at the beginning, but once we get our wheels going it's hard to stop us."

Terrell, a 5-foot-7, 160-pound sophomore did not register a carry in the first half. He finished with eight rushes for 60 yards.

"He's so quick that he's a good change-up to (6-foot-3, 225-pound back Sitiveni Kaufusi) and we felt like we could take advantage of a few things, but once he gets past the line of scrimmage he's gone," Ane said.