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Kalani Takase | ScoringLiveNovember 27, 2021, 11:45pm
Sat, Nov 27, 2021 @ Campbell [ 6:30 pm ]
EWA BEACH — The top-ranked Kahuku football team got off to a top-notch start on its way to another one-sided win Saturday night.
Daniel Kaio caught three touchdown passes from quarterback Waika Crawford to help Kahuku close out an undefeated regular season with its 49-23 win over host Campbell before a crowd of about 600 fans on a crisp Ewa Beach evening.
The Red Raiders (6-0) capped their first three possessions with touchdowns in the first quarter and then scored 21 more points in a span of three and a half minutes late in the second quarter to take a 42-0 lead by halftime.
The Sabers (4-2) did all of their second after the intermission and much of it with Kahuku's reserves in.
"We started how we wanted to, as far as getting our guys back in the groove, especially after a bye week, but we just gotta finish games and we just gotta make sure everybody, from top to bottom, is ready to play," Kahuku coach Sterling Carvalho said.
Carvalho's squad was playing its first game since a 55-20 win over Mililani on Nov. 13, when Crawford passed for five touchdowns off the bench after starter Jason Mariteragi left the game with an injury.
Crawford made his first start of the season against the Sabers Saturday night. The junior completed 15 of 27 passes for 260 yards and four TDs. He was intercepted once and his fumble midway through the third quarter led to Campbell's first points when Diego Betancourt scooped up the loose ball and scored on the 16-yard return.
"He had the one pick, but he just needs game experience and make sure he gets better every single week," Carvalho said of Crawford.
Carvalho had Mariteragi suited up on the sideline, but the senior was only going to play if it was deemed absolutely necessary.
"An extra week (of rest) would be beneficial for his health, but we err on the side of caution and (Crawford) did a great job," Carvalho said. "We jumped out to the lead that we wanted to, so we kept (Mariteragi) out."
The Red Raiders needed just four plays from scrimmage and 72 seconds to get on the board. Two plays after Crawford slotted a pass to Kainoa "Kaikai" Carvalho for 16 yards and a first down, Clyde Taulapapa carved his way up the middle for a 42-yard touchdown run.
Campbell went three and out on its first possession with three incompletions from quarterback Chayne Kuboyama-Hayashi. A punt of only 25 yards off the foot of Sabers' punter Bailee Lopez allowed Kaikai Carvalho to field it at the Campbell 40-yard line. Carvalho then spun his way toward the right sideline and seemingly coasted his way into the end zone for a second Red Raiders' touchdown in 27 seconds.
"Our defense and our special teams set the tone right at the beginning as well and like we say, that's (how) we wanted to execute in the first half coming off a bye week and all three phases of our game showed up and played great tonight," Sterling Carvalho said, Kaikai's uncle.
After it went quick strike on its first two scoring drives, Kahuku manufactured its next trip to the end zone in methodical fashion.
A fortuitous bounce resulted in a 54-yard punt by Lopez and put the Red Raiders back at their own 15-yard line. They got some breathing room with back-to-back first down-gaining plays on a 12-yard completion from Crawford to Kaio, followed by a 21-yard run by Taulapapa.
Later in the drive, they converted an unlikely third-and-20 after Crawford completed a pass to Carvalho in the left seam; Carvalho lost possession of the football after he secured the catch, but teammate Liona Lefau fell on the loose ball to recover the fumble — at exactly the yard line needed to gain the first down.
Three plays after that, Crawford and Carvalho hooked up for a 12-yard pass play to move the chains on another third down. A few plays later, Crawford threw a short pass to Kaio for a 7-yard touchdown to cap the 12-play, 85-yard drive that took 4:46 off the clock.
On the scoring play, Kaio was among a trio of receivers aligned to the right of the formation. Crawford let the play develop before he fired to Kaio, who cut inside of his two blockers and walked into the end zone for the touchdown.
"It's like one of our go-to plays, but I just had to be very patient with it, let everyone move and the just replace," said Kaio, a 6-foot, 185-pound senior.
Carvalho booted the extra point to give Kahuku a 21-0 lead with 3:01 left in the first quarter.
The score held until the 4:35 mark of the second quarter, when Crawford threaded the needed between a pair of Campbell defensive backs with his 33-yard touchdown pass to Carvalho. The scoring play, which came on a third-and-8, was set-up by a turnovers on downs by the Sabers that gave the Red Raiders the ball at their own 47-yard line.
A few minutes later, Crawford bought some time with his feet before he found Kaio, who had gotten behind the Campbell defense, wide open for a 53-yard TD pass with 1:53 left until halftime.
Kaio revealed that it was a bit of a broken play.
"I was just supposed to run a comeback on that one, but (Crawford) looked to the other side first when I was the first option, but when I seen him roll out and I just turned up ‘cause no one else was there," Kaio said.
But the Red Raiders weren't done just yet. They forced another three-and-out by the Sabers after linebacker Kruze Keanu buried Kuboyama-Hayashi for an 8-yard loss with his sack on third-and-10. Campbell punted away, but Kahuku started deep in Sabers' territory and needed just two plays to score.
For their third TD connection, Kaio got inside leverage on a safety and was an easy target for Crawford, who delivered a 33-yard scoring strike. Kaio bobbled the ball momentarily but secured it as he crossed the goal line with 1:05 still to play in the first half.
Kaio finished with five receptions for 128 yards, while Carvalho recorded seven catches for 108 yards.
"Daniel's one of our great receivers," Sterling Carvalho said. "He's probably one of our best route runners out there. He's got great hands, he's a big body, so I mean, him and Kaikai, they complement each other — one big, one fast — so hats off to Daniel; He came and played."
After Campbell got on the board with Betancourt's scoop and score, Taulapapa scored his second rushing touchdown with a 19-yard run at the 3:07 mark of the third quarter.
The Sabers answered with a six-play, 80-yard drive that culminated with Jonah Togafau-Tavui's 33-yard touchdown run on the final play of the third quarter.
Campbell halted the running clock with Sehutha Maka-Mailei's 43-yard field goal that cut the Kahuku lead to 49-16 with 4:36 to play. It capped its final possession of the game with a 1-yard TD run by Togafau-Tavui with 33 seconds remaining.
The Sabers' 23 points were the most allowed by Kahuku in any game this season.
The Red Raiders had allowed an average of 8.0 points per game by opponents entering Saturday's regular-season finale.
"Yeah, I mean, we had our reserves in at the end and (Campbell) was able to execute — and hats off to coach DJ (Darren Johnson), I mean, they finished the game — so we just gotta make sure that, even though it's our reserves, that we still gotta finish the game," Sterling Carvalho said.
Campbell was seeking to force a three-way tie for first place in the OIA's Open Division standings with a win Saturday, but instead saw Kahuku lock up the No. 1 seed in the four-team tournament, which gets underway next weekend.
"We had a great regular season, but all this regular season means nothing," Carvalho said. "It's the postseason and teams are getting better, so we just gotta make sure we keep our edge and get better."
The Red Raiders will play fourth-seeded Waianae (3-3) in one semifinal, while the Sabers will take on No. 2 seed Mililani (4-1) in the other semifinal.
The semifinal winners are scheduled to meet on Dec. 10 in the OIA championship game, with the higher seed slated to host.
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