Baseball
Schools
Schedules
Standings
Stats
Players
Softball
Boys VB
JV boys VB
Girls Water Polo
» Football
» Girls Volleyball
» JV Football
» JV/White Girls Vball
» Baseball
» Softball
» Boys Volleyball
» Girls Water Polo
» JV Boys Volleyball
» Boys Basketball
» Girls Basketball
» Boys Soccer
» Girls Soccer
» JV Boys Basketball
» JV Girls Basketball
» JV Boys Soccer
» JV Girls Soccer
All-Hawaii
Power Rankings
Distinguished Athlete
Newcomer Award
Top Performers
Stories
About SL
Contact
Privacy
Advertise
Kalani Takase | ScoringLiveAugust 12, 2023, 1:53am
Fri, Aug 11, 2023 @ Waipahu [ 7:30 pm ]
WAIPAHU — The Cane Knife Trophy will stay put in Ewa Beach.
Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele passed for 431 yards and five touchdowns to lead No. 4 Campbell to a 62-34 win over No. 8 Waipahu late Friday, the opening night of the 2023 prep football season.
The Sabers (1-0) scored 41 points after halftime, including a string of 35 straight, and finished with 749 yards of total offense in a rout of the Marauders (0-1) before a packed house at the Masa Yonamine Athletic Complex.
Sagapolutele, a junior southpaw, completed 27 of his 39 throws to eight different pass-catchers and was not intercepted. Three of his touchdown passes were in the second half.
Campbell capped nine of its 16 possessions with trips to the end zone, including six in the final 24 minutes.
"First half, we just weren't moving like we should and then second half we just took what they gave us and we just took it for big plays," Sagapolutele said.
The score was knotted at 21 at halftime before Waipahu pulled ahead on a 34-yard touchdown pass from Ben Strobel to Tai Aipia-Barrett early in the third quarter. The ensuing extra point was no good and the score remained 27-21.
But that's when the Sabers took over. Just three plays and 29 seconds after the Marauders' scoring strike, the visitors tied it with James Steffany-Flame's 54-yard touchdown run and took the lead for good on Cristian Wyckstandt's PAT.
Campbell's defense then forced a Waipahu three-and-out to get the ball back to its offense, which marched 80 yards in eight plays, capped by a 7-yard TD pass from Sagapolutele to Falaniko Scanlan. The PAT that followed was no good, but two plays into the ensuing Marauders' drive, linebacker Kona Yuen strip-sacked Strobel and the Sabers ended up with possession of the football.
Sagapolutele and company cashed in the turnover for another score: an 8-yard Caleb Dela Pena-Pihana TD run that came one play after a 21-yard completion from Sagapolutele to Steffany-Flame to convert a third-and-8.
"(The turnover) gave us a big boost because we were able to get the ball back and our offense was just hyped and we were able to just punch the ball in every drive," Sagapolutele said.
After another three-and-out for the Marauder offense, Campbell needed just two plays to pad its lead with a screen pass from Sagapolutele to Tainoa Lave that went for a 60-yard touchdown. Wyckstand added the point-after to make the score 49-27.
Campbell had 291 total yards at halftime, but racked up 458 after the intermission. It was penalized 20 times for 204 yards, including 13 for 135 in the first half.
"We made some first-game mistakes, first-game penalties and we just gotta fix it and get back to work," Sabers coach Darren Johnson said. "Second half, we got some defensive stops and offensively we put together good drives."
Sagapolutele's final pass of the night went to Rowen-Ray Bucao for a 23-yard touchdown that stretched Campbell's lead to 56-27 with 9:47 to play.
The Sabers also found success in the run game; they averaged 8.9 yards per carry and amassed 276 rushing yards. Steffany-Flame led a stable of backs with 138 yards on just nine carries (15.3 yards per rush). Xyler Jarra (6 carries for 51 yards, TD), Scanlan (3 for 34) and Dela Pena-Pihana (6 for 34) also chipped in with strong running.
"We got four good running backs. We just gotta look at rotating ‘em and keeping ‘em fresh," Johnson said.
Sagapolutele praised the play of both his offensive line and ball-carries.
"Oh my gosh, it was amazing," he said. "I just thank my Heavenly Father for my o-line, they balled out and they just made those holes for my running backs and my running backs made plays."
The teams traded scores during a back-and-forth first half. Waipahu took its first lead at the 3:23 mark of the first quarter on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Ben Strobel to Aipia-Barrett. Campbell came back with a 20-yard Sagapolutele-to-Tana Togafau-Tavui TD pass on the final play from scrimmage of the first quarter.
The Marauders reclaimed the lead a few minutes into the second quarter with Anieli Teleaai's 2-yard TD run. Sagapolutele answered with a 6-yard TD toss from Sagapolutele to Lave.
Togafau-Tavui caught seven passes for 99 yards and also ran in a 1-yard touchdown to open the scoring. Zayden Alviar-Costa snagged four balls for 92 yards, Lave three for 76 and Bucao five for 61.
Campbell tallied 30 first downs, including 21 through the air, while Waipahu was held to 16, including 13 via pass.
The Marauders found the going tough on the ground; they were held to minus-three rushing yards and were 5 of 13 on third downs.
Strobel went 24-of-43 passing for 360 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions in his varsity debut. Eric Stephens led all receivers with eight catches for 146 yards.
Zyon Faleiva scored on a 16-yard interception return for a Waipahu touchdown with 7:45 left to end a string of 35 consecutive points by the Sabers.
Campbell defeated Waipahu for the second time in as many years. The Sabers came away with a 51-14 win in Ewa Beach last season. The teams have played for a perpetual trophy - The Cane Knife - since the series between the schools started in 1963. Campbell has won the last nine meetings against the Marauders.
Campbell will next play Friday against Aiea at Radford's John Velasco Stadium. Waipahu is slated to play Maui Saturday at War Memorial Stadium in Wailuku.
Every contribution, no matter the size, will help ScoringLive continue its mission to provide the best and most comprehensive coverage of high school sports in the state of Hawaii and beyond.
Please consider making a contribution today.
ADVERTISEMENT
Buffanblu scored five big runs in to break a 2-2 in the top of the ninth then held off a Spartans' rally...
The junior second baseman batted 9 for 15 in four OIA tournament games for the Chargers last week, while...
Wednesday's OIA Division I championship will be a rematch of the last two title games; Moanalua will...
Na Alii led early and rapped out 13 total hits to pull away from the Rams to clinch their first OIA Division...
The senior belted three home runs, including the go-ahead and game-ending blasts, to lead the Trojans...
The Hurricanes pulled away from the Sabers in the final frame while the Trojans held off a late charge...
