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On an otherwise gloomy football day shrouded by Kahuku's stunning forfeit of the O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red Conference championship game, Kaimuki painted its own silver lining last night in the form of a 48-12 drubbing of Kalaheo for the league's White Conference title.

It is the Bulldogs' second White title, with the first coming in 2007. They improved to 10-1 overall and will travel to Kea'au next week for Friday's Division II state tournament first round game at Kamehameha-Hawai'i (11-1). Kalaheo (6-4) will face Kaua'i High (7-1) at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Vidinha Stadium.

"I guess we never brought our 'A' game before, but we brought it tonight," said Kaimuki senior Chester Su'a, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound running back who rushed for 161 yards and three touchdowns last night on 17 carries. "It feels good, but I couldn't have done it without all my teammates and my coaches. Everybody worked hard."

The Mustangs, who lost to Kaimuki, 14-13, in a down-to-the-wire regular season game on Sept. 18, did not help their own cause last night with five turnovers - three lost fumbles and two interceptions.

"When you have five turnovers, it's difficult to win," said Kalaheo coach Chris Mellor. "Kaimuki is a tough team, they were a tough challenge, and we didn't live up to that challenge."

The toughest challenge was stopping Su'a, who rushed for 209 yards in the teams' first meeting in September. He carried six times in the Bulldogs' first drive and capped the 60-yard march with a 1-yard TD run with 4:56 remaining in the first quarter. Siaosi Hala'api'api's interception and 46-yard return on the ensuing series set up Su'a's second touchdown, a 6-yard run followed by Keoki Kaiahua's extra point to make it 14-0 with 15 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Mustangs cut it to 14-6 midway through the second quarter on Justin Pagan's 18-yard TD pass to Nainoa Frank, but the PAT attempt was blocked and Nick Motellang scored on a 57-yard run off a swing pass lateral one play after the ensuing kickoff to help put Kaimuki up, 21-6.

The Bulldogs made it 28-6 with 1:38 remaining before halftime after Nahoa Spencer's 36-yard touchdown pass to Mason Kuali'i-Moe.

Kalaheo's problems continued in the second half, as Kaimuki immediately capitalized on a lost fumble with Su'a breaking four tackles en route to a thrilling 71-yard touchdown scamper three minutes into the third quarter.

The Mustangs cut it to 35-12 after Justin Pagan's 1-yard quarterback sneak for a TD two minutes later, but the two-point conversion attempt was stuffed and a fumbled punt return later led to Hala'api'api's 1-yard touchdown plunge to make it 41-12.

Tre Paderes then sealed the game with an 1-yard TD run with 4:14 left, prompting a running clock.

When it finally ticked down, defensive back Steven Noda thwarted a late Kalaheo drive with an interception.

"Our whole defense in general played well," Bulldogs coach Clint Onigama said. "Our corners were left out there on an island, but they knew they had to respond to the challenge and they stepped up."

Onigama, a second-year head coach, said Kahuku's forfeit and the subsequent move of the Kaimuki-Kalaheo game time by 90 minutes turned out to be nonfactors for his team.

"We were worried that (the highly publicized Kahuku forfeit) might be a distraction, but we decided to treat this as any other game," Onigama said. "This feels so nice, and I give all the credit to the (assistant) coaches and the boys. They played their hearts out and were willing to do what we asked of them."

See also:
> Supporting cast big for Bulldogs
> StudentVoices: Carney, Mustangs remain positive
> StudentVoices: Hard work pays off for Sua