Kaiser rolls over Kalani

The hottest team in the OIA White punctuated the regular season with a one-sided blowout of its East Honolulu rival.

Kai Gonda raced for 80 yards on the first play from scrimmage and host Kaiser dismantled Kalani on the Falcons’ homecoming night, closing out regular-season play with a 52-12 win Thursday night at Kaiser Stadium.

Gonda finished with 175 yards and four touchdowns and Kaiser (7-1 OIA White, 7-2) outgunned Kalani 472-49 in first-half yardage to extend its winning streak to seven and clinch the top berth in the conference playoffs.

Quarterback Makana Lyman threw for 283 yards, and Christian Clapp had five catches for 128 yards and a score as the Cougars built a 52-6 halftime lead.

"We talk about this being a process and getting better every week and I thought we took a step back two weeks ago against Radford," Kaiser coach Rich Miano said. "I thought we played a lot better offensively tonight."

The success of both Kaiser and Kalani (4-4, 4-5), which had already won more games this year than in their previous seven seasons combined, brought a renewed interest into this East Honolulu rivalry.

Any early jitters were quickly erased when Gonda broke through the middle of the line on the opening play from scrimmage and outran the Kalani secondary for an 80-yard score for the first of three first-quarter touchdowns.

"We tried to keep everything balanced," Gonda said. "We didn’t want to come out too excited and too amped but we also wanted to be ready."

Gonda has been the unquestioned leader of a Kaiser team looking to advance to the state tournament for the first time.

Junior linebacker Fitou Fisiiahi, who helped hold the Falcons to 140 total yards, has already been offered scholarships by Hawaii and Oregon State.

Miano said it’s time those same schools look at Gonda.

"He’s a guy that’s starting to get looks and deserves to get looks," Miano said. "He’s like a Boyd Yap or a Kealoha Pilares."

Kalani’s run-and-shoot offense was taken apart by a Cougars defense that swallowed up the Falcons’ running game and held quarterback Noah Brum to just 6 first-half passing yards.

Kalani is still technically in the playoff hunt but would need losses by Kalaheo and Nanakuli tonight to finish in a tie for fourth place.

However, the Falcons still managed their best season in more than a decade as they continue to rebuild a program that went from 2005-09 without a single win.

Genta Hammani led the Kalani rushing attack with 85 yards but Brum finished just 7-for-21 for 28 yards. Both Brum and Lyman were intercepted on their first pass attempts to start the second half.