One punt return and the Pearl City defense’s performance over 63 plays delivered the Chargers a shot at a title.
Pearl City junior Po’okela Moses-Espanto’s 31-yard punt return in the third quarter broke a scoreless tie and the Chargers defense protected the lead in a 7-0 home win over Kaimuki in the semifinals of the OIA Division II playoffs on Friday at Edwin “Bino” Neves Stadium.
The Chargers (7-2) finished off their fifth shutout of the season when they stopped Kaimuki running back Ieke Seei-Cleveland at the Pearl City 7-yard line as time expired, sending them to a meeting with Waipahu for the OIA D-II title on Oct. 26 at Aloha Stadium.
“When the game is like that, that’s a lot of pressure,” Pearl City senior rover Kasey Kikuyama said. “We told our team just take that pressure and not put it on ourselves, because pressure is something you put on yourself. We kept trying to execute as a defense. Credit to (the Bulldogs) … they were really good. We just came out hungry and wanted to get to that championship real bad.”
The offenses struggled to gain any traction throughout the night and special teams provided the decisive score early in the third quarter.
With Kaimuki facing fourth-and-15 from its own 3, Moses-Espanto fielded a low punt on the fly, found a seam on the left side of the field and raced to the end zone.
“I just thought, ‘I gotta get this touchdown for my team,’ ” Moses-Espanto said. “When I saw the ball coming toward me I just thought, trust in my blockers, trust in my team.”
The teams traded punts into the fourth quarter and Kaimuki broke into Pearl City territory on all three of its possessions in the final period. The Chargers came up with a fourth-down stop at their 28 and stopped Kaimuki again at the 37.
The Bulldogs got the ball back one more time at their 25 with 3:32 left. Seei-Cleveland kept the drive going with an 18-yard reception from Jordan Solomon on third-and-12 to get to the Pearl City 38.
On fourth-and-6, Solomon found Mana Mahiai open over the middle for a 16-yard gain to the 18. After Solomon spiked the ball to stop the clock with 14.3 seconds left, RJ Kami broke up a pass to bring up third down. Solomon then connected with Seei-Cleveland crossing the field and the Chargers made the stop as time expired.
“I thought it was going to be a defensive game, because the first time around was a defensive game,” Pearl City coach Robin Kami said, referring to a 17-15 win on Sept. 16 that was decided by a blocked field goal.
“The kids now feel momentum that they can hang in there and get close and they’ll be all right.”
