Everyone forgot about Bruce Pakele.
The Castle running back took the first handoff of the night by the Knights, with just minutes to play in the game, and took it 56 yards for a key score in Castle’s 45-33 homecoming win over Radford on Friday night.
Oh yeah, and dual-threat quarterback Senituli Punivai iced it with a 34-yard touchdown to Paul Omengebar with 1:41 left, for the last of Punivai’s four passing touchdowns to go with a rushing score.
But Pakele was the exclamation point on the night, and now Castle (2-4, 2-3 OIA Division I) has back-to-back wins heading into next week’s Windward-side showdown vs. rival Kailua.
“It was an amazing play for me. My first touchdown, my senior year,” said Pakele, a senior who usually blocks for Punivai.
“They said, ‘Oh, Bruce, come inside, we gon’ take one chance,’ ” Pakele said. “I thought I was gonna get caught from the back, but I never (was). … It’s truly a blessing. I thank God for all of the blessings He has given me.”
Punivai was 8-for-14, with half of his completions going for TDs, against one interception. He had 182 yards in the air and 151 on the ground.
Five of his completions were to junior Jonah Figueroa for 115 yards, including scores of 57 and 41 yards.
“Us Castle boys, we’re individuals, a little bit, but together I think we played as a team today,” Figueroa said. “I think (Punivai) getting out of that pocket was excellent. On the run, and when he had to run he did it, and gained yards.”
But with snap after snap being taken by Punivai to make use of his scrambling ability — he had 26 carries — it was easy to lose track of a blocker like Pakele. There were no handoffs to anyone to that point. It made it 38-27.
“Oh yeah, (we caught them off guard),” Figueroa said. “Safeties wasn’t even paying attention. Right up the gut, and we plugged them.”
Passing quarterback Hunter Copp and running quarterback Matai Suitonu alternated duties in the first half for Radford (1-5, 1-3), with Copp running the show from there. He threw for 301 yards and two touchdowns against an interception, and snuck in for another TD on the ground to get his team within 38-33 with 2:24 left.
The Rams set up for the onside kick. But Castle recovered at midfield and Punivai took it 26 yards on the ensuing play. Three plays later, he threw to Omengebar to ice it.
“The ones that made the least mistakes won the game tonight,” Radford coach Lon Passos said. “Tough game. A good game. Exciting.”
Ehven Marques had nine catches for 118 yards for Radford.
Castle had the last word of a 21-20 first half, a 33-yard scoring lob from Punivai to Raiden Wong to the opposite pylon.
GAME SUMMARY
Castle 45, Radford 33
at Castle
>> Radford (1-5, 1-3) 7 13 7 6 — 33
>> Castle (2-4, 2-3) 14 7 10 14 — 45
Castle — Senituli Punivai 15 run (Makana Kiakona kick)
Radford — Maka’ala Sakimi 38 run (Kendall Saxton kick)
Castle — Jonah Figueroa 57 pass from Punivai (Cheyden Costa kick)
Radford — Taias Savea 13 pass from Hunter Copp (Saxton kick)
Radford — Matai Suitonu 4 run (kick failed)
Castle — Raiden Wong 33 pass from Punivai (Kiakona kick)
Castle — FG Costa 41
Radford — Carson Dean 18 pass from Copp (Saxton kick)
Castle — Figueroa 41 pass from Punivai (Kiakona kick)
Castle — Bruce Pakele 56 run (Costa kick)
Radford — Copp 1 run (pass failed)
Castle — Paul Omengebar 34 pass from Punivai (Kiakona kick)
RUSHING — Radford: Taias Savea 5-41, Sakimi 1-38, Saxton 8-36, Dejuan James 7-27, Dean 1-27, DJ Alpha 2-1, Suitonu 5-(minus 6), Copp 9-(minus 6), Team 1-(minus 14). Castle: Punivai 26-151, Pakele 1-56, Branden Frey 1-(minus 3), Team 1-(minus 8).
PASSING — Radford: Copp 22-40-1-304, Suitonu 1-5-0-4. Castle: Punivai 8-14-1-182.
RECEIVING — Radford: Ehven Marques 9-118, Savea 5-71, Dean 4-85, Damon Nelson 4-29, Braden Kent 1-5. Castle: Figueroa 5-115, Omengebar 2-34, Wong 1-33.
* JV — Castle 41, Radford 0
