On homecoming, the king led the way.
Senior quarterback and homecoming king Jordan Taamu scored three touchdowns to lead Pearl City to a 42-20 win over Kalani in an OIA Division II football game on Friday.
Taamu completed nine of 16 passes for 114 yards for the Chargers (6-1, 6-1). After he was introduced as the homecoming king at halftime, Taamu helped his team pull away from Kalani (4-3, 4-3) in the second half.
"Jordan did a great job," Pearl City coach Robin Kami said. "The O-line had good blocking. He’s a like a coach on the field and that’s a plus for us when he has the ball in his hands."
With homecoming festivities going on at halftime, Kami reminded his team to avoid a second-half letdown similar to last week’s loss to Nanakuli. Nanakuli rallied in the second half to beat Pearl City 28-21.
"We brought up the situation what happened last week (to Nanakuli), especially with the same score, 21-7," Kami said. "Let’s not come out flat again. They’ll get the ball first and if they do score, we got to get back into the game."
Ace Faumui, the third quarterback the Falcons used, carried the ball 50 yards to Pearl City’s 1-yard line on the second play of the third quarter. He scored on the next play to help Kalani cut the deficit to 21-14 with 11 minutes remaining.
That’s when Taamu responded with touchdown passes to Dominic Maneafaiga and Garrett Kanamu to put the Chargers ahead 35-14. Early in the fourth, Taamu scrambled to find a receiver, then kept the ball and ran 51 yards for a touchdown. Joseph Komomua’s PAT made it 42-14.
"They scored on their first series and then we came back and scored in our series and we held them down and scored again," Kami said. "I thought the kids performed real well in the second half."
Maneafaiga carried the ball for the Chargers for the bulk of the first half and was the exclusive option when the passing game couldn’t get going. He racked up 103 yards on the ground by halftime.
Maneafaiga’s rushing touchdown and Komomua’s PAT late in the first quarter tied the game at 7-7. The Chargers went ahead 14-7 midway through the second quarter when Taamu pitched the ball back to Christopher Kaku, who completed a 5-yard pass to Kanamu. Tala Moeone’s 3-yard score and Komomua’s PAT gave Pearl City a 21-7 halftime lead.
Blaise Manabe rushed for 94 yards and two touchdowns for Kalani. Faumui rushed for 142 yards and a touchdown.
Kalani struggled without starting quarterback Tyler Ching, who left early in the first quarter with an injury. Kai Reed threw an interception in his only attempt. Faumui had to be moved over from running back to quarterback in the second quarter. Ching returned briefly in the fourth quarter and completed a pass.
| At Pearl City |
| Kalani (4-3, 4-3) |
7 0 7 6 –20 |
| Pearl City (6-1, 6-1) |
7 14 14 7 — 42 |
Kaln–Blaise Manabe 4 run (Marc Teshima kick)
PC–Dominic Maneafaiga 13 run (Joseph Komomua kick)
PC–Garrett Kanamu 5 pass from Christopher Kaku (Komomua kick)
PC–Tala Moeone 3 run (Komomua kick)
Kaln–Ace Faumui 1 run(Teshima kick)
PC–Maneafaiga 21 pass from Jordan Taamu (Komomua kick)
PC–Kanamu 28 pass from Taamu (Komomua kick)
PC–Taamu 51 run (Komomua kick)
Kaln–Manabe 3 run (kick blocked)
Rushing–Kaln: Faumui 20-142, Manabe 11-94, Tyler Ching 1-15, Akio Abudal-Adal 1-1, Brandon Nahina 3-8, Joey Matsumiya 1-(-2). PC: Maneafaiga 15-104, Taamu 6-95, Moeone 1-3, Jarrett Sanchez 2-4, MJ Keopuhiwa 3-12
Passing–Kaln: Ching 2-3-0-16, Faumui 0-3-0-0, Kai Reed 0-1-1-0. PC: Taamu 9-16-0-114, Kanamu 1-1-0-5.
Receiving–Kaln: Manabe 1-11, Tyler Ho 1-5. PC: Keelan Domingo-Ishikawa 1-4, Kanamu 3-37, Maneafaiga 4-32, Israel Kaleo 2-46.
Junior varsity–Pearl City 16, Kalani 0
Nanakuli 27, Radford 26
Nanakuli stopped Radford on the game’s final play as an errant snap prevented the Rams from having a chance of winning on a 2-point conversion.
Radford quarterback Andrew Morgan connected with Thomas Reid on a 12-yard touchdown as the regulation clock expired, but the botched snap on the ensuing attempt sailed over Morgan’s head.
Golden Hawks quarterback Kale Kanehailua ran for 35 yards and two scores, including a nifty 9-yard scramble on fourth-and-goal as the second quarter expired to put Nanakuli up 10-7 at intermission.
Nanakuli running back Makaila Haina-Horswill helped salt the victory away with 189 yards on 20 carries, including two runs for a combined 139 yards in the fourth quarter — the first of which went for a score.
Morgan threw for 227 yards and three touchdowns, all of which went to Reid (8 catches for 133 yards). Rams running back Chance Cacatian notched 107 yards on 17 carries to balance Radford’s aerial passing game.
