Punahou wide receiver Koa Eldredge (22) hauls in a pass ahead of Campbell defensive back Carson Murakami (7) during the first half of an Open Division high school football game on Saturday at Campbell High School in Ewa Beach.
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JAMM AQUINO/JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Punahou running back Vincent Terrell (19) gets past Campbell defensive back Titus Mokiao-Atimalala (1) for a touchdown during the first half of an Open Division high school football game on Saturday at Campbell High School in Ewa Beach.
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As usual, win or lose, the fireworks lit by Sabers fans went off in the north end zone afterward. It might be a signal that the orange-and-black-clad boys are poised for some postseason surprises.
“It was an exciting game,” Buffanblu coach Kale Ane said. “Great athletes all over the place and big plays by both teams. We were grateful to get the win. Campbell’s a great team with good coaching and they’re extremely tough. We’re glad to get out of here and grateful to get the win.”
The Buffanblu (7-1, 5-1 ILH Open) didn’t finish the job until 27 seconds remained, when running back Vincent Terrell took a handoff up the middle for a 20-yard touchdown for the final 31-21 count.
With time ticking away, the Sabers got as far as the Punahou 15 on a Blaine Hipa to Tamatoa Mokiao-Atimalala 42-yard pass play, but two 15-yard penalties on Campbell pushed it far back and Hipa’s pass with one second left fell incomplete.
A bit before Punahou’s final touchdown, the Sabers (4-4, 3-2 OIA Open) cut it to three points, 24-21, on Hipa’s 40-yard TD pass to Zavier Ceruti with 4:09 left. That play was made possible by Ivan Soriano, whose fumble recovery lit up the Ewa Beach boys and had them thinking that knocking off the Buffanblu was in their grasp.
But the first-half hole was a bit too deep, thanks to two fumbles that led to 10 Punahou points. The first fumble — recovered by Punahou’s Alakai Gilman — led to Quinn Maretzki’s 35-yard field goal for an early 3-0 lead. Then, with just over a minute left in the first quarter, the Buffanblu’s Tevarua Tafiti made the Sabers pay for coughing up the ball by recovering it and returning it 70 yards to the house for a 10-o bulge.
The Sabers got back in the thick of it with an 80-yard drive, capped on Hipa’s 16-yard TD strike to Tamatoa Mokiao-Atimalala, whose brother Titus caught eight passes for 142 yards but did not get in the end zone.
Punahou didn’t waste any time extending the lead back to 10 points at 17-7. Terrell’s 32-yard burst led to his 6-yard TD run.
Midway through the third, Campbell cut it to 17-14. But Punahou didn’t panic and made it a 10-point game, 24-14, on John-Keawe Sagaopolutele’s 10-yard TD pass to a wide-open Rayden Kiaaina-Caires.
Still, Campbell continued to press, but just couldn’t stop Terrell (189 yards on 23 carries) when it needed to.
“We should have had the win,” Sabers coach Darren Johnson said. “We came here to win. We’re disappointed that we didn’t get the win. They (the Buffanblu) played good. We played good. We gave everybody something to watch tonight. Those two fumbles that led to points in the first half really hurt us.”
Jonan Aina-Chaves rushed for 119 yards, Hipa threw for 301 yards and Campbell outgained Punahou 415 to 347 in scrimmage yards.
Tyrese Tafai, a bulldog on defense for the Sabers all night, said, “Bigger things can come. We gotta practice hard. We’re about to shock the state when we come back hard. This (10-point loss) is something slight, but we’ll be back.”
