Trey Dacoscos passed for 223 yards and three touchdowns as Pearl City hung on in the final seconds for a 27-21 win over Kaiser on Friday night.
“We were praying,” Chargers wide receiver Bradley Kansou said of Kaiser’s last-ditch drive in the final minute.
Kansou had a big night with six receptions for 125 yards, including touchdowns of 17 and 74 yards, but the Pearl City offense could only watch and hope as Kaiser roared back and nearly made up a 20-point deficit. The Chargers’ defense stifled Kaiser’s prolific passer, Easton Yoshino, until the final six minutes. That’s when a Cougars homecoming crowed revved up with a series of breaks and clutch plays.
After a Pearl City punt, Kaiser had the ball at its 31-yard line with 32.4 seconds remaining. Yoshino threw a 17-yard completion, and after a spike and two incompletions, he connected with running back Kai Blackston for a 13-yard pickup to the Pearl City 39 with 6.1 seconds to go.
With Pearl City’s defense leaning toward Kaiser’s right sideline deep — where Donovan Reis had scored two touchdowns earlier in the fourth quarter — Yoshino fired a strike keep over the middle, where Reis had run a post route. Reis raced through the hash marks toward the goal line, but was tackled at the 6-yard line as time expired.
“As much as I’m happy that I was able to do as much as I did, I’m disappointed I wasn’t able to get that last touchdown,” said Reis, who had 11 receptions for 171 yards and the two fourth-quarter TDs. “I didn’t see him coming from behind. I thought I was loose. I tried my best.”
Pearl City remained unbeaten in OIA Division II play at 4-0 (5-1 overall). Kaiser fell to 2-2 (2-3 overall).
“I feel good, but I feel exhausted, man. I didn’t know this game was going to come down to the last double-zero. A good Kaiser offense like that, you can’t give them any seconds,” Pearl City coach Robin Kami said.
The Chargers’ defense was stellar most of the way, getting two diving interceptions by Taohi-John Williams, a senior linebacker.
“Our defense really balled out tonight. I wouldn’t be able to have those without my friend, No. 44, Dorian (Payton-Sherman). Our line, they’re just amazing,” Williams said. “I wouldn’t have been able to do any of that without them.”
Kaiser was that close to tightening up the OIA D-II standings.
“I’m thinking, we need to quit digging holes for ourselves, but I like the fact that our kids fought. They believed in themselves and they never quit,” Kaiser coach Tim Seaman said. “They played hard for four quarters, which is what we want them to do all the time.”
It was a defensive struggle early on. The visitors broke a scoring drought with an 11-play, 59-yard drive. Dacoscos was 3-for-4 through the air for 20 yards, but was sacked to set up second-and-goal from the 17-yard line. He found Kansou on a post pattern in the end zone for the game’s first touchdown with 5:54 left in the first half.
Kaiser responded on its next series, driving 76 yards in eight plays. Yoshino found Reis for a 29-yard connection, and Kai Strawn raced around left end for a 15-yard TD run. That tied the game at 7 with 3:05 to go in the second quarter.
The Chargers then marched 63 yards in eight plays. A big 12-yard run by Dacoscos set up a 3-yard wildcat keeper up the middle by Torres, and Pearl City led 14-7 with 28.4 seconds remaining in the first half.
In the third quarter, Kaiser drove twice into Pearl City territory but stalled out at the 28-yard line, and then the 23.
The Chargers then got a connection on a post route from Dacoscos to Kansou, who shook off a tackler and outraced another for a scintillating 74-yard TD. Pearl City led 21-7 with 30.8 seconds left in the third.
Dacoscos’ third TD strike, an 8-yard corner pass to Torres, gave the Chargers a 20-point lead with 6:34 remaining.
Pearl City had the game under control, but a bad punt snap on fourth down led to Kaiser possession at the Chargers’ 36-yard line with 3:09 left. Yoshino found Donovan Reis for a 21-yard TD pass in the right corner of the end zone, cutting the lead to 27-14 with 2:40 remaining.
After Jesse Palmer recovered the ensuing on-side kick at the Pearl City 49-yard line, the Chargers called time out. Yoshino launched a bomb to Reis, who beat double coverage for a 49-yard TD. Kaiser was within 27-21 with 2:28 to go.
Torres then secured the on-side kick for Pearl City. Bobby Best moved from running back to quarterback and picked up a key 9-yard run for a first down.
The Chargers had fourth-and-2 at the Kaiser 40, running the clock down to 38.5 seconds before delay of game was called. Marcus Rodriguez’s punt sailed out of bounds, giving Kaiser the ball at its 31-yard line with 32.4 seconds left.
Still, it was three-plus quarters of solid defense by the Chargers, even with the adversity down the stretch.
“My defensive coordinator had a good scheme for this game. You can’t stop a guy like Yoshino. You just hope to slow him down,” Kami said. “We feel good. We just got to take one game at a time.”
Kaiser needs a strong finish in regular-season play to qualify for the playoffs.
“The playoffs are a long way away. We’ve got Kaimuki. Our focus is on them. That’s going to be a really big game. There’s a lot of football left to be played. That’s the good news. There’s things that we can fix. We just need to get better,” Seaman said.
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PEARL CITY 27, KAISER 21
At Kaiser Stadium
Pearl City (5-1, 4-0) 0 14 7 6 — 27
Kaiser (2-3, 2-2) 0 7 0 14 — 21
PC—Bradley Kansou 17 pass from Trey Dacoscos (Marcus Rodriguez kick)
Kais—Kai Strawn 15 run (Ian Shearer kick)
PC—Koali‘i Torres 3 run (Rodriguez kick)
PC—Kansou 74 pass from Dacoscos (Rodriguez kick)
PC—Torres 8 pass from Dacoscos (run failed)
Kais—Donovan Reis 21 pass from Easton Yoshino (Shearer kick)
Kais—Reis 49 pass from Yoshino (Shearer kick)
RUSHING—Pearl City: Shaedyn Quernado 19-73, Bobby Best 12-49, Torres 2-7, Dacoscos 6-5, TEAM 2-(minus 26). Kaiser: Strawn 5-39, Kai Blackston 5-33, Dillon Reis 1-2, Yoshino 4-(minus 21).
PASSING—Pearl City: Dacoscos 20-29-0-223, Best 1-3-0-9. Kaiser: Yoshino 32-52-3-369, TEAM 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING—Pearl City: Kansou 6-125, Rodriguez 2-30, Torres 5-24, Zion Gella-Kaulia 4-22, Best 2-13, Triton Taimanao 1-12, Ching-Harrell 1-6. Kaiser: Don. Reis 11-171, Keagan Lime 7-94, Makana Naleieha 4-39, Blackston 5-30, Rayne Sumida 1-17, Blaze Kodama 1-11, Dillon Reis 2-9, Caysean Melvin 1-(minus 2).
