In order to feel good about its playoff chances, defending OIA Division II champion Kaiser needed to come up big in the second half against Kaimuki on Saturday night.
The Cougars stopped the Bulldogs on fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line and then exploded for a 99-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Easton Yoshino to Makana Naleieha on the next play that turned the tide and was ultimately the difference in a 41-32 victory at Kaiser Stadium.
Yoshino threw for 331 yards and six touchdowns and Naleieha caught eight passes for 193 yards and three TD’s to pick up the slack with two-way starter Donovan Reis out of the game with an injury.
“I did have a rough week last week. Definitely slipped up (in a loss to Pearl City),” Naleieha said. “I knew I had to get my mojo back, my swag back, and I just balled out because I know that when we get the ball in the right playmakers’ hands and Easton Yoshino — he has so much poise and he’s been doing this for four years — we know what we’re doing.”
Yoshino, who completed 20 of 29 passes, now has 68 touchdown passes in his varsity career and is 104 yards shy of becoming the 18th player all-time on Oahu to top 6,000 passing yards in a career.
With his team trailing 26-21 at half, he knew he had to step up to keep Kaiser in a comfortable position to make the four-team OIA playoffs at the end of the season.
The Cougars are now tied with Kaimuki for third in the division at 3-2. A loss would have dropped them into a three-way tie for fourth with Waialua and Kalani with two games to go.
“Play the game that we know how to play and have fun with it,” Yoshino said. “If we execute, we can be a great team. This was a big game to get our confidence up to roll into the next two weeks and hopefully get those two dubs and set us up for a good spot in the playoffs.”
Kaimuki had two 100-yard rushers and two 100-yard receivers in the game and quarterback Iosefa Letuli had his first three completions go for 42, 72 and 67 yards.
A 67-yard touchdown pass to Dante Pelter gave the Bulldogs a 26-14 lead with 2:30 remaining in the first half.
Yoshino responded with a 24-yard TD pass to Naleieha to make it 26-21 at the break and then threw two more scoring passes in a third quarter in which Kaiser held Kaimuki scoreless.
“Every play, every game with this team is an adventure,” Kaiser coach Tim Seaman said. “When this team is focused they do good things, and when they’re not focused they dig holes for themselves. We’re very fortunate to have the win tonight because our lack of focus at times hurts us.”
Letuli finished 10-for-18 for 265 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 108 yards and two more scores.
Running back Ofa Vehikite, who had topped 200 yards rushing in four straight games, finished with 106 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries before leaving the game late with an injury.
Kaimuki had a 38-yard touchdown pass from Letuli to Avin Tanioka called back because of a holding penalty midway through the fourth quarter.
On the very next play, junior Keagan Lime stepped in front of a pass and picked it off for the Cougars.
“I knew that we had to get the ball back into our offense’s hands and that they would do what they had to do,” said Lime, who had to play defensive back because of injuries. “I feel great. I ran track, so (playing both ways) was not that tiring. I’ve just go to to do whatever I have to do to help the team.”
Kaimuki finished with 480 total yards, including 216 on the ground, but the big plays they were able to hit in the first half weren’t there after halftime.
“The second half we started pushing and I thought, ‘Ho, this gonna be one game.’ “ said sophomore linebacker Te’a Nu’uhiwa-Santos, who had four tackles for loss and was all over the field on defense. “It’s just like what Coach says, ‘Watch the ball, watch the person and make the tackle.’ ”
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KAISER 41, KAIMUKI 32
At Kaiser Stadium
Kaimuki (3-3, 3-2) 7 19 0 6 — 32
Kaiser (3-3, 3-2) 14 7 13 7 — 41
Kais—Makana Naleieha 7 pass from Easton Yoshino (Ian Shearer kick)
Kaim—Iosefa Letuli 7 run (Jeremiah White kick)
Kais—Kai Blackston 5 pass from Yoshino (Shearer kick)
Kaim—White 72 pass from Letuli (White kick)
Kaim—Letuli 3 run (kick failed)
Kaim—Dante Peltier 67 pass from Letuli (kick blocked)
Kais—Naleieha 24 pass from Yoshino (Shearer kick)
Kais—Keagan Lime 17 pass from Yoshino (Shearer kick)
Kais—Naleieha 99 pass from Yoshino (pass failed)
Kaim—Ofa Vehikite 2 run (pass failed)
Kais—Lime 1 pass from Yoshino (Shearer kick)
RUSHING—Kaimuki: Iose. Letuli 16-108, Vehikite 26-106, Iosua Letuli 4-9, Sonasi Latu 3-9, Avin Tanioka 2-4, team 1-(minus 21). Kaiser: Blackston 10-82, Kai Strawn 5-1, team 2-(minus 4).
PASSING—Kaimuki: Letuli 10-18-1-265. Kaiser: Yoshino 20-29-0-331.
RECEIVING—Kaimuki: Dante Peltier 3-115, White 4-105, Tanioka 1-24, Josiah Hicks 1-15, Vehikite 1-6. Kaiser: Naleieha 8-193, Rayne Sumida 1-43, Jesse Shinagawa 3-33, Mason Nelson 1-22, Lime 3-19, Blackston 3-15, Strawn 1-6.
WAIANAE 20, LEILEHUA 0
At Waianae
Leilehua (0-5-1, 0-4) 0 0 0 0 — 0
Waianae (2-4, 1-3) 7 6 7 0 — 20
Wain—Joshua Santiago 18 pass from Tarent Moniz-Babb (Kaden Nauer kick)
Wain—Santiago 30 pass from Moniz-Babb (kick blocked)
Wain—Tevin Wilbur 67 run (Nauer kick)
RUSHING—Leilehua: Cole Northingon 7-34, Zayden Gayagas 3-21, Dustin Chow 4-(minus 18). Waianae: Wilbur 10-115, Jamal Plunkett 10-47, Dayton Kuhiki 10-29, Brandon Tai Tin 2-13, Akoni Halemano 1-3, Team (1-(minus 2), Moniz-Babb 6-(minus 14)
PASSING—Leilehua: Chow 20-35-3-107. Waianae: Moniz-Babb 7-14-0-86.
RECEIVING—Leilehua: Timothy Arnold 8-46, Darien Hoeppner-Corales 8-24, Trevin Po’opa’a 3-35, Camren Flemister 1-2. Waianae: Halemano 3-24, Santiago 2-48, Jaceten Schlitzkus 1-13, Christian Sansano 1-1.
