Peyton Costa came up with a key fumble recovery and Ezra Forges connected with Noah Aki for a 21-yard touchdown to break a scoreless battle as Kamehameha outlasted Leilehua 10-3 on Friday night at Kunuiakea Stadium.
With a giant new scoreboard gracing the sunset view, a big crowd welcomed the Warriors. The visiting Mules brought a relatively young roster, but nearly matched the home team with relentless defense.
“That’s a very good team,” Kamehameha coach Kaeo Drummondo said of Leilehua. “All we try to do is get better. We want to change it up (defensively). We wanted to go with a quick game, not blitz on every play and get caught. There’s some things we wanted to try, to get one-on-ones. There’s times when it worked, and some situations we have to get better at it.”
Leilehua coach Mark Kurisu coached against Drummondo when the latter was a two-time Division I state-title coach at Hilo. His defense stopped Kamehameha three times in the first half on fourth-and-short situations.
“That’s how we do, man. Coaching against Coach Kaeo when he was at Hilo, no change. I love how our players, their youthfulness, they just play. Doesn’t matter who we got or who they got,” Kurisu said. “We just take care of us and great things happen. This was a big moment. This is a beautiful field. Fans in the stands. It can be nerve-wracking for young guys, but this was a fun big game for us.”
Costa’s big play was part of a series of different schemes presented by Kamehameha, which slowed Leilehua’s hurry-up, no-huddle offense.
“I was lined up on the right side, A-gap. I did a little club rip and I was chasing down the ball. I had my hand on him, my friend made the tackle and I picked up the fumble. These are the type of games that people should relish,” said Costa, a senior defensive tackle. “Coach preaches consistency. We have to keep pushing.”
The perfect spiral down the left sideline from Forges to Aki made it 7-0 with 7:26 left in the third quarter.
There was 11:13 left in the game after Leilehua got on the board with a 30-yard field goal by Rodel Alano.
Tyler Fujimoto’s 28-yard field goal opened Kamehameha’s lead to 10-3 with 5:41 remaining.
Hanohano Plunkett, Leilehua’s starting quarterback, left with an injury a few moments later. Trustin Gomes led the Mules downfield and barely missed on a potential touchdown pass in Warriors territory. Gomes was stopped on a fourth-down run at the 14-yard line with 1:53 left.
A scoreless first half was dominated by each defense. The Warriors ran the ball on eight of their first nine plays and continued to play ground-and-pound football. Nainoa Melchor had 11 carries for 40 yards by intermission.
Kamehameha is back on the field at 8 a.m. today for practice.
“Show up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed,” Costa said. “That’s when you get the most work in.”
Kamehameha 21, Leilehua 15, JV
The Warriors scored 21 unanswered points and got six sacks and an interception from their defense in the comeback win. Nainoa Feurtado had one sack and came up with a clutch deflection in the backfield on Payton Lee Molina-Gamponia’s fourth-down pass in the final two minutes to preserve Kamehameha’s win.
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KAMEHAMEHA 10, LEILEHUA 3
Leilehua (0-1) 0 0 0 3 — 3
Kamehameha (1-0) 0 0 7 3 — 10
KS—Noah Aki 21 pass from Ezra Forges
(Madden Aquino kick)
LEIL—FG Rodel Alano 30
KS—FG Aquino 28
RUSHING—Leilehua: Cameron Keeve 11-48, Trustin Gomes 6-16, Hanohano Plunkett 5-12, Kyin Rivera-Galbraith 7-12, Team 1-(minus 5). Kamehameha: Nainoa Melchor 19-57, Maddox Sharrer 7-15, Tyler Fujimoto 1-1, Pono Kahaulelio 3-0, Team 2-(minus 3), Ezra Forges 3-(minus 10).
PASSING—Leilehua: Plunkett 17-32-1-52, Gomes 0-1-0-0. Kamehameha: Forges 9-22-0-114, Kahaulelio 1-2-0-4.
RECEIVING—Leilehua: Talon Tarpley 7-39, Chaystin Senas 1-5, Keeve 2-4, Carter McMillen 1-4, Romeo Tubon 1-4, Rivera-Galbraith 1-3, Brennan Kepaa 2-1, Miles Magaoay 2-(minus 8). Kamehameha: Ty Perkins 2-56, Aki 3-44, Taimane Purcell 2-12, Eisen Pirga 1-6, Nui Kaapana 1-4, Melchor 1-(minus 4).
JV—Kamehameha 21, Leilehua 15
Pac-Five 34, Waialua 14
Seth Miller ran for a pair of touchdowns, Colt Hauptman added two of his own, and the Wolfpack opened the 2024 season with a win over the Bulldogs.
Miller had scores of 5 and 3 yards while rushing for 56 yards. Hauptman reeled in a 7-yard touchdown pass from Colten Amai-Nakagawa, then added a 67-yard kickoff return late in the game.
Jace Apau rushed for 50 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns to lead Waialua.
PAC-FIVE 34, WAIALUA 14
At Toshiyuki Nakasone Field
Pac-Five (1-0) 7 14 0 13 — 34
Waialua (0-1) 0 0 0 14 — 14
P5—Kalen Donate 5 run (Evan Derauf kick)
P5—Seth Miller 8 run (Derauf kick)
P5—Colt Hauptman 7 pass from Colten Amai-Nakagawa (Derauf kick)
WAIL—Jace Apau 1 run (Nuutea Van Bastolaer kick)
P5—Miller 3 run (kick failed)
WAIL—Apau 17 run (Van Bastolaer kick)
P5—Hauptman 67 kickoff return (Derauf kick)
RUSHING—Pac-Five: Miller 12-56, Donate 3-25, Elijah Connell-Chavez 3-9, Sean Fujimoto 1-7, Hauptman 1-3, Braden Sarahina 5-0, Amai-Nakagawa 1-0, Team 1-(minus 5). Waialua: Emery Abilla 14-90, Apau 7-50, Rayden Wilson 2-11, Taylor Calaro 1-3, Team 2-(minus 16).
PASSING—Pac-Five: Sarahina 10-16-0-111, Amai-Nakagawa 10-15-1-83. Waialua: Abilla 10-17-1-77.
RECEIVING—Pac-Five: Jerome Lilio 6-90, Donate 7-48, Hauptman 4-29, Avari Zion-Branch 2-25, Miller 1-2. Waialua: Jeremiah Kahalewai 5-33, Hayze Ramos 2-32, Cash Manalo 2-6, Kaleb Rice 1-6.
