Kahuku woke up from an early-season scoring slumber in a big way Saturday against Waimea, including a 21-point surge over a 20-second span of the first quarter.
Kahuku averaged 10.7 yards per play in a 56-point first half and cruised to a 66-7 victory over visiting Waimea in a non-league game.
The Red Raiders had four rushing touchdowns, three passing scores and two special teams touchdowns.
“For our players it was a great time for us to work on everything that we need to in all three phases — special teams, offense and defense,” Kahuku coach Sterling Carvalho said.
Entering Saturday, No. 1 Kahuku (3-1) had averaged only 11.3 points per game against Saint Louis, Nevada powerhouse Bishop Gorman and state Division I finalist Konawaena.
“We were always one block away or one penalty would stall our drives,” Carvalho said. “We just had to stay a little bit more disciplined, be patient, trust each other and everybody do their job.”
Next up for Kahuku is a meeting two weeks from now at Mater Dei (Calif.), which is ranked No. 1 in the MaxPreps Top 25 poll.
“Right now we have Mater Dei coming up. We want to be clicking on all cylinders in all three phases of the game,” Carvalho said.
The Red Raiders’ Madden Soliai returned the opening kickoff 40 yards to the Kahuku 45. The Red Raiders scored four plays later on an 8-yard run by Sheadon Kanoa with 10:39 remaining in the first quarter. Manoa Kahalepuna made the PAT kick.
Kahuku forced a three-and-out on the next possession and went up 14-0 on a 1-yard run by Malosi Fiatoa with 4:51 left in the opening quarter.
The big play of the drive was a 39-yard completion from Christian Sanford-Tupuola to Kea Lerner, which put the ball at the 5.
The Menehunes fumbled the kickoff and the Red Raiders’ Noah Vaiaoga returned it 20 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-0 with 4:44 to go in the first.
Waimea (1-1) fumbled the center/quarterback exchange on the first play of its next possession and Kahuku’s Malaki Soliai-Tui fell on the football. The Red Raiders cashed in on the next play on Sanford-Tupuola’s 29-yard pass to Bodhi Kaanga with 4:31 remaining, which made it 28-0.
“Once you get this Red Machine going, it’s hard to stop,” Carvalho said. “We build off momentum, and that’s what happened when you had the three touchdowns in that span.”
The Red Raiders went up 56-0 in the second quarter on Kalaheo Kanae-Oliveira’s 8-yard pass to Kaanga with 10:48 remaining, Blake Alo’s 25-yard run with 7:30 left, Sanford-Tupuola’s 21-yard completion to Kea Lerner with 6:39 to go and Kevin Kamakaala’s fumble recovery in the end zone off a blocked punt by Eyring Mapu with 4:45 left.
“Everybody stayed on their block. Everybody stayed consistent and we were able to pull together and put points on the board,” Sanford-Tupuola said.
Kahuku gained 299 yards on 28 plays in the first half.
Sanford-Tupuola finished 7-for-9 on passes for 150 yards before halftime. The Red Raiders didn’t attempt a pass in the second half.
“We just have to stay consistent, drive the ball, take care of the ball and put each other forward,” Sanford-Tupuola said.
The Red Raiders’ defense allowed 28 yards of total offense before halftime and didn’t allowed a first down.
The Menehunes scored on the third play from scrimmage of the second half on Kyka Linoz’s 89-yard pass to Mykah Brun, which made it 56-7 with 9:25 left in the third quarter. It was Waimea’s only completion of the game. The Menehunes’ previous longest play from scrimmage was 8 yards.
“We sort of surprise people when we try to throw the ball,” Waimea coach Kylie Linoz said of the play, which involved his son. “That’s not our thing. We stuck with the run. If we could execute at least a little bit on Kahuku, we’d feel like we’d be OK playing everybody else moving forward.”
The Red Raiders answered with Kanae-Oliveira’s 10-yard run, which made it 63-7 with 3:04 left.
Kahuku’s Brody Palolo made a 40-yard field goal with 5:19 remaining in the game.
Even though the game was a mismatch, both coaches were appreciative of the other side.
“First and foremost I’d like to thank Waimea for taking on the challenge, playing two levels above,” Carvalho said. “For them, even accepting this and making the travel over, I give them credit.”
Said Linoz: “We feel very privileged to be here and given the opportunity to play these guys. They’ve proven they are the best. This was good for our guys. We know we have to step things up a lot more to even be considered to play them again.”
—
At Kahuku
Waimea (1-1) 0 0 7 0 — 7
Kahuku (3-1) 28 28 7 3 —66
KAH—Sheadon Kanoa 8 run (Manoa Kahalepuna kick), 10:39
KAH—Malosi Fiatoa 1 run (Kahalepuna kick), 4:51
KAH—Noah Vaiaoga 20 fumble return (Kahalepuna kick), 4:44
KAH—Bodhi Kaanga 29 pass from Christian Sanford-Tupuola (Kahalepuna kick), 4:31
KAH—Kaanga 8 pass from Kalaheo Kanae-Oliveira (Kahalepuna kick), 10:48
KAH—Blake Alo 25 run (Kahalepuna kick), 7:30
KAH— Kea Lerner 21 pass from Sanford-Tupuola (Kahalepuna kick), 6:39
KAH—Kevin Kamakaala fumble recovery in end zone (Kahalepuna kick), 4:45
WAIM—Mykah Brun 89 pass from Kyka Linoz (Shayden Ranis-Alameda Dela Cruz kick), 9:25
KAH—Kanae-Oliveira 10 run (Brody Palolo kick), 3:04
KAH—FG Palolo 40, 5:19
RUSHING—Waimea: Kamaka 12-16, Ranis-Alameda Dela Cruz 5-14, Ikaika Miyashiro 1-4, Xailen Niheu-Zaylen Raposas
2-1, Linoz 2-(minus 8), team 5-(minus 14). Kahuku: Alo 5-73, Isaiah Joaquin 7-63, Fiatoa 6-53, Kanoa 6-51, Kanae-Oliveira 5-30, Achillez Mika-Togiola 4-7.
PASSING—Waimea: Linoz 1-3-0-89. Kahuku: Sanford-Tupuola 7-9-0-150, Kanae-Oliveira 1-3-0-8.
RECEIVING—Waimea: Brun 1-89. Kahuku: Kaanga 4-58, Lerner 3-69, Mika-Togiola 1-31.
