No. 1 Kahuku whitewashes Kaiser
It took top-ranked Kahuku exactly one play to end any worries of a letdown.
Kawehena Johnson intercepted a pass on the first play from scrimmage, and Tyrone Brown and Aofaga Wily combined for 207 rushing yards in a 39-0 shutout of host Kaiser last night in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Red East game.
The Red Raiders, now 2-0 in league play, cruised to their fourth straight win to open the season and looked just as efficient as they did a week ago in a 49-27 victory over then-No. 2 Saint Louis.
"We started off strong, defense gave us a turnover right off the bat," coach Reggie Torres said. "We worked on staying grounded all week and just like Saint Louis was done, Kaiser is done after tonight, and tomorrow we move on to the next game."
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Kahuku rolled to touchdowns on its first four possessions. Johnson’s interception set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Fonoivasa Mataafa and Punga Vea hauled in Evan Moe’s first pass of the night for a 10-yard score to give the Red Raiders a 12-0 lead.
Moe’s only other pass before he was taken out in the second quarter was a 36-yard touchdown to a wide-open Shairone Thompson to push Kahuku’s lead to 26-0.
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Things didn’t get any easier on offense for Kaiser, as senior quarterback Sitelimani Latu was intercepted three times and sacked three times in the first half. Trayson Medeiros took one of those interceptions back 34 yards for a touchdown as Kahuku led 32-0 by the break.
"We just did what coaches tell us to do," Johnson said. "Our second and third string (defenses) did good, and they didn’t let them score."
Moe returned for the opening drive of the third quarter, leading Kahuku on an 80-yard march. He completed an 11-yard pass to Josh Sorensen in between a slew of Red Raiders runs. Wily capped the drive with a 1-yard plunge for his second touchdown of the game and fifth this season.
Wily finished with 73 yards on seven carries, while Brown had 134 yards on 11 attempts.
The Cougars (0-2 OIA Red East, 0-4 overall) forced a fumble in the final 2 minutes to give themselves a chance to score. Latu scampered for 13 yards down the right sideline to put the ball on the Kahuku 13 with less than a minute remaining. After an incomplete pass, Latu had one last shot, but Aisea Neu came on a blitz and recorded Kahuku’s fourth sack to end the game.
"We told the kids at halftime if the score can stay that way, everyone is going to play," Torres said. "If we got into a situation where (Kaiser’s) offense was driving, we were going to keep whatever defense was in there to fight through it, and they kept our goal of a shutout."
Kahuku gets its first bye of the season next week before traveling to Roosevelt on Sept. 17 for the second of three consecutive road games.
The Cougars will try for their first win of the season next week at Castle.
No. 1 Kahuku 39, Kaiser 0
At Kaiser Stadium
Kahuku (4-0, 2-0) | 26 | 6 | 7 | 0 | — | 39 |
Kaiser (0-4, 0-2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
Kah–Fonoivasa Mataafa 1 run (kick failed)
Kah–Punga Vea 10 pass from Evan Moe (pass failed)
Kah–Trayson Medeiros 34 interception return (Josh Sorensen kick)
Kah–Shairone Thompson 36 pass from Moe (Sorensen kick)
Kah–Aofaga Wily 25 run (kick failed)
Kah–Wily 1 run (Sorensen kick)
RUSHING–Kah: Tyrone Brown 11-134, Wily 7-73, Shawn Pahulu 2-14, Sterline Moe 2-11, Mataafa 3-9, Viliami Livai 2-7, Ben Mamea 1-2, Kaimana Kaina 1-(-1), Moe 2-(minus 2), team 2-(minus 10). Kais: Josh Gonda 5-83, Joshua Bryant 5-(minus 7), Sitelimani Latu 6-(minus 13).
PASSING–Kah: Moe 3-3-0-57, Livai 1-5-1-16. Kais: Latu 10-28-3-59, Gonda 0-1-0-0, Kaipo Oemalda-Scholtz 0-2-0-0.
RECEIVING–Kah: Thompson 1-36, Mataafa 1-16, Sorensen 1-11, Vea 1-10. Kais: Jourdan Solomon 4-26, Lorenzo Reeves 3-14, Joshua Perry-Kruse 2-15, Oemalda-Scholtz 1-4.
Junior varsity–Kahuku 21, Kaiser 7