By Jerry Campany
jcampany@staradvertiser.com
Campbell coach Amosa Amosa put his defensive captain in timeout, and now his whole team gets a break.
Sabers safety Solomon Matautia returned a punt 80 yards for a touchdown with 1 minute, 37 seconds left in the third quarter and No. 7 Campbell earned a first-round bye in the upcoming OIA playoffs with an 18-14 win over No. 9 Kapolei at Campbell on Friday night.
Matautia was one of three Sabers to sit out the first half against Kapolei for disciplinary reasons, and when he finally got onto the field all he wanted to do was make it up to his teammates.
An 80-yard punt return for a touchdown will probably do it.
“He’s always been a boost to us,” Amosa said. “But we have to do what we have to do. He really wanted to support his brothers after that.”
Matautia picked Micah Paris’ punt off the ground at his own 20 and ran straight toward the sideline. When he hit the edge, no Hurricane could catch him.
“That is where the open space was,” said Matautia, who had an interception return for a touchdown against Mililani earlier this year. “I always think I can take it back. The blocks were set up good and it just happened that time.”
Kapolei went three and out the next three times it got the ball to waste a good fourth quarter by its defense. Campbell held the Hurricanes to 151 total yards, 70 of them on one run by Tristan Pebria, who finished with 122 yards on 19 carries.
“That punt return wasn’t the game,” Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez said. “Two opportunities inside the 5-yard line and no points is what cost us. You have to give credit to Campbell’s defense.”
Both teams had plenty of chances in the first half, but only Kapolei managed to cash in. The Hurricanes took the ball down to the 1-yard line on the first drive of the game, but Pebria was stuffed short of the end zone on fourth down. Kapolei missed a field goal on its next possession and Pebria opened Kapolei’s third drive with a 70-yard run to the 5-yard line. It took Kapolei four plays, but it finally scored when quarterback Aizon Kahana scrambled into the end zone on fourth and 5. Arielle Stoyanow added the extra point.
Campbell came right back when Isaac Hurd hit Kona Reiny-Aloy in stride from the 25-yard line, but his receiver fumbled the ball into the end zone. Jayce Bantolina alertly tracked the ball down in the corner of the end zone to register the touchdown. Kapolei kept the lead, though, when Paris blocked the extra point.
The Hurricanes scored right away after the defensive lapse, moving 52 yards in 10 plays, finishing the drive with a 16-yard touchdown run by Kahana. Paris kept the drive going from midfield with a 9-yard run on a fake punt.
Kapolei will go to the playoffs but will have to play in the first round while Campbell rests. The Sabers tied Waianae at 4-2 but won head-to-head to take the tiebreaker.
“The bye is huge,” Amosa said. “It gives the kids a chance to heal up, but mostly it gives us a chance to tell them to take a couple of days off and forget about football. I am so proud of what they have accomplished. Nobody thought we would be second in the West.”
At Campbell
Kapolei (5-3, 3-3 ) 0 14 0 0 — 14
Campbell (6-2, 4-2) 0 6 12 0 — 18
Kapo–Aizon Kahana 6 run(Arielle Stoyanow kick)
Camp–Jayce Bantolina fumble recovered in end zone (Kick blocked)
Kapo–Kahana 16 run (Stoyanow kick)
Camp–Isaac Hurd 1 run (pass failed)
Camp–Solomon Mautatia 80 punt return (run failed)
RUSHING–Kapolei: Triston Pebria 19-122, Kahana 11-14, Mana Reis 7-11, Micah Paris 1-9, Kainoa Brown 2-(minus-5). Campbell: Austin May 15-92, Galuega Castro 1-7, Hurd 20-5, Kona Reiny-Aloy 1-3, Kainoa Perry 1-1.
PASSING–Kapolei: Kahana 2-11-0-0. Campbell: Hurd 17-27-0-185, Perry 0-1-0-0.
RECEVING–Kapolei: Reis 1-7, Ronald Young 1-(minus-7). Campbell: Perry 8-94, Castro 3-41, Reiny-Aloy 2-30, Amosa Amosa 2-5, Keola Himan 1-10, Bantolina 1-5.
Junior varsity–Campbell 27, Kapolei 13
Also
Mililani 35, Aiea 7
Statistics not reported
Leilehua 66, Waipahu 14
Statistics not reported
