No team takes better advantage of the 15-minute halftime break than Nanakuli.
The Golden Hawks, who suit up 28 players and play a lot of them both ways, scored two touchdowns in 26 seconds after the break to beat Pearl City 34-28 at Edwin "Bino" Neves Stadium on Friday night.
With the score tied at 28, a 9-yard strike from Chazz Troutman to Lansen Liki with 1:15 left proved to be the winning score. It was Liki’s first reception of the night.
Nanakuli, which improved to 2-1 and had not won its second game this early in the season since 2004, needed the blitz out of the break to handle Daicorri Briscoe and the winless Chargers.
The Golden Hawks came out of the locker room down 14-7, but tied it two plays into the second half.
Desmond Kaaihue pressured Pearl City quarterback Brock Teixeira, forcing him to throw an interception to Tryson Vincent, who took it to the house.
Two plays after that, Eric Au Hoon-Kaawa victimized Teixeira and returned his interception to the 3-yard line. Khade Paris punched it in for his second touchdown of the game.
Nanakuli scored again when Briscoe let a punt bounce off the crown of his helmet straight to Au Hoon-Kaawa to set up Paris’ third score, this one from 2 yards out.
But Briscoe would atone for his mistake. The lanky receiver had already scored a pair of touchdowns receiving when he returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown, dragging a Nanakuli defender for 20 of them, to tie it at 28.
Briscoe finished with a career-best 198 yards receiving on nine catches, better than the 171 he had last year and more than any Charger in the state championship era.
Pearl City had the ball with less than a minute to go, but backup quarterback Travis Joe, who led the Chargers back, was picked off by Nanakuli’s Jaryn Paris off a collision between the receiver and a defensive back. Nanakuli kneeled on the ball after that.
¯¯¯¯¯
At Pearl City
| Nanakuli (2-1, 2-1) |
7 |
0 |
21 |
6 |
— |
34 |
| Pearl City (0-4, 0-3) |
7 |
7 |
0 |
14 |
— |
28 |
Kaiser 36, Roosevelt 7
Kai Gonda scored on a 72-yard kickoff return, a 31-yard pass from Makana Lyman and a 4-yard fumble return as the Cougars beat the Rough Riders.
At Roosevelt
| Kaiser (2-2, 2-1) |
29 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
— |
36 |
| Roosevelt (0-2, 0-2) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
— |
7 |
Kais—Fitou Fisiiahi 2 run (Clayton Sai kick)
Kais—safety, ball snapped out of end zone
Kais—Kai Gonda 72 kickoff return (kick failed)
Kais—Gonda 31 pass from Makana Lyman (Sai kick)
Kais—Christian Clapp 45 pass from Lyman (Sai kick)
Kais—Gonda 4 fumble return (Sai kick)
Roos—Pono Kini 1 run (Kainalu Pitay kick)
RUSHING—Kaiser: Gonda 4-83, Jeshua Bitanga 4-8, Fisiiahi 2-3, Vidijay Kannys 1-(-6), Curt Clivio 1-(-12). Roosevelt: Kini 10-108, Jonathan Youn 8-43, Jarin Jay 1-5, Ocean Ku-Au 1-1, Sam Porter 1-0, Michael Matsuoka 3-(-3), Pitoy 1-(5).
PASSING—Kaiser: Lyman 9-18-0—186, Clivio 0-5-1—0. Roosevelt: Matsuoka 7-20-2—51.
RECEIVING—Kaiser: Clapp 3-117, Leimana Chong-Gum 3-23, Gonda 2-29, Destin Moss 1-17. Roosevelt: Kini 2-22, Jay 2-19, Riki Kobayashi 1-15, Kainoa Koki 1-(-1), Pitoy 1-(-4).
Also
McKinley 43, La Salle (Ore.) 22
Radford 21, Crescent Valley (Ore.) 17
