Dallas Duarte entered Saturday’s preseason football game with little experience and out of the starting lineup.

But when Kamehameha starting quarterback Kamakana Pagan left with an injury, the sophomore got thrown into the action and held his composure to help the Warriors beat Kalaheo 21-6 at Kailua High School.

"I felt for him," Kamehameha-Hawaii coach Dan Lyons said of Duarte. "How much strength of character does that take? I know he was scared to death, comes in and throws a pick, overthrew a ball, but he stayed in there. Had some great completions toward the end, some third-down conversions. I thought he played special."

Pagan completed eight of 13 passes for 54 yards in the first quarter before injuring his foot.

Duarte, who missed last season due to a summer baseball tournament, started the second quarter and finished out the game. Lyons said X-rays will be done on Pagan when the team returns to the Big Island.

"He never played football before and he came in and did an excellent job," Lyons said of Duarte.

The Warriors (1-0) scored early in the first, then added a late touchdown in the fourth to put the game away. Kaeo Batacan accounted for both touchdowns in the first. He ran in from the 3-yard line to cap a 12-drive play to open the game. Batacan closed out the first with a 2-yard score and Jaisten Cabatbat’s PAT put the Warriors ahead 14-0 with 48 seconds remaining.

"He has amazing vision, works hard, great leader, and he’s humble," Lyons said of Batacan. "He doesn’t think he’s anything special."

Kalaheo (0-1) found the end zone with 3:48 left in the second quarter. After a timeout, Mark Lerhner completed a 12-yard pass to Tristan Thulin-Marsh to cut the deficit to 14-6. Kalaheo had a chance to further chip into the deficit with two minutes left, but Nathan Hernandez’s 80-yard touchdown reception was taken away due to a personal foul call.

The Warriors’ defense came up big in the second half.

Ethanjames Ramos intercepted a pass and brought the ball back to the 8-yard line in the third quarter. The Warriors got as close as the 1, but couldn’t punch it in with less than eight minutes left. The Warriors then forced a fumble later in the third.

Batacan’s 17-yard touchdown run and Cabatbat’s PAT extended the Warriors’ lead to 21-6 with 9:35 left. Kamehameha-Hawaii’s drive was set up after it forced a Kalaheo fumble.

"I thought we were clicking very good (in the first quarter)," Lyons said. "We threw that pick and let them back in the game. I thought our defense did a good job of not breaking. Just a real team effort."