Hawaii high school football left quite a mark on its California opposition this weekend.
A day after Mililani, ranked third in the state, beat highly regarded Clayton Valley Charter, No. 4 Punahou outlasted another California powerhouse, Junipero Serra, 56-42 on Saturday at Manchester Stadium in San Diego.
Participating in the Honor Bowl for the second time in three years, the Buffanblu beat a California team for the second time in eight days after notching a 23-7 win over Torrey Pines on Aug. 25 at Aloha Stadium.
Quarterback Stephen Barber accounted for six touchdowns, including a 99-yard run in the final seconds after Punahou (3-0) had stopped Serra (0-2) from tying the game.
Defensive back Alaka‘i Gilman intercepted Blaze McKibbin’s 66th pass attempt at the Punahou 1-yard line before Barber took a keeper 99 yards to the house to end it.
“It was great. The kids showed a lot of pride,” Punahou coach Kale Ane said in a phone interview. “To play a quality team like (Serra) on the road and have such adversity that really knocks you down, knocks you down again and you keep getting up and you don’t know if you’re going to make it — to make it in the end is one of the most special moments you can have as a coach.”
Punahou, which battled cramps throughout the game and especially in the third quarter, outscored Serra 28-7 over the final 10 minutes.
Barber finished 12-for-23 for 326 yards and four scores and added 110 rushing yards and two more touchdowns.
Andrei Iosivas caught touchdown passes of 79, 34 and 29 yards and finished with six receptions for 189 yards.
“We were ready just to play someone good like (Serra),” Iosivas said in a phone interview. “Once we got that win we were ecstatic. We put so much preparation into it that it feels great.”
Tamatoa Falatea added a 63-yard touchdown reception and Sitiveni Kaufusi, who sat out until late in the third quarter, powered his way to 69 yards on nine carries with a 19-yard touchdown run that gave Punahou a 49-42 lead with 1:19 remaining.
“He had some cramps earlier, so we kind of tried to work it out and hopefully get him into the game in the fourth quarter,” Ane said of Kaufusi said. “He was patient and when his time came, he took it and ran great.”
Serra got the ball back trailing 49-42 and had a 71-yard kick return called back by a penalty.
McKibbin, who finished 39-for-66 for 399 yards, completed his first three passes on the drive and quickly had Serra in Punahou territory before lofting a ball into triple coverage that was picked off by Gilman.
The teams combined to run 158 total plays, with Serra accounting for 109 of them and 566 total yards.
Punahou finished with 510 total yards, 99 of which came on its final offensive play.
“I was not expecting that,” Iosivas said of Barber’s run. “Honestly, I thought we were offsides at first, but once he broke outside and was one-on-one with the DB, I knew it was going to be a touchdown and everyone on the sidelines started going crazy and tripping over each other.”
Iosivas estimated roughly 10 Buffanblu players, nearly all on the defensive side, had to leave the game with cramps.
“We tried to hydrate during the week, but we could have done a better job,” Ane said. “We had one kid cramp up after three plays. Our young guys stepped up and when they went down, the younger guys came in and did well.”
Punahou returns home to open ILH play against Kamehameha next Saturday at Aloha Stadium.
