Kaiser’s spell on Kalani continued in full force at Kaiser Stadium on Saturday night.
With a freshman quarterback leading the way and a highly charged defense doing lots of damage, the Cougars drubbed their nearby rivals 34-10 for their fifth straight victory.
Now, Kaiser (5-0, 3-0 OIA Division II) can boast of a 35-4-1 advantage in the 40 games played between the two schools.
Cougars coach Tim Seaman isn’t going to rave about this win, not with Kaimuki (4-1, 3-0) up next.
“The effort was good, but we made a lot of mistakes,” he said. “I like that we played hard, but the team we’re facing next week is very talented and we need to get better. There’s times we make plays, but we lack consistency.”
>> Click here to see photos of the game between Kaiser and Kalani.
The first half was relatively close, with the Cougars getting the upper hand — 13-3 — at the break. That was partially due to Kyler Halvorsen’s field goals of 40 and 22 yards. Ninth-grader Easton Yoshino was just getting rolling. He threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to his brother, junior Mason Yoshino, in the opening half. The younger Yoshino finished 21-for-29 for 235 yards and three TDs.
The Kaiser defense — led by Cavin Lim’e, Jesse Stroede, Dre Falls and Joseph Chin — held Falcons quarterback Logan Lim to a 6-for-27 night.
The second half was mostly all Cougars, with Kamakana Mahiko and Lim’e catching TD passes of 21 and 35 yards from Yoshino, and Stroede nabbing a 14-yard scoring pass from backup quarterback Brock Perreira.
Aside from his TD catch among seven grabs for 102 yards, Stroede had an interception.
For the Falcons (2-3, 1-3), it’s going to be a year-long tussle with the OIA D-II bottom feeders fighting for a playoff spot.
Aside from keeping it close at the half, Kalani capitalized on a Kaiser mistake in the fourth quarter for its only TD of the night. That score came courtesy of Wakea Kanahele’s sack of the Cougars’ punter, which led to backup quarterback Nicholas Sakamoto’s 2-yard TD run. But that was way too little and too late. The Falcons still trailed 34-10 at that point and were already virtually defeated.
“Kaiser’s a good team.” Kalani coach Scott Melemai said. “We try to be as competitive as we can and it got away from us. But the kids played hard all the way through. That’s what we’re trying to show them, finishing games and playing competitively throughout.”
Mason Yoshino, who caught seven of his younger brother’s passes for 37 yards and that one TD, gave Easton some props.
“He gets it done, but the linemen are doing the blocking for him and it’s honestly a team effort.”
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OIA-ILH Division II
Kaiser 34, Kalani 10
At Kaiser High
>> Kaiser (5-0, 3-0) 7 13 14 0 — 34
>> Kalani (2-3, 1-3) 3 0 0 7 — 10
Kaiser – Mason Yoshino 1 pass from Easton Yoshino (Kyler Halvorsen kick)
Kalani – FG Kevin Tabuchi 43
Kaiser – FG Halvorsen 22
Kaiser – FG Halvorsen 40
Kaiser – Kamakana Mahiko 21 pass from E. Yoshino (Halvorsen kick)
Kaiser – Cavin Lim’e 35 pass from E. Yoshino (Halvorsen kick)
Kaiser – Jesse Stroede 14 pass from Brock Perreira (Halvorsen kick)
Kalani – Nicholas Sakamoto 2 run (Tabuchi kick)
RUSHING — Kaiser: Perreira 4-20, Ethan Lynch 6-19, Lim’e 7-19, Kilohana Lacanilao 7-17, TEAM 2-(minus 15), E. Yoshino 7-(minus 35). Kalani: Nathaniel Balangitao 13-25, Logan Lim 3-13, Jake Lee 1-0, Sakamoto 3-(minus 5).
PASSING — Kaiser: E. Yoshino 21-29-0–235, Perreira 2-10-1–30. Kalani: Lim 6-27-2–57, Sakamoto 0-7-0–0.
RECEIVING — Kaiser: Stroede 7-102, M. Yoshino 7-37, Dre Falls 4-31, Mahiko 2-45, Lim’e 1-35, Lacanilao 1-16, Lynch 1-(minus 1). Kalani: Lee 2-29, Dillon Noah Ah Sam, 2-15, Cortez 2-13.
* Junior varsity – Kaiser 40, Kalani 6