Koby Moananu ran for miles again.
He was rewarded handsomely, hauling in eight passes from Jayden Maiava for 203 yards, including touchdowns of 13, 30 and 20 yards as Kaimuki toppled Kaiser 33-17 on Saturday night at Ted Fukushima Athletic Complex.
Kaimuki (9-2) advanced to the final of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II playoffs and will meet Roosevelt, which ousted Waialua on Saturday. Kaimuki and Roosevelt also secured state-tournament berths.
“We’re going to go home and enjoy this, cherish each other,” Maiava said. “Glory to God. We will stay humble.”
>> Click here to see photos of the game between Kaimuki and Kaiser.
Moananu showed no sign of fatigue except after those long touchdown plays, somewhat gimpy getting back to the sideline.
“We practice all week where they press, they’re off, they press. They always have that corner blitz and we found it tonight,” Moananu said.
Matt Williams had an interception and a fumble recovery, coming up clutch on defense. He praised head coach David Tautofi and assistant coach Billy Masima.
“Coach Billy Masima and Coach T, they started this program for us. Us seniors are going to try and close it out for Coach T, give him a proper farewell,” Williams said.
Tautofi was emotional but low-key after the battle.
“It’s a curtain call for the seniors. We always have plans and sometimes God has different plans. You’ve just got to be adept and willing to listen to that voice, and that’s where it seems to be for us and for me,” Tautofi said. “But I can’t really focus on that. There’s no real telling until the season ends.”
The win was a turnaround for Kaimuki, which lost to Kaiser 45-31 during the regular season. It was a bittersweet end for Kaiser, a team rebuilt from years of struggle. The Cougars played without freshman standout quarterback Easton Yoshino, who suffered a concussion recently. His replacement, Brock Perreira, passed for 329 yards and two touchdowns, but the visiting Bulldogs intercepted four of his throws and won the turnover battle easily.
Kaimuki struggled early to establish a ground attack. Senior Naomas Asuega-Fualaau finished with 102 yards on 31 carries, but had just 5 yards on his first eight attempts against a swarming Cougars defense.
Kaiser took a 3-0 lead on Kekoa Halvorsen’s 32-yard field goal. Kaimuki scored on its fourth possession, a 37-yard touchdown pass from Maiava to Sione Taufa with 1:49 left in the first quarter.
Kurt Kawamoto knocked through his first field goal, from 35 yards out, for a 10-3 Bulldogs lead early in the second quarter.
After Kaiser tied the game at 10 on a Perreira to Dre Falls 89-yard TD with 6:53 left in the half, Kaimuki regained the lead on a 13-yard scoring toss from Maiava to Moananu, who also started at safety and had one of the four Kaimuki interceptions.
After Kawamoto’s second field goal early in the third quarter, Kaimuki had momentum and its ground game was in control.
The Bulldogs used Moananu’s interception to set up a 10-play, 65-yard drive. Maiava’s 30-yard TD pass to Moananu opened the lead to 27-10 with 4:28 to go in the third quarter.
Kaiser’s no-huddle attack went into hyper-speed with a 63-yard drive that took less than three minutes. Perreira’s 4-yard TD strike to Mason Yoshino cut the lead to 10 points.
Kaimuki tacked on its final TD after pounding on the ground with Asuega-Fualaau. Maiava’s 20-yard TD pass to Moananu opened the lead to 33-17 with 9:35 left. Kaiser never got into Kaimuki territory again during its final four possessions.
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Kaimuki 33, Kaiser 17
At Ted Fukushima Athletic Complex
>> Kaimuki (9-2) 7 10 10 6 — 33
>> Kaiser (9-2) 3 7 7 0 — 17
Kaiser — FG Kekoa Halvorsen 32
Kaimuki — Sione Taufa 37 pass from Jayden Maiava (Kurt Kawamoto kick)
Kaimuki — FG Kawamoto 35
Kaiser — Dre Falls 89 pass from Brock Perreira (Halvorsen kick)
Kaimuki — Kobe Moananu 13 pass from Maiava (Kawamoto kick)
Kaimuki — FG Kawamoto 24
Kaimuki — Moananu 30 pass from Maiava (Kawamoto kick)
Kaiser — Mason Yoshino 4 pass from Perreira (Halvorsen kick)
Kaimuki — Moananu 20 pass from Maiava (kick failed)
RUSHING — Kaimuki: Naomas Asuega-Fualaau 31-102, Maiava 3-(-13), Avin Tanioka 1-1, team 1-(-2). Kaiser: Cavin Lime 10-27, Ethan Lynch 4-17, Perreira 2-0.
PASSING — Kaimuki: Maiava 16-32-1-336, Moananu 1-1-0-3. Kaiser: Perreira 20-46-4-329.
RECEIVING — Kaimuki: Moananu 8-203, Kaulana Kaluna 4-68, Jesse Stroede 4-45, Lynch 4-33, Falls 3-134, Asuega-Fualaau 2-3, Jonah Faasoa 1-25. Kaiser: Yoshino 6-71, Lime 2-33, Kamakana Mahiko 1-13, .
* Junior Varsity — Pearl City 22, Kaiser 12
