Kamehameha holds off Punahou, 16-6

HS Football

Sep 20

By Wes Nakama

Step One in Kamehameha's defense of the ILH football championship was not glamorous or flashy, but important and conquered nonetheless as the Warriors held off visiting Punahou, 16-6, Friday night at scenic Kunuiakea Stadium.

The victory in both teams' league opener snapped a four-game losing streak and improved Kamehameha to 2-4 overall. It was the third straight loss for the Buff 'N Blue, who fell to 1-3-1.

The Warriors led 7-0 after one quarter, 10-0 at halftime and 16-0 late into the fourth quarter, before a blocked punt set up Punahou's only score, a 13-yard pass from Tai Utoafili to running back Aaron Johnson with 3:06 remaining that closed it to 16-6. The two-point conversion run was stopped short, however, and Nainoah Samia recovered the ensuing onside kick to allow the Warriors a final possession.

Then on third-and-3 from the Buff 'N Blu 43, running back Tyrus Kaho'opii broke free for an 8-yard gain to the 35, and Kamehameha was finally able to run out the clock from there to seal the victory.

"Our kids made enough plays tonight," Warriors coach Kaeo Drummondo said. "The sense of urgency gotta stay high until there are all zeroes on the clock."

There was a sense of urgency for both teams entering the game with only one win each a month into the season. Punahou, in particular, scored only one touchdown in a 14-7 loss at Kahuku on Aug. 29 and was shut out at Kapolei, 14-0, on Sept. 4.

"There's a lot of stuff that we saw (on film) that was there, and when we watch the film (again) we'll see that there was quite a bit that we just failed on execution," Buff 'N Blue coach Nate Kia said. "I think game plan-wise, we felt confident going in, we saw the things we needed to see. But little things ... just getting our offense to execute, 11 guys every single play. We had some key breakdowns, on certain downs, that ended up killing our drives."

One big mistake early was a lost fumble that was forced and recovered by Lennox Chee-Anderson and later converted into Kamehameha's first score, an 8-yard pass from Loea Keopuhiwa to Jayden Braun with 34 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Tyler Fujimoto's extra point made it 7-0.

Fujimoto then kicked a 33-yard field goal with 4:47 left before halftime to extend the lead to 10-0, which is how the score stood after three quarters. Three minutes into the fourth, the Warriors stretched it to 16-0 after Braun's 27-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Loea Asuega-Stark on a halfback option pass.

"It's something we've been working on, you know, to just give a little bit of a different look and put some things on tape that you gotta prep for now so you just can't overplay certain plays," Drummondo said. "But it's still a play that has to be executed. They asked for it, we called it, and they executed. That's the name of the game."

Punahou finally got the break it was looking for with under four minutes remaining, when a blocked punt rolled all the way to the Kamehameha 13-yard line. One play later, Utoafili connected with Johnson on the touchdown pass to suddenly make it a one-possession game.

"Our defense kept us in the game, it normally does," Kia said. "Just like Kamehameha's defense. Coming into this game, we were very similar teams, in terms of what we had seen and how the teams were performing. Somebody needed to figure out their offense, and they were able to make the necessary adjustments, and they were able to execute. And that's the key thing. On our side, we still fell short on some of the execution. Our guys never quit, you don't even have to tell them that. It's more just to have the opportunity to make the play."

The Warriors' defense held firm throughout the game, allowing only 144 total yards, including just 42 on the ground.

"We knew they wanted to run the ball on us coming into this game, and the defense had to perform like we usually do,' said Kamehameha senior linebacker Evan Cazimero, who finished with six tackles, including 1.5 for loss. "It was 10-0 at halftime, but our coach told us we can't get ahead of us, we gotta keep fighting and can't let up. All of our past games, we've been getting tired in the fourth quarter, but this week we really pushed ourselves so we can have that energy in the third and fourth quarter to push through and always finish hard, even if we're down or up."

Drummondo said in the short and evenly matched regular season, it was important to start with a victory especially at home.

"There was a lot of frustration, man, we were 1-4, but we gotta keep perspective," Drummondo said. "This was the first ILH game, and the goal is to control your own destiny. We gotta win every one, but definitely cannot give up the first one -- that would put us in a really bad spot. The kids played well, and that's all we can ask. All the way around, all three phases, there's so much that we can get better at. Thankfully, we got a bye week, and we gotta maximize that bye week."

Photos: Garin Paguio