Punahou holds off Kamehameha for title

Punahou stopped Kamehameha twice inside the 2-yard line in the final seconds to preserve a 24-17 win and capture the Interscholastic League of Honolulu championship Thursday night at Aloha Stadium.

The final stop came from junior linebacker Javin Kawai.

"I couldn’t have done it without my teammates playing strong up front," Kawai said of the play, stopping Kamehameha quarterback Nephi Stevens on a sneak attempt from the 1-yard line.

"We had to stop everything on the inside, so we had both of our nose guards inside at the goal line," defensive end DeForest Buckner said.

"Our offense carried us and got a lot of first downs. Tui made a lot of good plays," coach Kale Ane said, referring to sophomore quarterback Larry Tuileta.

A cascade of rain at the start of the fourth quarter made things challenging for both teams.

"It’s tough for kids to play with the elements, but they learn to make plays," Ane said. "It feels great to go to states. It’s been a while. It’s been one of our goals to get back."

The tiebreaker playoff was a necessity after both teams finished league play at 6-1. Fifth-ranked Punahou (10-2 overall) now advances to the state tournament. Third-ranked Kamehameha closed the season 7-4 overall.

"My team played well, and like I said, what we do at practice is what we do in the game," running back Steven Lakalaka said after rushing for 118 yards on 18 carries. "We came out with a ‘W’ and we’re not finished yet."

It was a bruising battle in the trenches. Kamehameha running back Bronson Barretto ran 27 times for 137 hard-earned yards. It was that final yard that separated the two rivals.

A frenzied crowd of 7,600 saw Punahou’s defense bend without breaking in the fourth quarter as Kamehameha threatened on three possessions to tie the game. The Warriors drove and stalled at the Punahou 12-yard line with 10:09 to go as Stevens’ fourth-and-4 play-action rollout pass to Keoni Bush-Loo fell wide.

A scintillating punt return by Raymond Pedrina set up the Warriors at Punahou’s 32-yard line with 8:59 left, but again the offense stalled as Stevens’ deep pass fell just beyond the reach of Pedrina near the goal line.

Kamehameha got the ball back on its 31-yard line with 5:02 remaining and went to Barretto, their bread-and-butter producer. He carried the ball nine times for 52 yards on the final drive, and Stevens hit Pedrina and Bush-Loo on first-down passes to keep the drive alive.

However, Kamehameha was short on time outs, burning its final one with 3:06 to go. After Stevens’ pass to Bush-Loo gave the Warriors a first down at the Punahou 2, the clock was down to 30 seconds.

Twice, Stevens tried to sneak in on the left side. His first try moved the ball to the 1, but the second sneak was met with resistance. Kawai, a 5-foot-10, 195-pound junior, dove at Stevens and caught the quarterback’s leg with his shoulder pads to stop him at the 1-yard line.

Time expired, and the Buffanblu were ILH champs for the first time in three years.

Field position was another key factor for Punahou, which got nothing but touchbacks on kickoffs by Kaimi Fairbairn. The senior nailed one field goal, just days after orally committing to play for UCLA.

Instead of the defensive struggles of the two previous matchups this season, the first half had its share of offensive highlights. They did come, however, after some key defensive stops.

A sack by Caelan Grugier-Hill sent the ball flying free from the hands of Tuileta on the game’s opening drive. Kory Rasmussen recovered for the Warriors and returned the ball to the Punahou 19-yard line. Three plays later, Barretto bulldozed in from the 1 for a 7-0 Kamehameha lead.

Kamehameha had momentum and drove into to the Punahou 15-yard line early in the second quarter when a pass by Stevens missed Bush-Loo. Defensive back Tim Kamana picked the pass off and sprinted 93 yards down the left sideline to tie the game at 7-all with 9:38 left until the half.

With Punahou’s penchant for giving Tuileta throwing opportunities on first down, the sophomore responded with a play-action strike to Malik Johnson. The 6-foot-5 senior ran a post route, pulled the ball in and broke free from the defender for a 53-yard touchdown play. Punahou led 14-7 with 6:05 remaining in the half.

"The safety came up and it was wide open in the middle. Coach (Darryl) Kan knew it was there," Johnson said.