Backup gets in the act to help Aiea throw Kaiser for a loss

Aiea junior Ty Matsunami, who hadn’t attempted a pass all season, threw for 239 yards and three touchdowns to lead Na Alii to a 36-20 win over Kaiser on Friday night at Kaiser Stadium.

Kame Kim Choy-Keb-Ah Lo had six catches for 106 yards with two touchdowns for Na Alii (2-4, 2-3 OIA Blue), who snapped a four-game losing streak.

Matsunami replaced starter Kobe Kato midway through the second quarter and completed 16 of 27 passes. His 23-yard touchdown pass to Choy-Keb-Ah Lo with 28 seconds left in the first half gave Aiea a 23-0 lead.

“Coach just called my name,” said Matsunami, who has caught three touchdown passes this season. “I thought I did OK.”

Na Alii coach Wendell Say said an injury to starter Zelius Maae-Liupaono forced Aiea to give Matsunami practice reps at quarterback this week.

“Games like this are making me older faster,” Say said. “Ty was a quarterback before and this year we lose both quarterbacks (to graduation), so with ‘Z’ out, we were forced to put Ty at quarterback.

“Kobe can do the job, but we want to give him competition.”

Aiea had a comfortable 30-0 lead when Kaiser (2-5, 1-5) scored three consecutive touchdowns on defense.

Defensive end Andrew Choi scooped up a fumble forced by Tyson Creekmur for a 40-yard touchdown return and Keoni Pangan picked off a pass on the final play of the third quarter and returned it 80 yards for a score to make it 30-13.

Aiea ran six consecutive times on a drive in the fourth quarter, then faced a third-and-1 near midfield.

Na Alii dialed up a pass play and Matsunami was intercepted by Kainoa Craig, who returned it 53 yards to cut the lead to 30-20.

“Ty did pretty good, but those two interceptions were bad choices,” Say said. “It’s a learning experience. Good thing we were up.”

Matsunami came back and threw the ball four straight times on the next drive after his second pick-six, hitting Choy-Keb-Ah Lo for a 14-yard TD to make it 36-20.

Kaiser got the ball back one last time with a minute left, but Arman Mogota recorded his second sack to stall the drive.

Na Alii scored their first 17 points off Kaiser turnovers, beginning with Demeiko Hill’s 66-yard interception return for a TD.

Kaiser quarterback Kainoa Torres fumbled the snap to start the next drive and Aiea cashed in with Kato’s 26-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead after the first quarter.

Kaiser committed its third turnover of the first half when it dropped a punt and Aiea responded with Kato’s 5-yard TD run for a 17-0 lead.

Defensive back Gage Asing added two interceptions and a sack for the Na Alii defense.

Torres finished 11-for-30 for 122 yards with three picks.