No. 4 Kahuku played classic Red Raiders football in the rain at home Saturday night and it resulted in a 46-0 drubbing of No. 5 Campbell in the OIA Open Division semifinals.
It’s now on to Aloha Stadium next week for the Red Raiders (7-3), who will play defending league champion Mililani (8-3) for the OIA title.
“Mililani is No. 1 in the OIA until proven otherwise,” Kahuku coach Sterling Carvalho said. “We gotta make sure we gotta knock them off. We gotta play great football because they’re a great squad.”
It didn’t take long to get the soggy party started Saturday. Early in the first quarter, Ace Kaufusi wrapped up a Campbell ballcarrier, who fumbled, with the ball going in and out the side of the end zone for a safety.
>> Click here to see photos of the game between Kahuku and Campbell.
On the ensuing kick, Tomasi Pasi’s 65-yard return set up Zion Ah You’s 1-yard touchdown run. A little later, Zealand Matagi (142 yards on 17 carries, two TDs) gave Kahuku a 16-0 first-quarter lead with a 90-yard run on which he was nearly felled after 10 of those yards but stayed on his feet and broke free.
Historically, very few Kahuku victories do not have a major stamp by the defense. Saturday was no different. Ah You’s interception of a Blaine Hipa pass set up Jason Mariteragi’s 22-yard TD toss to Lokana Enos, and then Pasi’s interception and 45-yard return led to Matagi’s 14-yard TD on a sweep left for a 29-0 halftime bulge.
“I like that we were able to execute what we wanted to do tonight,” Carvalho said. “It wasn’t just offense. It was also defense and special teams. Campbell was missing a lot of its starters. We don’t have control over that. We can only control the three phases of our game. We executed well.”
The Sabers (5-5) were without hard-driving running back Jonan Aina-Chaves, who was stung by a bee before the contest, and star receiver Titus Mokiao-Atimalala, who is recovering from a knee injury.
“We just gotta play better,” Sabers coach Darren Johnson said. “We didn’t play good offensively and they scored on us. Our defense played better, but gave up some big plays and we’ve got to go back and fix that.”
Kahuku’s defense didn’t let up in the second half. Kingston Jones’ fumble recovery led to Adam Requilman’s 34-yard field goal, and Mana Fonoimoana took his second interception of the night 62 yards into the end zone to make it 39-0.
Backup running back Kelsyn Tangaro-Kanoa finished off Campbell with a 99-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter with the mercy-rule clock already running.
The Sabers will meet Farrington next weekend in the OIA third-place game with a state berth on the line.
Both combatants in the OIA Open final on Saturday are headed to states. Carvalho is hoping his Red Raiders can do better than the regular-season meeting against Mililani — a 32-0 loss.
“We want to be controlling the line of scrimmage,” Carvalho said. “Mililani will be trying to stop us from doing that. We just gotta be ready.”
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No. 4 Kahuku 46, No. 5 Campbell 0
At Kahuku
>> Campbell (5-5) 0 0 0 0 — 0
>> Kahuku (7-3) 16 13 10 7 — 46
Kahuku — Safety, Campbell fumbles in and out of own end zone.
Kahuku — Zion Ah You 1 run (Adam Requilman kick)
Kahuku — Zealand Matagi 90 run (Requilman kick)
Kahuku — Lokana Enos 22 pass from Jason Mariteragi (Requilman kick)
Kahuku — Matagi 14 run (kick failed)
Kahuku — FG Requilman 34
Kahuku — Mana Fonoimoana-Vaomu 62 interception return (Requilman kick)
Kahuku — Kelsyn Tangaro-Kanoa 99 run (Requilman kick)
RUSHING — Campbell: Cameron Sloan 5-7, Caleb Mercado 3-1, Tamatoa Mokiao-Atimalala 4-0, Chasen Torres 2-(minus-5), TEAM 1-(minus-7), Blaine Hipa 6-(minus-31). Kahuku: Matagi 17-143, Tangaro-Kanoa 1-99, Lalio Kaluna 8-21, Tiger Adolpho 4-18, Ah You 1-1, Mariteragi 2-(minus-3), TEAM 2-(minus-3).
PASSING — Campbell: Hipa 15-29-3-169. Kahuku: Mariteragi 1-2-0-22, Adolpho 0-2-0-0.
RECEIVING — Campbell: Zavier Ceruti 7-123, Tamatoa Mokiao-Atimalala 6-19, Pokii Adkins-Kupukaa 1-15, Emjay Arellano 1-12. Kahuku: Enos 1-22.
* Junior varsity — Kahuku 18, Waianae 12
