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The longest high school football rivalry in the nation in terms of games played is a dead heat.
No. 3 Punahou crushed No. 6 Kamehameha 56-14 on Thursday night at Aloha Stadium to run its winning streak to seven games against the Warriors.
Nick Kapule threw for a career-high 348 yards and five touchdowns and the Buffanblu (2-0, 1-0 ILH) evened the all-time series against Kamehameha at 89-89-6 in the ILH opener for both teams.
Judd Cockett was one of two Punahou receivers to go over 100 yards receiving and caught three touchdowns. Ethan Takeyama had seven catches for 146 yards and a score and third-string quarterback Nui Adolpho scored on a 12-yard run with 1:07 remaining to give Punahou 56 points in the game, eclipsing the 55 points scored by Kamehameha in 1983 for the most by either team in the series.
“I want to make a shoutout to the receiving corps,” Cockett said. “We got really tight this year and the chemistry we have is really helping us out as a unit. Coming off this bye, everyone was really hungry. (We had) four straight weeks of hitting each other, so everyone was ready for a challenge.”
Punahou has scored 126 points in its first two games of the season after beating Leilehua 70-9 on Aug. 5.
The 27-day wait between games had little effect, as the Buffanblu rolled up 523 yards and outscored Kamehameha 35-7 in the second half.
Ke‘ala Martinson caught four balls for 86 yards and a touchdown and Eamon Brady had three catches for 63 yards and a score as Punahou rolled up big play after big play in the passing game.
The Buffanblu threw the ball for 407 yards and had 116 yards on the ground, with most of it coming late in the game.
“We tried to run, but (Kamehameha) is very physical and they took the run away,” Punahou coach Kale Ane said. “They’re very good athletes. I’m kind of disappointed.”
Kanoa Shannon had 139 yards rushing and a touchdown on 25 carries for Kamehameha, which got little from its passing game.
Junior Thomas Yam was 8-for-16 for 79 yards and backup Justice Young played sparingly in the second half, completing only one pass in six attempts for negative yardage.
“It’s the beginning, not the end,” first-year Kamehameha coach Abu Ma’afala said. “We have a lot of little things to work on.”
Punahou backup quarterback Stephen Barber, who holds a D-I offer from Hawaii, entered the game in the third quarter and immediately threw a perfect 40-yard pass down the sideline to Takeyama. He then found Martinson for a 10-yard touchdown pass for one of three Punahou scores on fourth down.
No. 3 Punahou 56, No. 6 Kamehameha 14
At Aloha Stadium
Punahou (2-0, 1-0) 14 7 21 14 — 56
KS (1-2, 0-1) 7 0 0 7 — 14
Pun—Eamon Brady 30 pass from Nick Kapule (Jeffrey Chan kick)
Pun—Judd Cockett 4 pass from Kapule (Chan kick)
KSK—Kanoa Shannon 1 run (Adam Stack kick)
Pun—Cockett 8 pass from Kapule (Chan kick)
Pun—Cockett 44 pass from Kapule (Chan kick)
Pun—Ke’ala Martinson 10 pass from Stephen Barber (Chan kick)
Pun—Ethan Takeyama 7 pass from Kapule (Chan kick)
KSK—Thomas Yam 5 run (Stack kick)
Pun—Barber 3 run (Chan kick)
Pun—Nui Adolpho 12 run (Chan kick)
RUSHING—Punahou: Sitiveni Kaufusi 12-65, Enoch Nawahine 6-28, Adolpho 1-12, Barber 3-12, Cole Arceneaux 1-8, Antonio Cortez Feria 1-2, Kapule 1-(minus 11). Kamehameha: Shannon 25-139, Breden Akima 4-26, Jaykob Cabunoc 2-21, Yam 4-10.
PASSING—Punahou: Kapule 17-31-0—348, Barber 3-6-0—59. Kamehameha: Yam 8-16-0—79, Justice Young 1-6-0—(minus 7).
RECEIVING—Punahou: Takeyama 7-146, Cockett 5-103, Martinson 4-86, Brady 3-63, Kennedy Freeman 1-9. Kamehameha: Christopher Ah Mook Sang 3-26, Cabunoc 3-6, Matthew Aio 1-23, Sundance Solatorio 1-13, Shannon 1-4.
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