No. 5 Punahou brushes past Roosevelt in return of a rivalry

Kale Ane was a Punahou junior when the Buffanblu last faced Roosevelt for the famed Paint Brush Trophy.

That was in 1969.

With Ane now on the sideline as head coach, the Buffanblu made sure the trophy would remain on display in the school library with a 38-0 victory over the Rough Riders on Friday night at Roosevelt’s Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium.

"It was exciting for me to come back and be part of that," Ane said. "A lot of great memories of the rivalry and all the friends and families that were part of that. It was an honor to be part of it, and hopefully we can continue that in the future."

Punahou made the short drive along Nehoa Street for the season-opening nonconference matchup and dominated from the start.

The Buffanblu, ranked fifth in the Star-Advertiser’s preseason poll, had a kickoff return for a touchdown called back to open the game. But that only briefly delayed the impending rout, as quarterbacks Larry Tuileta and Luke Morris both passed and ran for scores in the first half.

Tuileta, a sophomore, completed 10 of 13 passes for 113 yards and two touchdowns in his first start, while Morris went 7-for-7 for 74 yards and a score.

"The first couple drives I had some jitters, just getting used to the varsity level," said Tuileta, who split his summer between volleyball tournaments and preparing for football season. "But my teammates really encouraged me throughout the game and that really pulled me through."

The Punahou defense drove Roosevelt backward for much of the first half and went into halftime having allowed just one first down.

"With the amount of kids we had to replace from last year, any time we step out on the field this year is a learning experience," Roosevelt coach Pat Silva said. "The bottom line is we’ve got three weeks to prepare for our conference opener and that’s going to be the main focus.

"(Punahou) is big and strong and fast and it showed."

After Isaac Savaiinaea’s 94-yard kickoff return to open the game was shortened by a personal foul call, Punahou drove to the Roosevelt 7 before settling for a Christian Fairbairn field goal.

Roosevelt fumbled the ball away on its first play from scrimmage and Tuileta connected with Kale Dyas on a 12-yard touchdown pass.

The next time he touched the ball, Tuileta faked a handoff and scored on a 28-yard keeper around the right side.

Morris entered the game in the second quarter and had equal success. He hit Dyas for a 15-yard touchdown and ran one in from 11 yards to give Punahou a 32-0 lead at halftime.

Tuileta started the third quarter and ended his night with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Malik Johnson.

"Both our quarterbacks are still competing for the starting spot, so I know they’re anxious," Ane said. "But they both settled down, and they continue to support each other and it worked well."

Once a highlight of the old Interscholastic League of Honolulu schedule, the Punahou-Roosevelt series — which drew its name from the incidents of students painting various areas of the opposing campuses — had been dormant since the public schools left the ILH in 1970.

Ray Miyamoto, a 1952 Roosevelt graduate, watched Friday night’s renewal from the press box overlooking the synthetic field. While the scenery has changed dramatically since its peak years, the intensity of the old rivalry remains clear in his memory.

"It’s just like UH-BYU in a sense; we always looked forward to that game and the participants really played their hearts out," said Miyamoto, the father of a Roosevelt assistant coach.

At Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium

Pun–FG Christian Fairbairn 25

Pun–Kale Dyas 15 pass from Larry Tuileta (Fairbairn kick)

Pun–Tuileta 28 run (Fairbairn kick)

Pun–Safety, punter tackled in end zone

Pun–Dyas 15 pass from Luke Morris (kick failed)

Pun–Morris 11 run (Fairbairn kick)

Pun–Malik Johnson 24 pass from Tuileta (kick failed)

RUSHING–Punahou: Steven Lakalaka 8-34, Tuileta 2-30, Morris 1-11, Tyler Mizota 6-10, Kotoni Sekona 2-7, Jacob Ioane 1-2, Cody Lee 1-1, Zachary Hernandez 1-1, Fairbairn 1-(-21). Roosevelt: Anuenue Tui 5-17, Toa Fola 6-15, Jeremy Antonio 2-8, Craig Fuentes 1-1, Keha Wong 10-(-4), Team 1-(-12), Tynian Hayme 3-(-18).

PASSING–Punahou: Tuileta 10-13-0-113, Morris 7-7-0-74, Dylan Cunningham 2-3-0-20. Roosevelt: Wong 5-14-2-18.

RECEIVING–Punahou: Johnson 5-69, Dyas 3-51, Lakalaka 3-27, Keanu Chee 3-9, Lee 2-29, Kevin Benavente 1-18, Taylor McClafferty 1-2, Sekona 1-2. Roosevelt: Fuentes 2-10, Tui 1-8, Hayme 1-2, Leland Kahooilihala 1-(-2).

JV–Punahou 37, Roosevelt 0