Waianae whips Kaiser, faces Kahuku next

It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t clean and it wasn’t easy on the eyes.

It was a victory however, and at this time of year, that’s all that counts.

Jaylen Mitchell rushed for two of Waianae’s five touchdowns and the No. 3 seed out of the West opened the Oahu Interscholastic Association playoffs with a 35-16 victory over Kaiser on Friday night at Raymond Torii Field.

The Seariders (4-5) will travel to Kahuku to play the Red Raiders (7-1) in a quarterfinal matchup next Friday. Kahuku beat the Seariders 26-0 in nonconference play to start the season.

“We’ve got to go in there believing that we can handle this,”said 6-foot-1, 286-pound defensive tackle Kennedy Tulimasealii, who recovered a fumbled punt in the end zone for a touchdown. “Eliminate the penalties and play together, one family, one unit, and hopefully we can take them down.

“It’ll be a good challenge.”

Waianae fumbled the ball three times, although two were made by reserves late in a game it had well in control.

The bigger concern was a mind-boggling 18 penalties that brought back numerous big gains by an offense that ended up with only 251 total yards.

“I’m sure we can eliminate the penalties and get everything straightened away,” Tulimasealii said.

When they weren’t getting flagged, the Seariders were effective on offense.

Jason Towne scored on a 45-yard touchdown two plays into Waianae’s second drive, helping the Seariders score on three of their six first-half possessions.

Quarterback Kekoa Kaluhiokalani, who only played in the first half, scored on an 8-yard touchdown to start the second quarter and Mitchell followed with a 57-yard touchdown, dancing his way through the Kaiser secondary.

Tulimasealii’s touchdown pushed the Waianae lead to 28-0 before Kaiser answered with a 49-yard field goal by Jason Khamvongsa, who just missed a 59-yarder seconds earlier that was called back because of a penalty.

The Cougars (2-7) made the playoffs with a 39-14 victory over Roosevelt last week, their one true win this season.

Outside of a forfeit victory over Nanakuli in nonconference play, Kaiser had lost six games by a combined score of 264-18.

The win over the Rough Riders allowed the Cougars to play one last game, and they battled to the end, scoring two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to get as close as 35-16.

“The experience of playing in the playoffs and playing out here is the best thing these kids could get being so young,” Kaiser coach William Lobendahn said. “One thing Kaiser Cougars do is we fight, fight, fight.”

Lopeti Fonokalafi, a 285-pound defensive tackle, threw a 55-yard touchdown pass to Fitou Fisiiahi on a fake punt, and Leimana Chong-Gum returned a Waianae fumble 19 yards for the final score of the game.

At Raymond Torii Field