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Your first indication that it was likely to be a tough night for Baldwin High was a smile.
When Punahou School defensive end Luke Kaumatule emerged from pregame warmups and removed his helmet to reveal an end zone-to-end zone smile, the Bears’ chances of breaking through to the Division I championship game of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA State Football Championship semifinals in their sixth try plummeted decidedly.
With Kaumatule’s surprise, pain-free return to the lineup for the first time since suffering an Aug. 26 knee injury, the Buffanblu defense had everything it needed to to ground Baldwin’s offense to a sudden and impressive halt, 35-0, Friday night at Aloha Stadium.
It was the first time in 15 tournament appearances the Bears had been blanked. But it was also the first time they’d faced 6-foot-8, 265-pound and 6-7, 240-pound defensive ends, Kaumatule and DeForest Buckner, the front teeth of an unyielding Buffanblu defense.
“If you can’t make first downs, you can’t win,” said Baldwin coach A.J. Roloos. And the Bears, who had been averaging 33.6 points a game this season, hardly could, managing just eight while crossing the 50-yard line but once. A team that had been averaging 353 yards per game struggled to get 85.
As a result, the Buffanblu will go to the championship game for the third time in seven years to face Kahuku, and Kaumatule will come in handy.
Roloos and the Bears weren’t alone in taking surprise note of No. 90 in uniform and in stride during pregame warmups. “I didn’t expect him to play,” Roloos said.
As of about a week ago, neither did Kaumatule. But his dedication to rehab had paid dividends. And it didn’t hurt to have an orthopedic surgeon, Darryl Kan, as the team’s offensive coordinator, to supervise the process.
“Dr. Kan called late at night one night last week while I was studying and told me he thought I had a chance to play,” Kaumatule said. “After I heard that, I couldn’t get to sleep. I never thought I’d play another high school game. I was focusing on getting ready for college.”
Given a second chance on his way to Stanford, Kaumatule made the most of it with four tackles and two forced fumbles. But his numbers don’t convey all his return meant to the Buffanblu — in spirit or performance.
“It was like a dream come true to have him back with us,” said Buckner, who was in on 11 tackles and swatted down a couple of passes. “We never thought he’d be back.”
After Kaumatule went through pregame warmups smoothly, cutting and sliding, pronouncing himself ready to play, the Buffanblu got an instant pick-me-up and then an added lift when he came off the bench in the second defensive series to almost immediately force a fumble.
Having him back allowed the Buffanblu to apply suffocating pressure with a three-man front that featured Buckner, Feteleni Sekona and Tai Foster alternating with Kaumatule. With the outside collapsing and stymied up the middle, even the Bears’ Keelan Ewaliko, nearly a 1,000-yard pass, 1,000-yard run performer this season, was unable to summon the magic to move the ball. That left Baldwin’s defense overburdened.
Punahou coach Kale Ane estimates Kaumatule was at “maybe 70 or 75 percent” Friday night. But there was no doubt even at that he made the Buffanblu way too much for Baldwin.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
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