No. 7 Kamehameha played like the team with its season on the line.
A little bit of luck sure didn’t hurt either.
Kaulana Apelu rushed for 145 yards and a score, and Nephi Stevens turned a pass that deflected off a defender’s hands into a 38-yard touchdown for the clinching score as the Warriors kept their postseason hopes alive with a 43-19 win over Saint Louis on Friday night at Aloha Stadium.
Kamehameha (4-2 ILH, 6-3) avenged a 34-23 loss to Saint Louis two weeks ago to move into a second-place tie with the fifth-ranked Crusaders (4-2, 5-4). Both teams need to beat No. 2 Punahou in their final games to force a three-way tie for the overall ILH Division I crown.
"The boys came out fired up," Kamehameha coach David Stant said. "It didn’t matter what we called or what we played, they were flying around and … Dylan (Kane) just took it to the house."
Kamehameha played like the desperate team from the opening whistle, blitzing the Crusaders with an early onslaught of takeaways and big plays.
After bobbling the kickoff, Kane, a sophomore, found a wide-open lane down the Saint Louis sideline to go 95 yards for a touchdown that took just 13 seconds.
"I think (the kickoff) set the tone for our whole game," Stant said.
On the other side, Saint Louis couldn’t get out of its own way, as star receiver Jeremy Tabuyo fumbled on the Crusaders’ second play from scrimmage, leading to a 3-yard touchdown run by Salanoa-Alo Wily.
Running back Adam Noga fumbled on his second touch, leading to a Warriors field goal and a 16-0 lead.
Kamehameha forced six turnovers, including four in a row in the second half.
After giving up two touchdowns in the final minute before halftime, the Warriors weathered the storm and outscored Saint Louis 17-0 after the break.
Apelu became Kamehameha’s first 100-yard rusher this season, punctuating the win with a 53-yard touchdown in the final two minutes.
"It looked like (during halftime) we were losing and then they proved me wrong," Stant said.
"We said we’d give (Apelu) the ball as many times as we can to get him going and our offensive guys did a good job."
Kamehameha led by as many as 20 when the Crusaders struck for two touchdowns in the final minute of the first half.
Quarterback Kawai Mook-Garcia moved Saint Louis 84 yards in 10 plays, using a hurry-up offense to hit Tabuyo on a 12-yard touchdown pass.
Kamehameha got the ball back on its own 22 with 47 seconds left, but quarterback Makoa Camanse-Stevens threw his first interception of the year, returned by Tanner Oshiro to the Kamehameha 34.
Kingston Fernandez sacked Mook-Garcia for a loss of 13 yards, but after time was put back on the clock, Mook-Garcia found Devan Stubblefield on a 47-yard Hail Mary with no time remaining to bring Saint Louis all the way back to 26-19 heading to the break.
At Aloha Stadium
| Kamehameha (4-2, 6-3) |
16 |
10 |
3 |
14 |
— |
43 |
| Saint Louis (4-2, 5-4) |
6 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
— |
19 |
Kam–Dylan Kane 95 kickoff return (Tyler Fitzsimmons kick)
Kam–Salanoa-Alo Wily 3 run (kick blocked)
Kam–FG Fitzsimmons 27
StL–Kawai Mook-Garcia 5 run (kick failed)
Kam–Kaulana Werner 14 pass from Makoa Camanse-Stevens (Fitzsimmons kick)
Kam–FG Fitzsimmons 36
StL–Jeremy Tabuyo 12 pass from Mook-Garcia (Ihaka Johnson kick)
StL–Devan Stubblefield 47 pass from Mook-Garcia (kick failed)
FG–Fitzsimmons 21
Kam–Nephi Stevens 38 pass from Camanse-Stevens (Fitzsimmons kick)
Kam–Kaulana Apelu 53 run (Fitzsimmons kick)
RUSHING–Kamehameha: Apelu 19-145, Ali’i Pedrina 5-12, Camanse-Stevens 7-12, Wily 2-4. Saint Louis: Adam Noga 17-142, Allan Cui 3-23, Kaulana Vinoya 4-14, Mook-Garcia 9-2, TEAM 1-(-3).
PASSING–Kamehameha: Camanse-Stevens 15-23-1-177. Saint Louis: Mook-Garcia 14-35-2-245.
RECEIVING–Kamehameha: Jordan Paulo 4-42, Werner 4-15, Jake Kealohi 2-9, Stevens 1-38, Pedrina 1-34, Austin Gerard 1-27, Kody Chai 1-7, Pono Costorio-Carvalho 1-5. Saint Louis: Stubblefield 5-86, Tabuyo 4-40, Jerrick Taboada 3-49, Noga 2-33, Ricky Ahlo-Pinera 1-24, Jordan Eugenio 1-13.
Pac-Five 18, Damien 16
Blayne Won knocked down a fourth-down pass with six seconds remaining and the Wolfpack (2-4 ILH,
3-6) held on to defeat the Monarchs (0-6, 3-6) to sweep the season series for the fourth consecutive year.
Pac-Five’s Keoni Tom-Millare rushed for a season-high 227 yards and also threw for 156 yards, hitting Justin Layco for an 80-yard score on the first play of the game.
Damien’s Kana’i Picanco intercepted Tom-Millare on Pac-Five’s next possession and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 6-all.
Tom-Millare added touchdown runs of 3 and 1 yards to put the Wolfpack ahead 18-13 at halftime.
Pac-Five can force a tiebreaker for the ILH Division II crown with a win at ‘Iolani on Oct. 27.
At Aloha Stadium
| Pac-Five (2-4, 3-6) |
12 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
— |
18 |
| Damien (0-6, 3-6) |
6 |
7 |
3 |
0 |
— |
16 |
P5–Justin Layco 80 pass from Keoni Tom-Millare (kick blocked)
Dam–Kana’i Picanco 35 interception return (kick failed)
P5–Tom-Millare 3 run (run failed)
Dam–Syles Choy 6 run (Lyle Alloy-Glover kick)
P5–Tom-Millare 1 run (pass failed)
Dam–FG Alloy-Glover 29
RUSHING–Pac-Five: Tom-Millare 25-227, Roycen Routt 5-48, Layco 2-0, TEAM 1-(-1), Cody Kim 4-(-13). Damien: Kyle Sato 14-74, Choy 11-49, Edwin Aumua 5-13.
PASSING–Pac-Five: Tom-Millare 7-15-1-156, Kim 4-7-0-40. Damien: Choy 11-21-0-68.
RECEIVING–Pac-Five: Routt 6-61, Layco 2-89, Tom-Millare 2-21, Brennan Tsubasa 1-25. Damien: Bryson Dalmacio 2-18, Dustin Munar 2-12, Dylan Flores 2-11, Sato 2-8, Alloy-Glover 2-1, Cullen Forburger 1-18.
