Kahuku survives scare from Waianae

No team wins a championship without having to overcome a little adversity, and the Kahuku football program got all the adversity it needed on Friday night at home.

The No. 1 Red Raiders trailed Waianae going into the fourth quarter before rallying twice to beat the Seariders 14-10 and keep their season unblemished.

Kahuku moves on to play Leilehua next week in the OIA playoffs.

Aofaga Wily capped Kahuku’s first long drive of the night with a 4-yard touchdown run for the winning margin with 2:32 left. Wily, who finished with 175 yards on 32 carries, got the ball nine times on Kahuku’s final 13-play drive.

"That was all on my offensive line," Wily said. "Our whole offense was tired, but we knew we had to get it in. We had to score."

Kahuku’s defense was led once again by Kawehena Johnson, who tied it on the first play of the third quarter with an interception run for a touchdown. Three plays earlier, Johnson cost his team six points when he lined up as a receiver and got open on a halfback pass but let the ball slip through his fingers inside the 10-yard line. He wasn’t about to drop the ball the next time it came to him.

"I was more than open; Joe Dirt would have caught that one," Johnson said about his drop. "I had to do something for my team to prove I am a playmaker, I had to prove it. The blocks were all set up and I just cruised in."

Waianae struggled to move the ball as much as Kahuku did, but the Seariders’ offense scored when it needed to. Waianae answered Kahuku’s first score with a 45-yard field goal by Jacoby Cid after traveling 60 yards on its first sustained drive. Waianae thought about going for it on fourth and one from the 18, but instead took the points.

"We played the best team in the state; the kids did a hell of a job," Waianae coach Danny Matsumoto said. "We just needed that one stop and didn’t get it."

Waianae made it clear from the outset that it didn’t travel to Kahuku just for the shrimp, taking the lead on the second play from scrimmage when defensive tackle Kennedy Tulimasealii blew up Kahuku fullback Polikapu Liua and forced him to fumble the ball into the scrum created by both lines. Josiah Hoopii emerged from the pile with the ball and sprinted 30 yards to the pylon for a touchdown. Cid added the extra point.

No matter, the Red Raiders can spot a team a touchdown at home, right? Not when the Seariders celebrate their lead by recovering an onside kick. Kahuku’s defense held, but the message was clear: Waianae came to play.

"We were ready for anything," Kahuku coach Reggie Torres said. "A lot of people thought we were going to win this game handily, but we knew how tough Waianae was. No. 91 (Tulimasealii) was killing us, we were trying all we could to block him, but he was killing us. But it’s the playoffs; it’s supposed to be tough."

The Red Raiders fumbled the ball away three times and punted it six times in the first three quarters, leaning on Wily more than ever. He carried 16 times for 90 yards in the first half, getting the ball on more than half of Kahuku’s plays. His 175 yards were dampened by 85 yards in penalties by Kahuku.

Kahuku’s defense kept the team in it, forcing five straight Waianae punts. Waianae’s option was good for 94 yards passing and minus-28 yards on the ground. Not only did Kahuku’s defenders hold Waianae’s offense out of the end zone, it provided a score and forced Waianae to punt eight times and turn it over three other times.

"We aren’t supposed to rely on (the defense)," Wily said. "But they bailed us out. This one is on them."