Kaiser comes up big

Kaiser’s seasonlong pursuit of perfection came in handy on Saturday night.

The Cougars held Kauai to 5 yards in 21 plays in the second half and beat the Red Raiders 17-7 to win the Division II title at the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA State Football Championships at Aloha Stadium.

"We wanted to win the state championship; that’s our goal and there is no second place," Kaiser coach Rich Miano said. "We always talked about pursuing perfection and I told them they are never going to be perfect, but we can pursue it. Winning the last game is the payoff."

Kaiser’s offensive machine was far from perfect, being held scoreless by the swarming Kauai defense in the first half and going into the locker room down 7-0. The Cougars generated just eight first downs in the game to Kauai’s nine and managed only 119 yards of offense to Kauai’s 77.

Each team only got the ball four times in the first half, thanks to a time-eating drive by the Red Raiders in the second quarter. Kauai got the ball two plays into the period and went on an 18-play, 83-yard drive capped by the only score of the first half. Kauai was helped out by a personal foul on Kaiser and two offsides penalties on Fitou Fisiiahi.

"We ran the ball well, it worked out pretty good," Kauai coach Tommy John Cox said. "We ran the jet (sweep). We tried to run up the middle, but they shut it down in the second half. They wore us down. We were hoping that wouldn’t happen, but it did."

The Red Raiders extended the drive with a 2-yard run up the gut by backup running back Kyren Rapacon and faced another fourth down on the 3-yard line. With Kaiser’s Derek Costa blowing up the Kauai offensive line, Kanoa Iwasaki took an inside handoff and ran untouched to the corner for the only score. Tristan Bukoski converted the extra point.

"Not too many teams have marched the ball down the field and scored on us," Miano said. "And that was one of them. They played their butts off. We knew we could wear them down in the second half and hopefully outcoach them. We wore them down, but I don’t know if we outcoached them. That is a heck of a coaching staff they have over there."

The Cougars came out with a purpose after being scored upon, moving into field-goal range before Kauai’s James Bukoski picked off Kaiser quarterback Kahoalii Karratti at the 18-yard line. Bukoski saved a touchdown five plays earlier when he ran down Thomas Buntenbah-Leong and toppled him with a shoestring tackle.

Kaiser finally got something going in the third quarter when the runs up the gut that were stopped for losses began gaining positive yardage. The Cougars covered 51 yards in 10 plays, capped when Elima Haole beat Damien Butac on a slant from Karratti from 10 yards out on third-and-goal. Matt Sai’s extra-point kick was true.

Canaan Saole followed the score with a blocked punt that Melvin Kahunanui tracked down in the end zone. Sai’s kick made it an insurmountable 14-7 lead with 11:50 left in the game. Sai kicked a 30-yard field goal inside of two minutes to clinch it.

Although the score was tight throughout the second half, the game wasn’t. Kauai had six drives begin inside its own 24-yard line in the second half and had only one first down.

"I don’t remember the last time our offense really drove the ball down the field," Miano said. "But I know when we back them up on defense, make them go three-and-out and they are afraid to kick the ball to Thomas Leong, I knew eventually we would make a play on special teams."

Kaiser ran the table against the Division II part of its schedule, the only blemish coming in the first week with a loss to Division I semifinalist Campbell. Saole led Kaiser with nine tackles, Isaac Slade-Matautia added six and Costa tallied five, four of them for losses.

"We knew after that long drive we still had a full tank of gas," Kaiser defensive tackle Costa said. "We figured we were better conditioned than Kauai. All that hard work we did in the offseason paid off in the second half. I am a senior and to play my last game and go out like this is wonderful."

RUSHING—Kauai: Kyren Rapacon 12-26, Reggie McFadden 11-25, Iwasaki 4-6, Bukoski 1-(-3), Team 2-(-18), Kelson Andrade 6-(-26). Kaiser: Thomas Buntenbah-Leong 11-16, Canaan Saole 2-10, Fitou Fisiiahi 10-8, Karratti 6-4, Team 2-(-3), Isaac Slade-Matautia1-(-7).
PASSING—Kauai: Kelson Andrade 8-16-1-67. Kaiser: Karratti 8-15-1-91.
RECEIVING—Kauai: Bukoski 3-31, Iwasaki 3-27, Cameron Henry 1-4, Kalawaia Judd 1-0, McFadden 0-5. Kaiser: Buntenbah-Leong 3-46, Parker Higgins 2-20, Justin Ikei 1-10, Haole 1-9, Trevin Kahunanui1-6.