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Kalani bolted ahead of Kalaheo early in their matchup Saturday night. But each time the Falcons threatened to pull away the Mustangs came charging back.
So it wasn’t until Kalani quarterback Noah Brum took a knee to run out the final seconds of a 42-34 Falcons victory that head coach Greg Taguchi felt secure.
“It’s never comfortable,” Taguchi said. “In this league anybody can come back. You never know. It’s a funny game.”
Brum, a junior, completed 20 of 41 passes for 325 yards and four touchdowns as the Falcons saw a 21-point first-quarter lead disappear but managed to stay a step ahead of the Mustangs in the second half.
Kalani improved to 4-2 in the OIA White while enhancing its positioning for a playoff berth with two weeks left in the regular season. The Falcons are tied with Nanakuli for third in the conference with games against Pearl City and Kaiser left on the schedule.
“Sounds cliche, but we really can look at only one team at a time,” Taguchi said. “The competition’s stiff.”
Kalaheo fell a game behind at 3-3 and faces Anuenue and Roosevelt over the next two weeks.
“We’re not out of it by any means, but we have to get some help,” Kalaheo coach Darrell Poole said. “That’s what we’ve been doing the last couple of games. We give up the points, but we come right back, but we’re chasing.”
Kalani jumped out to a 21-0 lead by scoring three touchdowns in a three-minute flurry in the first quarter.
Noah Kim capped a two-play Kalani drive with a 9-yard touchdown run. A little more than a minute later, Kalani defensive lineman Shiloh Laboy forced a fumble on a sack and linebacker Derek Costa picked up the loose ball at the 5 and took it in for a score.
After the Falcons forced Kalaheo’s fourth three and out of the quarter, Brum found Gavin Kim open over the middle and Kim outran the Kalaheo defense for an 80-yard touchdown.
“In the beginning it was kind of shaky, and once I got into a rhythm it really came together and the team stepped up,” Brum said.
Kalaheo then erased the entire deficit on three touchdown runs by senior Willie Lynch, who finished with 107 rushing yards.
The Mustangs had negative-10 yards in total offense in their first five possessions before Lynch took the handoff on a draw play and broke loose for a 55-yard score. Lynch cut into the Falcons’ lead again with a 25-yard run around the left side on the first play of the second quarter and tied the game with a 14-yard run later in period.
Kalani answered with a 23-yard touchdown pass from Brum to Ikona Mamiya that gave the Falcons a 28-21 lead at halftime.
Kalani opened up 14-point leads twice in the second half only to see the Mustangs respond with a touchdown on the following possession. Kalaheo closed to 42-34 on a 3-yard run by Cristian Johnston with 4:54 left in the game and executed a successful fake for a 2-point conversion. But a personal foul penalty negated the play and after the ball was moved back the Falcons blocked the PAT attempt.
Kalaheo then recovered an onside kick, and moved to the Kalani 29 before the drive stalled with 3:37 left. The Falcons then managed to run out the clock on the running of Dru Reeves, who finished with 111 yards on 15 carries.
“(Brum) made some clutch passes when we needed it, and had some clutch runs by the running backs,” Taguchi said. “He’s coming along. We just need him to be consistent. This was one of the nights he was consistent in his passing.”
At Kaiser
Kalaheo (3-3, 3-4) 7 14 7 6 — 34
Kalani (4-2, 4-3) 21 7 7 7 — 42
Kaln—Noah Kim 9 run (Leo Klink kick)
Kaln—Derek Costa 5 fumble return (Klink kick)
Kaln—Gavin Kim 80 pass from Noah Brum (Klink kick)
Kalh—Willie Lynch 55 run (kick failed)
Kalh—Lynch 25 run (Nainoa Frank pass from Steven Lee)
Kalh—Lynch 14 run (Reece Demello kick)
Kaln—Ikona Mamiya 23 pass from Brum (Klink kick)
Kaln—Blaise Manabe 10 pass from Brum (Klink kick)
Kalh—Steven Lee 13 run (Demello kick)
Kaln—G. Kim 19 pass from Brum (Klink kick)
Kalh—Cristian Johnston 3 run (kick blocked)
RUSHING—Kalaheo: Lynch 5-107, Steven Lee 14-58, C. Johnston 6-19, Rashaan Matalolo 1-8, Chase Hanawahine 2-2, Makena Johnston 1-0. Kalani: Dru Reeves 15-111, N. Kim 6-9, Genta Hammani 1-6.
PASSING—Kalaheo: Lee 13-31-0-163, Matalolo 0-1-0-0. Kalani: Brum 20-41-0-325.
RECEIVING—Kalaheo: Frank 5-72, Lynch 2-23, C. Johnston 2-15, Shem Sukumaran 1-23, Matalolo 1-13, Raymond Bragg 1-10, M. Johnston 1-7. Kalani: G. Kim 7-154, Mamiya 5-84, Reeves 3-33, Manabe 3-33, Kanoa Wong 2-21.
Junior varsity—Kalani 36, Kalaheo 14
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