Kapolei ‘sloppy’ in first-round shutout victory over Castle

It might count as a playoff win, but it sure didn’t feel like it to the Kapolei football team.

The Hurricanes smashed a game Castle squad 30-0 at home on Friday night in the first round of the OIA playoffs. They get a matchup with East power Farrington on Friday for their efforts.

"We can’t be mad about a 30-0 win," Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez said. "But we were kind of sloppy, and that type of effort won’t cut it against Farrington."

If confidence counts for anything, Kapolei’s defense is ready for the matchup. The Hurricanes forced four turnovers in the first half, even though their middle linebacker, Micah Paris, was limited by a broken right hand. The defense gave the offense the ball on the right side of the field after all four turnovers and held the Knights to 9 yards rushing, with top running back Don Kaio going backwards for minus-7 yards on eight carries.

The Hurricanes started three of their first four drives on Castle’s end of the field, and capitalized with scores on two of them. The first drive took three plays to go 35 yards, with Trevor Kukahiko weaving through the defense from 14 yards out. Arielle Stoyanow made the first of her four extra-point attempts to make it 7-0.

The teams then traded turnovers, and when the dust cleared, Kapolei had the ball on Castle’s goal line. Kukahiko ran that one in, too, to make it 14-0.

The Hurricanes gained 203 yards on the ground against scrappy Castle, but felt like they didn’t move the ball enough. Kukahiko led the way with 78 yards on 11 carries and had his shoulder pads off before halftime. Tevin Tam Sing (9-67), Dylan Keomaka (8-37) and Mana Reis (5-32) made sure he wasn’t missed. In all, 10 different Hurricanes had at least one rushing attempt.

"I could have done better," Kukahiko said. "(Castle) came in tough, but I have to practice better for the next game."

Tam Sing had Kapolei’s third score and Reis punched the ball in from 5 yards out for the fourth. Kapolei’s final score came on a safety when Castle tried to open the second half with a triple reverse that didn’t fool Israel Latu-Reyes, and he met Isiah Ukauka before he could take the third handoff of the play, forcing him to the turf in the end zone.

"Our defense played well," Hernandez said. "Castle was low on numbers, but they were scrappy and our defense shut them out, but it was so sloppy."

Hernandez said his main concerns were escaping the game with a healthy squad and not giving up after halftime, as the Hurricanes have in their past two games, both narrow wins. He can check off both goals, even though the second-string offense didn’t score in the second half.

The season mercifully ends for Castle, which started the campaign 0-6 and finished 1-8. The Knights suited up 32 players for the finale, and they hope that they get more to come out next year. Castle did put up 230 yards passing, but most of it was in garbage time.

"It was a frustrating season for all of us," Castle coach Nelson Maeda said. "I hope one day the kids reflect back on it and realize that when you don’t work as a team, you won’t be successful."