The Kapolei Hurricanes brought just enough wind and rain to turn a crucial battle with Moanalua into their kind of game. 

Two fumbles in the third quarter turned a tight matchup into a 25-14 win for the visiting Hurricanes. That ended a three-game skid to start OIA Blue Division play for Kapolei, which means playoff hopes have been revitalized. 

Kapolei is 1-3 in league play with three games left. Five of the division’s seven teams will qualify for the playoffs. Moanalua dropped to 1-3. 

"I’m happy for the boys. They worked hard and they stopped the slide," Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez said. "We knew we had to contain Moanalua’s passing attack. We did a pretty good job of rushing the passer."

Though it was sunny and hot during the JV game, wind and rain hit the field for the varsity game. The inclement weather foiled Moanalua’s normally prolific passing game. Kawika Keama-Jacobe, who passed for 574 yards and three touchdowns in a loss to Farrington last week, finished with 146 yards and no touchdown tosses. Kapolei sacked him four times.

Moanalua finished with 54 rushing yards on 30 attempts. Kapolei limited the home team to 200 total yards of offense. 

Kapolei came in with a game plan to keep the ball on the ground, rain or no rain, and had 290 rushing yards on 47 carries. Trensten Spragling had no problem cutting on the soggy mud and finished with 87 yards on 14 carries. Quarterback Alton Julius added 77 rushing yards on 11 attempts. 

"We had to ride the O-line. They didn’t perform well at all last week (against Mililani). We felt like we had to get back to the basics and the O-line played a lot better this week," Hernandez said. 

Turnovers on the muddy sod hurt Moanalua in the third quarter. Jay Amina’s fumble recovery and 11-yard return gave Kapolei the ball at Moanalua’s 25-yard line, and Spragling’s 11-yard run to the end zone gave Kapolei a 19-14 lead with 2:45 left in the third.

On the ensuing kickoff, the ‘Canes recovered an onside kick, then drove 43 yards in eight plays with Spragling scoring on a 21-yard run. Kapolei led 25-14 with 21 seconds to go in the third. From there, Moanalua had one scoring threat, driving to the Kapolei 1-yard line before getting stonewalled by the Hurricanes defense. 

On fourth and goal, Keama-Jacobe rolled right, lost his balance and fell on his back. Na Menehune got the ball back with 5:43 to play, but that ended on an interception by Tristan Centeio. The ‘Canes ran out the final 4:13 behind two-way ironman Ronald Matautia, who ran for 51 yards on five carries to seal the victory. 

Moanalua opted to use running back Rodson Kealohi as a wildcat-style quarterback on the opening drive. Na Menehune drove into Kapolei territory, but penalties derailed the drive. 

Na Menehune got on the scoreboard early in the second quarter with Keama-Jacobe at quarterback.

Michael Feliciano’s 10-yard run gave Moanalua a 7-0 lead. 

Kapolei patiently drove 80 yards in 10 plays, often using Julius as a ballcarrier out of a two-back, shotgun set. Matautia scored on a 3-yard blast to tie the game at 7 with 6:39 left in the first half.