The machine known as Punahou football continues to roll through the ILH.
Quarterback Ephraim Tuliloa connected on his first 14 pass attempts and Wayne Taulapapa rushed for four touchdowns as the Buffanblu blew away ‘Iolani 59-22 on Friday afternoon at Alexander Field.
Tuliloa finished 14-for-15 for 294 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another as Punahou (4-0) led 56-7 at halftime.
Midway through the second quarter, Punahou scored touchdowns on three consecutive offensive plays.
Taulapapa scored on a 2-yard touchdown run and Tuliloa threw his first touchdown pass to Heisman Hosoda from 16 yards.
After ‘Iolani (3-2, 2-2) turned the ball over on downs, Tuliloa found Kanawai Noa on a 63-yard touchdown pass to make it 42-7.
Backup Nicholas Kapule played the second half and was 10-for-14 for 85 yards.
"I was pleased we got a lot of kids in," Punahou coach Kale Ane said. " ‘Iolani tests you with their strategy, so our quarterbacks were able to read different things. It was good."
Noa, playing at home for the final time, finished with six catches for 169 yards and one score to record his 14th 100-yard receiving game in 23 career starts.
His 31st career receiving touchdown pushed him into second place all-time among Oahu high schools, and he’s 72 yards shy of 3,000 for his career. Only Saint Louis’ Gerald Welch and Punahou’s Miah Ostrowski have had more than 3,000 receiving yards.
Noa needs 563 yards to surpass Welch’s all-time record but could potentially have only five more games to do it. It is possible if Punahou wins out that the Buffanblu could win a state title despite playing only nine games.
Punahou didn’t play a game out of conference this year after its opener against Leilehua was canceled due to weather.
"It’s definitely been hard on our team, especially for some guys who are trying to chase stats," Taulapapa said. "As long as we’re working hard in practice and continuing to do what we do, then that’s fine."
‘Iolani’s KJ Pascua scored on a 2-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to cut the lead to 21-7.
The Buffanblu scored on eight of their nine first-half possessions and intercepted ‘Iolani quarterback Austin Jim On three times.
Linebacker Saitui Moea’i returned one of those interceptions 38 yards for a touchdown.
Punahou has outscored its first four opponents 222-35 and has scored at least 50 points in every game.
The Buffanblu play Pac-Five next week before closing the regular season on Oct. 10 against No. 6 Kamehameha.
Punahou has won 15 of its past 16 ILH games. Its only loss came to Kamehameha in its 2012 regular-season finale with nothing on the line. Punahou had already clinched the ILH title and a berth in the state tournament and rested 17 starters in that game.
| at Alexander Field |
| ‘Iolani (3-2, 2-2) |
0 |
7 |
8 |
7 |
— |
22 |
| Punahou (4-0, 4-0) |
21 |
35 |
3 |
0 |
— |
59 |
Pun–Wayne Taulapapa 9 run (John Toner kick)
Pun–Taulapapa 43 run (Toner kick)
Pun–Taulapapa 3 run (Toner kick)
Iol–KJ Pascua 2 run (Evan Minami kick)
Pun–Taulapapa 2 run (Toner kick)
Pun–Heisman Hosoda 16 pass from Ephraim Tuliloa (Toner kick)
Pun–Kanawai Noa 63 pass from Tuliloa (Toner kick)
Pun–Saitui Moea’i 38 interception return (Toner kick)
Pun–Tuliloa 3 run (Toner kick)
Iol–Pascua 14 run (Pascua run)
Pun–FG Toner 28
Iol–Tyler Teruya 14 pass from Austin Jim On (Minami kick)
RUSHING–Iolani: Pascua 15-64, Storm Lotomau 9-54, Teruya 1-0, Austin Jim On 4-(minus 11). Punahou: Taulapapa 8-77, Cade Brittain 6-40, John LeClaire 2-10, Tuliloa 3-9, Nicholas Kapule 6-14.
PASSING–Iolani: Jim On 15-27-3-139, Jake Smotherman 0-1-0-0, Jarin Yokogawa 0-1-0-0. Punahou: Tuliloa 14-15-0-294, Kapule 10-14-1-85.
RECEIVING–Iolani: Tamatane Aga 6-12, Keoni-Kordell Makekau 3-74, Teruya 3-23, Connor Ohira 2-19, Nick Kennedy 1-11. Punahou: Noa 6-169, Micah Ma’a 3-69, Kamana Hobbs 3-33, Kala’i Santos 2-27, Hosoda 2-21, Taulapapa 2-19, Johnny Richardson 2-12, Matthew Christman 1-16, Jun Kim 1-7, Kyle Yoshino 1-6, Brandon Yahiro 1-0.
