Punahou football too much for Hilo

A lot has changed in the past half-century, but one of the few things that hasn’t is Punahou’s edge over Hilo in football.

The Buffanblu hosted the Vikings at Alexander Field on Saturday, the schools’ first meeting since 1962. Punahou won that ancient game by two points, but throttled Hilo 59-0 in the rematch.

No. 3 Punahou scored nine of the first 10 times it had the ball, the only failure occurring when Jet Toner hit the upright on a field-goal attempt from 55 yards out, and the defense held Hilo without a first down in the first half. After destroying Leilehua 49-7 in their season opener, the Buffanblu are still waiting for a challenge. They met a Mules team that hadn’t practiced because of the wild fires in Wahiawa, then drew a Hilo squad that had its head coach, David Baldwin, placed on leave on Aug. 10.

Still, the Buffanblu believe they are getting better every day.

“It’s always good to get on the field of competition,” Punahou coach Kale Ane said. “No matter how you try to simulate a practice it is always different, so for them to get out there and compete, go through their reads and communicate is good. I think we are better than we were last week.”

Punahou quarterbacks Ephraim Tuliloa and Nick Kapule had no problem communicating with their mates, combining to throw for 435 yards and five touchdowns. Tuliloa started the game by completing four of his first five passes, capped by a 15-yard touchdown strike to Eamon Brady. Running back Wayne Taulapapa scored from 14 yards out for Punahou’s second score and Tuliloa hit Kyle Yoshino in the seam from 62 yards out for the third. When halftime arrived, Tuliloa was 16-for-21 for 259 yards. He gave way to Kapule after halftime with a 49-0 lead.

Kapule was nearly as efficient running the offense under a running clock, completing all five of his attempts on his first drive for 91 yards, hitting Ethan Takeyama for a 15-yard touchdown. It was Takeyama’s third touchdown catch of the game.

Kapule finished 10-f0r-12 for 176 yards. He was 12-for-17 for 226 yards against Leilehua.

“It’s a tough situation for him; he is behind a very good quarterback,” Ane said. “He’s learning from (Tuliloa) and he always has to be prepared for any situation that comes up. We feel very comfortable with him in the game.”

Punahou next visits Del Oro, Calif., for a game at California Memorial Stadium on the Cal-Berkeley campus on Sept. 4. The Vikings will host another ILH power, Kamehameha, on Friday.

“We have to watch the film, but we had a lot of mistakes,” Hilo co-head coach Kaeo Drummondo said. “It’s a learning experience and a humbling experience and we have to do better as coaches to have our players prepared for this.”