Punahou refocuses following tough loss to breeze by ‘Iolani

Following a tough loss to No. 2 Saint Louis last week, the Punahou Buffanblu entered their game against rival ‘Iolani with a renewed sense of urgency.

“We told the boys that the team was about to head in one direction, be it a good one or bad,” said Punahou offensive coordinator Teetai Ane. “But something was going to happen. So we were trying to just refocus the group heading into this game.”

What happened was a strong performance by the Buffanblu, led by senior quarterback Nick Kapule, as Punahou breezed to a 49-24 victory over the Raiders. Kapule passed for 287 yards and four touchdowns in a little over one half of play.

“Losing to Saint Louis last week kind of lit a fire under us,” Kapule said. “It let us know that we need to work harder, so we came together this week and put in the work. And today, we were able to go out there and make the plays we needed to.”

Kapule and the Punahou offense started quickly, as Kapule hit receiver Andrei Iosivas for a 42-yard score on the Buffanblu’s second possession of the game. Following an interception of ‘Iolani’s Tai-John Mizutani, Kapule wasted no time in marching Punahou downfield, capping the drive with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Eamon Brady.

After a quiet first quarter, ‘Iolani showed signs of life in the second quarter, when Mizutani found Rayden Kaneshiro for a 63-yard pass to get the Raiders into the red zone for the first time in the game. But Punahou’s defense held, and ‘Iolani had to settle for a 27-yard field goal.

“We told Nick to just try and stay in his rhythm,” Ane said. “He needed to keep reading the defenses and making the throws. We wanted him to keep everyone involved.”

Kapule would engineer two more scoring drives in the first half, the first ending with a 15-yard touchdown strike to Judd Cockett, and the second with a 1-yard run by Enoch Nawahine. ‘Iolani was able to find the end zone once, on a 73-yard bomb from Mizutani to Brent Nagami, but the Buffanblu held a commanding 28-10 lead at intermission.

Coming out of halftime, Kapule and the Buffanblu offense quickly added to their lead, as Kapule found Cockett again for a 60-yard touchdown. The score put Punahou up 35-10, ending Kapule’s day early.

‘Iolani was able to get points on the board in the fourth quarter, scoring 14 points in a two-minute span, with KJ Pascua scoring on a 5-yard run, followed by a 65-yard interception return by defensive back Makana LaBoy. But by then, the game was well in hand for Punahou. In relief of Kapule, Stephen Barber threw for 95 yards and a 34-yard touchdown toss to Tamatoa Falatea. Nawahine added a 19-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter for the final margin.

“Playing ‘Iolani always lights that competitive fire even more,” Kapule said. “It’s always a great game when we play ‘Iolani, because of the rivalry. All week, even the faculty and classmates were encouraging us to beat ‘Iolani.”

Pun—Andrei Iosivas 42 yard pass from Nick Kapule (pass failed)

Pun—Eamon Brady 18 yard pass from Kapule (Iosivas pass from Kapule)

Iol—Evan Minami 27 yard FG

Pun—Judd Crockett 15 yard pass from Kapule (Jeffery Chan kick)

Iol—Brent Nagami 73 yard pass from Tai-John Mizutani (Minami kick)

Pun—Enoch Nawahine 1 yard run (Chan kick)

Pun—Cockett 60 yard pass from Kapule (Chan kick)

Pun—Tamatoa Falatea 34 yard pass from Stephen Barber (Chan kick)

Iol—KJ Pascua 5 yard run (Minami kick)

Iol—Makana LaBoy 65 yard interception return (Minami kick)

Pun—Nawahine 19 yard run (Chan kick)

RUSHING—Punahou: Sitiveni Kaufusi 14-107; Nawahine 12-70; Kapule 7-42; Stephen Barber 5-16; Logan Laveti 3-13; Alexander Skelton 1-8; Maninoa Tufono 1-3; Hale Motu’apuaka 1-(-2); Nui Adolpho 1-(-22); Team 2(-4). ‘Iolani: KJ Pascua 23-68; Jarin Yokogawa 1-4; Tai-John Mizutani 1-3; Rayden Kaneshiro 2-2.

PASSING—Punahou: Kapule 19-25-1—287; Barber 7-13-1—95; Adolpho 1-2-20—1. ‘Iolani: Mizutani 16-37-1—239; Yokogawa 1-5-0—6.

Receiving—Punahou: Cockett 5-106; Iosivas 6-78; Brady 4-69; Takayama 3-59; Faletea 3-46; Christopher Kobayashi 1-20; Ke’ala Martinson 3-16; Nawahine 1-8; Kaufusi 1-0. ‘Iolani: Nagami 4-109; Kaneshiro 2-65; Isaac Anderson 6-39; Pascua 2-15; Jonah Miyazawa 1-7; Jake Kaneda 1-6; Drake Shigemura 1-4.