Pearl City wasn’t playing like a first-place team against McKinley on Saturday until the Chargers found a way to capitalize on their own mistake.
Charles Freitas had a pair of touchdown runs and Pearl City’s defense allowed 155 yards in a 23-0 victory over last-place McKinley in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II contest at Roosevelt.
“I expected the game just like we’d seen,” said Chargers coach Robin Kami. “Everybody in Division II is tough, every game is hard.”
Pearl City (5-0, 5-1) was struggling offensively in the first half when it lined up for a punt from the McKinley 33-yard line.
The Chargers were fired up when Zameer Khan’s punt went out of bounds at the 2, but it was negated by an illegal procedure penalty. It forced Pearl City to go into punt formation again on fourth-and-15.
This time, the Chargers ran a fake, with Zion Tupuola-Fetui, who punted the first two times for Pearl City, throwing an arching pass to Brody Padilla to the 2.
Freitas scored on a sweep to the left side on the next play and Khan’s PAT made it 7-0 with 2:51 left before halftime.
“We were calling fake punt on the sideline,” said Tigers coach Sam Cantiberos. “It was inbounds, a nice pass. They just executed on that.”
The Chargers didn’t record a first down until the scoring drive – their fifth possession of the game – and finished the half with only 104 yards of offense and six penalties for 63 yards.
“That was a momentum swing,” said Kami of the fake punt. “We figured nothing was going on on offense so we’d try something and hopefully it works.”
Freitas finished with 12 carries for 59 yards. He also scored on a 20-yard run in the third quarter.
“I have to thank the O-line and the defense for giving me those opportunities, because without them I wouldn’t have those opportunities for those two touchdowns,” he said.
In the fourth quarter, Pearl City scored a safety when Tupuola-Fetui sacked the McKinley quarterback in the end zone – it came one play after the Chargers’ Kekainalu Simon threw an interception.
Simon later threw a 23-yard scoring pass to Calvin Mock to cap the scoring.
The Tigers’ only offensive weapon was Frank Steffany, who rushed 25 times for 126 yards. The deepest penetration for McKinley (0-5, 0-6) was the Pearl City 33-yard line.
“The defense kept us in the game,” Kami said. “We struggled on offense and we figured we would after a couple weeks’ layoff. We struggled with the passing and catching, the blocking, the holding, the personal fouls. Just everything that drives me crazy.”
Cantiberos was very happy with his team’s performance. The Tigers forfeited their final two games last season because of a lack of competitiveness.
“I couldn’t be more proud of my kids,” he said. “The progress is moving forward. The culture change has shifted. The process will take some time and they’re buying in to what we’re trying to do.”
