Punahou wins, will meet Saint Louis for ILH title

Put away the cards, coins and whatever else might be used to decide a tiebreaker.

The ILH Division I championship will come down to a one-game, winner-take-all finale next Friday night at Aloha Stadium.

No. 2 Punahou followed No. 3 Saint Louis’ 33-point win over ‘Iolani with a convincing 57-24 victory over No. 10 Kamehameha to set up the rubber match between the two schools.

Saint Louis won the first meeting 64-44 when quarterback Tua Tagovailoa accounted for nine touchdowns. Punahou held Tagovailoa without a touchdown for the first time in his career to win the rematch 33-20.

Both the Buffanblu (7-1) and Crusaders (7-1) have clinched a berth in the Open Division of the state tournament, but the ILH title is at stake.

“We’re excited for the opportunity,” Punahou coach Kale Ane said. “Tua’s a marvelous athlete and we’re looking forward to the challenge and we’re hoping for a way to find that victory.”

Nick Kapule threw for 452 yards and five touchdowns to put himself at the top of the offensive player of the year race.

Punahou’s 57 points scored against Kamehameha are the most by the Buffanblu in the 186-game history of this rivalry, which is the longest in the nation.

“This is a real momentum booster for us,” Kapule said. “Even though the score was what it was, we still have a lot of small things we have to execute on. It shows what we need to work on.”

Kapule got each of his four main receiving weapons at least one touchdown, and three – Judd Cockett, Keala Martinson, Ethan Takeyama — finished with at least 100 receiving yards.

“It’s fun to see (their hard work) pay off,” Ane said. “It’s a really hard thing to do and they make it look easy.”

Kapule had 284 of those passing yards in the first half as Punahou raced out to a 29-0 lead.

The Buffanblu scored touchdowns on their first three possession, with Kapule hooking up with Cockett and Martinson on scoring passes of 58 and 62 yards.

Punahou got the ball back leading 21-0 when Martinson ran the same route as the touchdown on the previous play. Kapule hit him in stride for a 35-yard gain, but Desmond Unutoa knocked the ball loose from behind and Tiger Peterson recovered for Kamehameha.

Unutoa also picked off a pass in the first half by Kapule, who had thrown only two in his first seven games coming in.

The Warriors couldn’t do anything with it on offense, as Kamehameha struggled all game through the air

Quarterback Thomas Yam rushed for three touchdowns but was 12-for-37 passing for 93 yards. Backup Justice Young failed to complete a pass in six attempts and fumbled once.

Kapule threw his third touchdown pass of the first half to Eamon Brady for a 29-0 lead. Kamehameha’s Adam Stack answered with a 35-yard field goal with no time on the clock going into the break.

Punahou senior Seyddrick Lakalaka started his first game of the season at linebacker after missing time with a foot injury.

He came off the end to sack Yam once in the first half and played a big role in limiting Kamehameha to 99 total yards in the first half, with more than half of those yards coming on its final drive.

“It felt good to be with my brothers and play beside them,” Lakalaka said. “(My foot) feels great right now. We’re ready for anything.”

Andrew Aleki recovered a fumble on the second play of the second half and Yam scored on a 33-yard touchdown run on the next play to make the game 29-10.

Kamehameha pulled as close as 36-18 on Yam’s second touchdown run before Kapule threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Takeyama on a fade route to the corner of the end zone.

Cockett led Punahou with seven catches for 179 yards and two scores.

Punahou linebacker Logan Williams was injured late in the game after getting hurt running the ball for the first time this season.

Kamehameha finishes the season 3-6, its first losing season since 1992.