Kapolei’s big defense makes the difference

It was football combat, westside style, and No. 5 Kapolei slugged out a 7-0 victory over No. 7 Waianae on Saturday night at Raymond Torii Field.

Neither team budged for most of the hard-hitting, clean contest, and the Hurricanes (2-0, 1-0 Oahu Interscholastic Association) got to keep the War Club rivalry trophy they took away from the Seariders in the postseason last year.

Trailing by those seven points, Waianae (0-2, 0-1) got new life late in the fourth quarter when Selu Cook recovered a Kapolei fumble at the Hurricanes’ 45. With three defensive studs in the backfield — Kanai Mauga, Toto Mailo and Zefften Thompson-Avilla — running the ball, the Seariders marched all the way to the Kapolei 14. Thompson-Avilla, however, was short by an inch on fourth-and-1 and Kapolei took over.

“That was a great challenge for us,” Hurricanes coach Darren Hernandez said about going against the hard-nosed Seariders defensive players inserted into the offensive backfield late in the game. Our guys rose up to the challenge and it was nice to see.”

Both teams had one more possession, but as was the case most of the night, neither scored.

“It was a battle, especially in the trenches,” Hurricanes defensive lineman Aaron Faumui said. “We went 100 percent every play. It was a trenches game, we dominated and held them to zero.”

Kapolei also held Waianae to 60 total yards. But the Waianae defense was nearly as effective, holding the visitors to minus-8 yards rushing.

The difference was in the passing game. Kaniala Kalaola threw for 226 yards and the only touchdown, a 10-yard toss to Marquis Montgomery in the right corner of the end zone with 4:23 left in the half.

“I feel like Kapolei came out and did their thing,” said Waianae’s Mailo, who had a sack and tackle for loss. “All of the mistakes were on us. I felt we were the better team and just lost to ourselves.”

Mailo said he was all pumped up about playing offense in the latter stages.

“I felt we had it,” he added. “We were pushing the ball and they overmatched us with their defense.”

Waianae suffered a big blow when starting quarterback Justin Tacgere hurt his leg in the first half. The Seariders replaced him with All-State first-team running back Rico Rosario, and the offense pretty much sputtered until the late stages.

Rosario, who gained minimal yards as a running back and was dropped for some losses at QB, was held to 10 yards on 13 carries.

“The next guy has to be ready to play,” Seariders coach Walter Young said about the QB situation. “That’s how it is. We played a great team and we’re getting better.”

Young said he wasn’t sure of the severity of Tacgere’s injury.

Faumui, Kukea Emmsley, Dylan Naehu, Junior Tuia and Dylan Toilolo were among Kapolei’s big forces on defense in the shutout.

Click here to see more photos of the game between Waianae and Kapolei.