Kapolei gets back on track

With new quarterback Lonenoa Faoa and a suffocating, ball-hawking defense, Kapolei ended its long slide Saturday night with a convincing 33-0 victory over No. 8 Kailua at Alex Kane Stadium.

The victory evened the unranked Hurricanes’ record at 3-3 in this most trying of seasons. At one point, they were 3-0, but one of those wins, against Castle, was taken away due to an ineligible player, and that was followed by losses to Farrington and Leilehua.

“It was a good win for our guys,” said Hurricanes coach Darren Hernandez, whose team improved to 2-3 in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red. “It was good to finally execute. We still have a lot of things to clean up and the penalties are still hurting us badly.”

Kevin Burkel was a monster on defense for Kapolei. He recovered three Kailua fumbles, including two on kickoffs, and added an interception.

“It’s nice to be working our way back up again,” said Burkel, who is a transfer from Colorado. “It was a tough couple of weeks, but we’re on our way back. We have the talent. It all depends on the players. No one can really stop us except ourselves.”

It was a bitter loss for the Surfriders (3-2, 2-2), who didn’t score for the second week in a row. Last week, they lost to then No. 7 Farrington 3-0.

“Those two goose eggs in a row kind of hurt,” Kailua coach Joe Wong said. “Sure, Kapolei’s defense had a lot to do with it. But we missed a lot of things open to us on offense. They (the Hurricanes) took advantage of every opportunity they had. You can’t turn over the ball like that to a team like Kapolei.”

Faoa, a sophomore midseason transfer from Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas who was starting for the first time in his varsity career in place of Kaniala Kalaola, had an on-and-off night. He finished 15-for-31 for 232 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.

Deep into the first quarter, it appeared neither team was going to budge before a series of plays went in Kapolei’s favor to turn the tide for good.

Matt Gututala’s interception set up Faoa’s first TD pass, a 13-yarder to Titus Mokiao-Atimalala.

Kapolei then made it 9-0 on a safety when a Kailua punt snap went out of the back of the end zone. The Hurricanes immediately increased the lead to 16-0 on a Faoa to Isaiah Ahana 52-yard pass play, and that’s the way it stood at halftime.

Early in the second half, Faoa’s 48-yard TD connection with Keanu Barboza was followed by a Burkel fumble recovery on the ensuing kickoff. That led to Braedon Bantolina’s 28-yard field goal and a hefty 26-0 lead with 8:39 left in the third quarter.

Fittingly, the Kapolei defense put the final tally on the board — Peni Naulu’s 98-yard interception return with 5:16 left in the game.

In all, Kailua quarterback Aaron Mejia threw four interceptions and backup Cole Weber threw one. Add in three lost fumbles and that makes eight turnovers. Kapolei didn’t turn it over once.

More photos of the game between Kapolei and Kailua.