Kale Ane arrived at Kapolei on Friday somewhat concerned over how Punahou would bounce back from an opening-week loss at Kahuku.
It didn’t take long for Buffanblu quarterback Hugh Brady to ease his coach’s mind.
Brady led the Buffanblu to touchdowns on their first two possessions and his big first half powered Punahou to a 34-21 OIA-ILH Open Division win over the host Hurricanes.
“I was very pleased with the way they came out right away and scored on offense and the defense got a couple stops real quick,” Ane said. “You never know how kids will respond, and you hope they respond to adversity the right way and they did, so that was really nice to see.”
Brady connected for a 21-yard completion on Punahou’s first play from scrimmage to trigger an 11-play scoring drive that ended with a 7-yard scoring strike to Kanoa Kalahiki. The Buffanblu’s second possession followed much the same script, and Moku Dancil-Evans pulled in an 8-yard touchdown pass.
Brady ended his night with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Koa Eldredge that gave Punahou a 34-0 lead with 2:57 left in the first half. In all, he completed 16 of 22 pass attempts for 209 yards in less than a half of action.
“The first play of the first drive is the most important play in my mind, because that’ll set the tone for the night,” Brady said.
“Our receivers make me look good. I just have to get them a catchable ball and they’ll get 5 to 10 extra yards for me and it’s all through the (offensive line) too.”
Running back Vincent Terrell added to Brady’s passing stats by taking a screen pass 39 yards to set up his 2-yard touchdown run and the Buffanblu defense contributed to the scoring when lineman Kennedy Freeman intercepted a screen pass near the goal line and took it in for a touchdown.
Punahou went into halftime with a 34-point lead and a 229-56 advantage in total offense over Kapolei, which was coming off a loss to Kamehameha.
“Their starters put it on us,” Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez said. “They’re good, no doubt about it, but when you make a lot of mistakes you make good teams look great, and they’re really good.”
With Punahou’s reserves in to start the second half, Kapolei churned out yards on the ground and got touchdown runs from Ezekiel Waiolama and Zion-Jabez Robello, who finished with 111 yards.
Freshman Mason Gomez entered the game in relief of sophomore Noa Bailey and tightened the score when he hit De’Zhaun Stribling on a deep ball that Stribling took the distance for a 90-yard score with 4:52 left in the game.
Things appeared to get even scarier for Punahou when Kapolei kicker Micah Fonoti recovered his own onside kick. But Kapolei was called for illegal touching to give Punahou possession and the Buffanblu held on for its first win of the season.
“I’m just proud of my guys because of how hard they fought in the second half. They didn’t quit, they didn’t say die. They kept fighting and that’s huge for me because it’s a long season,” Hernandez said.
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GAME SUMMARY
No. 5 Punahou 34, No. 9 Kapolei 21
At Kapolei
>> Punahou (1-1, 1-1) 14 20 0 0 — 34
>> Kapolei (1-2, 0-0) 0 0 7 14 — 21
Punahou — Kanoa Kalahiki 7 pass from Hugh Brady (Tim Horn kick)
Punahou — Moku Dancil-Evans 8 pass from Brady (Horn kick)
Punahou — Vincent Terrell 2 run (kick failed)
Punahou — Kennedy Freeman 1 interception return (Horn kick)
Punahou — Koa Eldredge 20 pass from Brady (Quinn Maretzki kick)
Punahou — Ezekiel Waiolama 2 run (Micah Fonoti kick)
Kapolei — Zion-Jabez Robello 3 run (Fonoti kick)
Kapolei — De’Zhaun Stribling 90 pass from Mason Gomez (Fonoti kick)
RUSHING — Punahou: Terrell 14-48, Sitiveni Kaufusi 4-19, Kobe Muasau 4-12, Blake Furuta 1-3, Brady 3-(minus-11), Team 3-(minus-17). Kapolei: Robello 16-111, Waiolama 12-87, Gomez 6-9, Noa Bailey 2-5, Dustin Lino-Adkins 1-(minus-1).
PASSING — Punahou: Brady 16-22-0-209, Muasau 6-10-0-72. Kapolei: Bailey 6-20-2-29, Gomez 3-3-0-97.
RECEIVING — Punahou: Tamatoa Falatea 8-112, Eldredge 4-42, Terrell 3-44, Dancil-Evans 2-31, Kalahiki 2-24, Matagi Thompson 1-18, Noah Kameehonua 1-7, Zachary Johnson 1-3. Kapolei: Stribling 5-111, Sinai-Taheed Robello 2-9, Sheldon McLeod 1-5, Ikari Stokes 1-1.
