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For the first time since 1996, three-time defending OIA champion Kahuku has lost back-to-back games in the regular season.
A stunning 28-27 win by No. 6 Campbell over No. 4 Kahuku on Saturday in Ewa Beach defied all logic. After all, Kahuku owned time of possession, controlled the line of scrimmage, and operated its game plan to near perfection. Big Red ran the ball 51 times for 241 yards, often out of their patented elephant formation with Wes Alo-Maiava (77 rushing yards before injury) and Zealand Matagi (102 yards) as wildcat QBs.
In all, Kahuku had 67 plays from scrimmage. Campbell had 38 snaps from scrimmage, but the last one was a 29-yard TD pass from Krenston Kaipo to Titus Mokiao-Atimalala with 19 seconds left.
Jadon Arola kicked the game-winning extra point.
“We’ve all got to accept responsibility,” Kahuku coach Sterling Carvalho said. “We have to make better adjustments and be better at what we do.”
Saint Louis allows 4 yards
Saint Louis coach Cal Lee was typically understated after the Crusaders turned in a performance of three-pronged dominance Friday night. “All right, decent,” was Lee’s summation of No. 1 Saint Louis’ 72-6 rout of Farrington at Skippa Diaz Stadium.
Linebacker Nick Herbig ignited the blowout with an 18-yard interception return for a touchdown 75 seconds into the game and the Crusader defense allowed just 4 yards in total offense for the night.
Saint Louis came away with three turnovers, allowed just two first downs and posted seven sacks.
“If we set the tone (on defense) it gets the offense fired (up) and it’ll get us fired up for the next series,” said Saint Louis defensive lineman Faatui Tuitele, who grew up a few minutes away at Mayor Wright Homes in Kalihi before moving to nearby Kukui Gardens. “That’s our goal to try to set the tone every game and I think Nick having that pick-6 really lit the fire.”
The Crusaders lost a fumble on their opening drive and then reached the end zone on nine of their next 11 possessions. The exceptions came after the defense recovered a fumble with 15 seconds left in the first half and on the game’s final drive as they ran out the clock.
“I think what we get out of this is our underclassmen get to see what the No. 1 team in the state is like and you get to set goals for yourself in the offseason and that’s a program I think you would want to model,” Farrington coach Daniel Sanchez said.
‘Iolani clinches state berth
Senior running back Kaua Nishigaya rushed for four touchdowns in ‘Iolani’s 41-14 win over Castle on Friday, and the Raiders clinched a berth in the Division I state tournament on Saturday when Damien lost to Leilehua, 23-17.
Nishigaya, who is 5-feet-5, finished with 164 yards on 28 carries, including touchdown runs of 31, 2, 1 and 1 yards.
“He’s 5-5, but he’s full of heart and guts,” ‘Iolani coach Wendell Look said. “That’s 150 pounds of heart and guts.”
‘Iolani scored 41 straight points after Castle scored on a 40-yard catch-and-run touchdown by Jonah Figueroa on the Knights’ second possession, set up by a Raiders turnover on downs.
“It feels great. We played as a team today. Each and every game, we come out as One Team,” Nishigaya said. “Coach Look harps on that really well. He’s a great coach. My teammates did well today, offense and defense. The O-line blocked well, the receivers blocked well, opened up holes for me so we could get the yards and touchdowns today. So I thank them and all the coaches.”
Kaiser claims playoff spot
Friday night marked the first time in the 46-year history of Kaiser football that the Cougars beat Pac-Five.
Saturday brought a playoff berth to a team that played only one game last season.
With Pac-Five’s defense bottling up any semblance of a running game by the Cougars, Kaiser quarterback Koa Tom threw for a career-high 336 yards and four touchdowns in a 31-27 win over the Wolfpack.
“Finally tonight we got some things going in the passing game,” Kaiser coach Tim Seaman said. “It’s the famous work in progress but that’s kind of expected with a guy that hasn’t played a whole bunch of quarterback. For him to have that kind of night tonight is pretty encouraging to see.”
Kaimuki’s 25-13 win over Kalaheo on Saturday put the Cougars (4-3-1, 3-3 OIA D-II) into the playoffs as the fourth seed.
Tom tied B.J. Bernard for the third-most passing yards in a game by a Kaiser quarterback. The Cougars beat the Wolfpack for the first time in eight tries.
Pac-Five and Kaiser combined for 35 points in the first nine minutes of the third quarter and zero over the final 15 minutes.
Roosevelt matches ’92
Roosevelt quarterback Sky Ogata accounted for six touchdowns and the Rough Riders improved to 8-1 to match their best nine-game start to a season since 1992 with a 49-14 win over visiting Pearl City on Friday.
In the process, the Rough Riders jumped ahead of the Chargers in the OIA Division II standings and dropped Pearl City to third behind undefeated Kaimuki.
“Roosevelt just played really well,” Pearl City coach Robin Kami said. “They clearly wanted it more than us, and they deserved to win.”
Roosevelt coach Kui Kahooilihala sensed his team had this performance in them all week.
“The guys came into practice and had a great week, and we knew that they wanted this game real bad, and had to have it,” he said.
Ogata rushed for 195 yards and four touchdowns, and passed for another 124 yards and an additional two scores.
Camacho has huge day
McKinley running back Migguel Camacho rushed for a school-record 306 yards and five touchdowns in a 34-19 win over Waialua on Saturday night at Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium.
Camacho broke Solomon Dixon’s school record to give the Tigers just their second win in OIA play since 2013.
Camacho, the leading rusher in Division II games this season on Oahu, is averaging 162.8 yards per game against D-II foes.
His TD’s came on runs of 31, 16, 63, 19 and 2 yards.
This week
Coming off its first loss in league play, Pearl City can create a three-way tie for first place to end the regular season in OIA D-II with a win over Kaimuki on Saturday at Skippa Diaz Stadium.
The Bulldogs (6-0) lead the Chargers (5-1) by a game. Roosevelt, which hosts St. Francis on Friday, is already in at 6-1 after finishing league play.
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