Naomas Asuega-Fualaau rushed for 223 yards on 28 carries, scoring two touchdowns, as Kaimuki outlasted Kaiser 30-14 on Saturday in OIA Division II semifinal play at John Kauinana Stadium.
Kaimuki (9-2, 8-0) earned a state-tournament berth with the win. The Bulldogs rushed 43 times for 305 yards and finished with 401 yards of total offense. Kaiser (4-5-1, 3-4) had 250 total yards.
“It feels good to be back,” Kaimuki coach David Tautofi said. “We’ve got another big game ahead of us (against Roosevelt). We can’t look ahead to states yet, but it gives us an easy feeling knowing that our season isn’t done.”
Asuega-Fualaau, a junior running back, was the lead ball-carrier on a sunny afternoon when the first-place Bulldogs flipped the script. When the teams met three weeks earlier, Kaimuki quarterback Jonah Fa‘asoa passed for a school-record 435 yards in a 46-21 win.
This time, the Bulldogs suited up just 23 players and were cautious about wearing down their two-way ironman players.
“We came out with the victory. It was definitely the game plan to stick with what we are, what we’re capable of doing. It would be dumb for us not to,” Tautofi said. “We’ve got a lot of playmakers. We just needed to get ourselves in a rhythm.”
The first quarter was exclusively elephant formation, but Asuega-Fualaau lost the ball on a 30-yard gain down the left sideline.
Kaiser was opportunistic. Noah Matsumoto gained 27 yards on a right-side run, and Koa Tom closed the drive with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Mason Yoshino with 7:10 left in the first quarter.
Kaiser withstood the smash-mouth efforts of Kaimuki for one series, but the Bulldogs got a 31-yard punt return by Jonah Stephens to set up three-play, 46-yard drive. Asuega-Fualaau followed his blockers for a 40-yard TD run down the left sideline.
Fa‘asoa entered the game at the start of the second quarter and Kaimuki switched to a spread formation. The junior found Kaulana Kaluna Jr. open for a 16-yard touchdown with 8:58 left in the second quarter. Kaimuki led 14-7.
Kaiser tied the game on a pivotal play near midfield late in the first half. On fourth-and-1, Tom connected with Jesse Stroede on a quick out pass, and as the cornerback missed on an interception attempt, Stroede blazed to the end zone for a 41-yard TD with 1:33 remaining.
From there, Kaimuki’s ground-and-pound took command. Asuega-Fualaau’s 9-yard TD run around right end, plus his 2-point conversion run, made it 22-14 with 3:39 left.
Stephens, returning from an injury, scored on a 37-yard run with a nice cutback on the right side to give Kaimuki a 30-14 lead with 10:14 remaining.
Kaimuki limited Kaiser to 116 yards of total offense in the second half.
GAME SUMMARY
Kaimuki 30, Kaiser 14
At John Kauinana Stadium
>> Kaiser (4-5-1) 7 7 0 0 — 14
>> Kaimuki (9-2) 6 8 16 0 — 30
Kaiser — Mason Yoshino 17 pass from Koa Tom (Kyler Halvorsen kick)
Kaimuki — Naomas Asuega-Fualaau 40 run (run failed)
Kaimuki — Kaulana Kaluna Jr. 16 pass from Jonah Fa‘asoa (Kobe Moananu pass from Fa‘asoa)
Kaiser — Jesse Stroede 41 pass from Tom (Halvorsen kick)
Kaimuki — Asuega-Fualaau 9 run (Asuega-Fualaau run)
Kaimuki — Jonah Stephens 37 run (Asuega-Fualaau run)
RUSHING — Kaiser: Noah Matsumoto 9-68, Tom 11-(-17), Calvin Lime 2-10, Dre Falls 1-7. Kaimuki: Asuega-Fualaau 28- 223, Jonah Stevens 11-72, Fa‘asoa 4-10.
PASSING — Kaiser: Tom 13-35-0-182. Kaimuki: Fa‘asoa 11-13-0-96.
RECEIVING — Kaiser: Yoshino 2-50, Stroede 3-53, Dre Falls 4-49, Matsumoto 2-(-1), Kaulana Esteban 2-31. Kaimuki: Kaluna 1-16, Alex Lemalu 2-11, Moananu 3-35, Elijah Lemalu 2-20, Asuega-Fualaau 3-14.
