LIHUE >> For the third time in 55 years, the Kaimuki Bulldogs and Kapaa Warriors met on the football field.
For the first time, the Warriors proved triumphant.
Baba Nao rushed for 91 yards and a TD, and defensive back Stetson Teles-Kelekoma came up with a clutch interception with 27 seconds left as Kapaa escaped with a 20-12 win over Kaimuki in the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Division II Football State Championship semifinal Saturday afternoon at Vidinha Stadium.
The Warriors go for their first state title against two-time defending champ Lahainaluna.
Kapaa (7-2) got big leadership from seniors, but young players like sophomore Kailua Lingaton and Teles-Kelekoma, a junior, came up with consistently key plays.
“We’re young. We start five sophomores on defense with four seniors,” Warriors coach Philip Rapozo said. “It feels great. Another opportunity. This year our focus was to win the KIF after losing it last year. Once that happened, we knew now we have a new season. Kaimuki could’ve been the (OIA) champion.”
Kaimuki finished another amazing season with just 24 players in uniform.
“Those opportunities don’t often present themselves more than once,” Bulldogs coach David Tautofi said. “Especially for a team like us, it definitely affects us if we don’t take advantage of those opportunities.
“We knew what we were up against; We played well. We played hard. It came down to the little things, and that killed us.”
A fired-up home crowd saw Kapaa withstand Kaimuki’s knockout swings during a bonkers final 2 minutes. Kapaa had the game seemingly sewn up after converting key first downs while Kaimuki nearly extinguished all its time outs. Leading 14-12 with the ball at the Kaimuki 31-yard line, quarterback Kahanu Davis noticed a gap on the right side.
“They didn’t have a ’backer on that side so I was trying to run down the clock,” Davis said. “I seen their ’backer coming in so I just snapped it. Our big O-lineman (Eli Unto), he did the job, sealed it.”
He handed the ball to Nao, who uncorked through the gap and breezed to the end zone untouched for a game-clinching TD. Or so it seemed. Kaimuki’s 300-pound sophomore lineman, Siosaia Nisa, bolted around the right side and blocked the PAT, giving Kaimuki life with 1:11 to play.
It looked almost like a Madden video-game move, allowing an offense to score just to get the ball back. But it wasn’t part of Kaimuki’s strategy.
“Game not over. You make the touchdown, you’re up eight, and you celebrate a little, then you look at the clock,” Rapozo said of the final 1:11. “Oh boy. Still got plenty time for them.”
Starting from their 22, the Bulldogs went back to their four-wide attack. Jonah Fa‘asoa completed three passes to advance his team to the Kapaa 36. Fa‘asoa’s pass on the right side was intercepted by Teles-Kelekoma to ice Kapaa’s win, but after a long conference by officials, a hit on a defenseless player was whistled against the home team.
Rapozo, like Kapaa fans, thought it was an illegal block after the pick.
Kaimuki now had the ball at the 21-yard line with 27 seconds to play. Fa‘asoa took two shots near the left pylon, where senior Elijah Lemalu was covered by sophomore Kailua Lingaton for two incomplete passes.
Lingaton had already stopped a key Kaimuki drive inside the 5 during the first half with a stonewall tackle, and later partially blocked a punt.
On third down from the 21, Fa‘asoa tested the right side again, and Teles-Kelekoma speared the spiral with two hands for the biggest play of the game.
“I give Kaimuki props for battling. They’re the toughest team I’ve challenged so far,” said Teles-Kelekoma, a junior. “It’s a big stage.”
At the tail end of the play as Teles-Kelekoma weaved to the opposite side of the field, running time off the clock, Kaimuki’s stellar lineman, Sama Paama, took a hit in the knee from a teammate and was down for several minutes. He was taken to a local hospital.
Kapaa took over with 6.7 seconds remaining and took a knee to end it.
“We’re focused and we know what we want,” Teles-Kelekoma said of going for the school’s first state title.
Kaimuki took a 6-0 lead with 9:54 to go in the first half on a 3-yard run by Naomas Asuga-Fualaau.
Kapaa answered on the ensuing series with a 50-yard TD by Nao on a draw play, and led 7-6 with 7:47 to go in the half.
Kaimuki regained the lead early in the second half. After an interception by Alex Lemalu, brother Elijah Lemalu leaped into the end zone from 2 yards out for a 12-7 Bulldogs lead.
That helped up for less than 2 minutes, when Davis raced around right end for a 9-yard TD. Kapaa led 14-12 with 7:57 left in the third quarter.
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GAME SUMMARY
Kapaa 20, Kaimuki 12
At Vidinha Stadium
>> Kaimuki (9-4) 0 6 6 0 — 12
>> Kapaa (7-2) 0 7 7 6 — 20
Kaimuki — Naomas Asuega-Fualaau 3 run (kick blocked)
Kapaa — Ryno Banasihan 50 run. (Chysen Lagunes-Rapozo kick)
Kaimuki — Elijah Lemalu 2 run (kick failed)
Kapaa — Kahanu Davis 9 run. (Lagunes-Rapozo kick)
Kapaa — Baba Nao 31 run. (kick blocked)
PASSING — Kaimuki: Jonah Faasoa 21-36-2-181, Team 0-1-0-0. Kapaa: Davis 4-10-1-85,
RUSHING — Kaimuki: E. Lemalu 9-93, Asuega-Fualaau 14-52, Jonah Stephens 13-26, Koby Moananu 1-3, Faasoa 2-1. Kapaa: Nao 18-91, Banasihan 6-73, Davis 13-19, Team 2-(-6).
RECEIVING — Kaimuki: Alex Lemalu 4-66, Stephens 5-45, Moananu 5-33, E. Lemalu 4-27, Asuega-Fualaau 1-9, Kaulana Kaluna, Jr. 1-4, Blade Pfeiffer-Kekoa 1-3. Kapaa: Lanakila Pagtolingan 2-68, Jai Alapai 2-17.
