The King Kekaulike football team’s losing streak is finally over, as Na Alii ended it in convincing fashion Saturday against McKinley.
Franco Melgar Martich turned in a do-it-all performance as King Kekaulike broke a 41-game skid by beating McKinley 30-0 in a nonleague game at Farrington’s Skippa Diaz Stadium.
Melgar Martich, a senior, completed eight of 15 passes for 105 yards and one touchdown and rushed 11 times for 68 yards and a score for Na Alii, whose previous victory was a 23-13 triumph over Kamehameha-Maui on Sept. 5, 2014.
“Man, I’m feeling overjoyed,” Melgar Martich said. “This is one of the best feelings I’ve ever felt in a really long time.”
Melgar Martich also made a field goal and three PAT kicks and punted, with one going out of bounds at the 5.
“A lot of us guys we play two ways, three ways even,” he said. “I want to move the ball around in any way I can, whether it’s punting or running with my legs.”
King Kekaulike drove 56 yards on nine plays on the game’s opening possession to take a 7-0 lead. Kali Kuhaulua capped the drive by barreling in from 2 yards out.
Na Alii forced a punt and drove 97 yards on 13 plays to make it 13-0 with 9:35 left in the second quarter. They scored on a 10-yard pass from Melgar Martich to Tani Kaholoaa, who went over a Tigers defensive back and tipped the ball to himself.
King Kekaulike (1-0) extended the lead to 23-0 on Trey Hunter’s 59-yard punt return with 8:20 left before halftime and Melgar Martich’s 24-yard field goal with 1:39 remaining.
Na Alii’s offense controlled the clock in the first half and their defense allowed only 8 yards of total offense. For the game, McKinley (0-1) gained just 68 yards and threw two interceptions. King Kekaulike’s punishing ground game racked up 243 yards.
“Our defense is where it’s at this year,” said King Kekaulike coach Tyson Valle. “Our D-line are the guys pushing up front for us. We thought we’d see what we saw tonight.”
The only signs of life McKinley showed on offense came on the first possession of the second half. With backup quarterback Kaena Leopoldo in the game, the Tigers drove to the King Kekaulike 32, but a sack on third down forced a punt. The possession ate up seven minutes of the clock.
McKinley senior Alexandria Buchanan, who is a rare female quarterback, suited up, but didn’t play due to a hamstring injury.
Na Alii capped the scoring on a 4-yard run by Melgar Martich with 8:59 remaining in the game.
After the game, Valle looked beyond the end zone and pointed something out to his players and coaches: “Look at the scoreboard, the ‘0’ is on the other side.”
Said senior lineman Helmut Baschleben Finau: “30-0, I remember some teams coming against us and we were 0 to 30, and sometimes we were 0 to 65.”
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King Kekaulike 30, McKinley 0
At Skippa Diaz Stadium
>> King Kekaulike (1-0) 7 16 0 7 – 30
>> McKinley (0-1) 0 0 0 0 – 0
King Kekaulike — Kali Kuhaulua 2 run (Franco Melgar Martich kick)
King Kekaulike — Tani Kaholoaa 10 pass from Melgar Martich (kick failed)
King Kekaulike — Trey Hunter 59 punt return (Melgar Martich kick)
King Kekaulike — FG Melgar Martich 24
King Kekaulike — Melgar Martich 4 run (Melgar Martich kick)
RUSHING — McKinley: Zion Williams 4-12, Franklin Pham 1-5, Tyler Sheidin 1-(minus 4), TEAM 1-(minus 5), Kaena Leopoldo 5-(minus 22). King Kekaulike: Melgar Martich 11-68, Kimo DeRego 8-58, Kuhaulua 6-50, Zack Hokoana 7-41, Hunter 3-24, Kris Barlahan 3-5, TEAM 1-(minus 1), Travis Quitevis 1-(minus 2).
PASSING — McKinley: Leopoldo 6-11-1-63, Jayden Victorino-Jay 5-10-1-19. King Kekaulike: Melgar Martich 8-15-0-105, Andruw Paden 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING — McKinley: Quincy Owens-Barnes 6-49, Joab Cruz 2-17, Alex Linmark 1-12, #80 1-2, Ethan Duong 1-2. King Kekaulike: Quitevis 2-62, Kaholoaa 2-28, Elijah Finau 2-2, DeRego 1-8, Hokoana 1-5.
* Junior varsity: Roosevelt 13, Kapolei 7
