Kalani players change positions to help shut out Kohala

After taking every snap at quarterback last year, Kalani’s Nicholas Sakamoto began his senior season playing on the other side of the ball.

Falcons coach Scott Melemai had Sakamoto playing linebacker and started sophomore Logan Lim behind center. Both players flourished in their respective positions, with Lim throwing for 177 yards and a touchdown without a turnover and Sakamoto returning an interception for a touchdown in a 35-0 shutout of Kohala on Saturday night at Kaiser Stadium.

“Right now Logan is our starting quarterback and Nicholas moved to outside linebacker and he had a good game out there,” Melemai said. “I think it’s in his nature he wanted to play defense more.”

Sakamoto was the only Kalani player to attempt a pass last year during a 3-7 season and accounted for all but one of the Falcons’ touchdowns.

Lim, who led Kalani on scoring drives on two of its first three possessions against the Cowboys, tossed his first career TD pass to Jake Lee late in the first quarter for a 21-0 lead.

As the game wore on, Lim got more comfortable in the backfield and started adding some zip to his throws.

“It was a good win,” said Lim, who completed 14 of his 26 pass attempts. “We have a lot to work on, but we did execute and that was pretty good.”

Senior Nathaniel Balangitao rushed for a game-high 97 yards and capped the opening drive with an 11-yard touchdown run.

A blocked punt returned by Wakea Kanahele for a score and the first of two Lee touchdowns had Kalani ahead by 21 in the first quarter.

Kohala, which is making the jump to 11-man football in the BIIF this season after going 0-5 in 8-man football last year, held Kalani scoreless for the rest of the first half, forcing three turnovers on downs.

Kohala senior linebacker Justus Ventura tackled Lim short of the stick on one fourth-down attempt and then had a sack on fourth down to stop another Kalani drive.

Kohala struggled to move the ball all game, but managed to drive inside the Kalani 30 late in the half.

A defensive pass interference call moved the ball ahead 15 yards and Zak Javillonar caught a jump ball for 19 yards to put the ball on the Kalani 29 before a turnover on downs.

“We needed the reps,” Kohala coach Chad Atkins said. “We’re coming from 8-man to 11-man, so might as well feed them to the tigers.”

Kohala suited up 27 players and just five seniors, while Kalani returned 22 seniors.

After a scoreless second quarter, the Falcons opened the second half with a 14-play, 76-yard drive capped off by Lee’s 6-yard TD run on an option pitch from Lim.

“One of the things we wanted to practice to try to work on was sustaining drives and higher completion ratings,” Melemai said.

Sakamoto’s 20-yard pick-6 late in the third quarter allowed the clock to run for the rest of the game.

Kohala, which had been on Oahu since Tuesday, still was able to get a lot of much-needed work in.

“We played every player that we brought up here,” Atkins said. “I didn’t bring them up here to sit on the bench, I brought them up there so they can learn that, ‘Hey, this is what I’ve got to work on.’ We go back home and we have work to do.”

—

Kalani 35, Kohala 0

At Kaiser High

>> Kohala (0-1) 0 0 0 0 — 0

>> Kalani (1-0) 21 0 14 0 — 35

Kalani — Nathaniel Balangitao 11 run (Kevin Tabuchi kick)

Kalani — Wakea Kanahele 2 blocked punt return (Tabuchi kick)

Kalani — Jake Lee 13 pass from Logan Lim (Tabuchi kick)

Kalani — Lee 6 run (Tabuchi kick)

Kalani — Nicholas Sakamoto 20 interception return (Tabuchi kick)

RUSHING — Kohala: Zhane Ching 12-14, Tamatase Sauta 2-9, Makai Pang 1-3, Ryan Juan Kealoha 8-1, Keli’i Lactoen 1-(minus 2), Legend Libron 1-(minus 7). Kalani: Nathaniel Balangitao 14-97, Connor Mararagan 10-57, Lim 9-9, team 2-(minus 1), J. Lee 1-(minus 5).

PASSING — Kohala: Kona Ledward 2-7–1-17, Libron 0-1-0-0, Kealoha 6-16-1-(minus 2). Kalani: Lim 14-26–0-177.

RECEIVING — Kohala: Ching 2-(minus 18), Zak Javillonar 1-19, Pang 1-7, Lactoen 1-4, Keith Benedicto 1-4, Easton Hoshida 1-1, La’akea Mamala 1-(minus 2). Kalani: Dillon Cortez 3-77, Jaymn Mohika-Poche 3-29, Jonathan Cai 3-26, J. Lee 2-18, Mararagan 1-18, Jevin Matsukado 1-9, Pearl Lee 1-0.