It was a soggy, crazy, happy homecoming for Kaimuki on Friday night.
Defensive back Koby Moananu intercepted Roosevelt quarterback Sky Ogata twice in the fourth quarter, including on the final play of the game with 18 seconds left, and Kaimuki dealt the Rough Riders their first loss of the season, 28-26 at Skippa Diaz Stadium.
Kaimuki 28, Roosevelt 26
At Farrington
Roosevelt (5-1, 4-1) 7 7 6 6 — 26
Kaimuki (5-2, 4-1) 0 21 7 0 — 28
Roos—Chase Akana 13 pass from Sky Ogata (Paul Ho kick)
Kaim—Naomas Asuega-Fualaau 2 run (Kurt Kawamoto kick)
Kaim—Asuega-Fualaau 21 run (Kawamoto kick)
Kaim—Koby Moananu 23 pass from Jayden Maiava (Kawamoto kick)
Roos—Shepard Kekahuna 89 kickoff return (Ho kick)
Kaim—Lana Kaluna Jr. 34 pass from Maiava (Kawamoto kick)
Roos—Kolea Pa-Macalino 3 pass from
Ogata (kick failed)
Roos—Myka Kukahiwa 34 run (pass failed)
RUSHING—Roosevelt: Kukahiwa 8-51, Ogata 4-22. Kaimuki: Asuega-Fualaau 39-118, Blade Pfeiffer-Kekoa 5-28, Maiava 3-14, Jonah Fa’asoa 1-0.
PASSING—Roosevelt: Ogata 16-31-3-184. Kaimuki: Maiava 15-23-0-217.
RECEIVING—Roosevelt: Devin Naihe 3-42, Pa-Macalino 3-29, Akana 3-23, Scott Chung 2-37, Wesley James 2-28, Brandon Teixeira 2-16, Aalona Monteilh 1-9. Kaimuki: Kaluna Jr. 6-93, Moananu 5-87, Fa’asoa 2-25, Asuega-Fualaau 2-12.
Junior varsity—Roosevelt 43, Kaimuki 0
“We just played for the seniors tonight. On that last interception, I just saw the ball up in the air and I had to go get it, and I came up with it on that one,” said Moananu, a two-way junior who also hauled in a 23-yard touchdown pass from Jayden Maiava during a 21-point Bulldogs binge in the second quarter to go from down a touchdown to up 14.
Kaimuki (5-2, 4-1 OIA D-II) moved alongside Roosevelt (5-1, 4-1) with three games to play in the regular season and Kaiser (4-0 OIA D-II) still leading the pack heading into a game with Waialua today.
Workhorse running back Naomas Asuega-Fualaau punched in two touchdowns and chewed up swaths of clock for Kaimuki as he took it 39 times for 118 yards. Maiava, a sophomore, was poised in making timely throws all game, finishing 15-for-23 for 217 yards, two TDs and no interceptions. He hit Lana Kaluna Jr. on a diving 23-yard score to go up 28-14 in the third.
Roosevelt showed the poise of a defending OIA Division II champion in waves of downpours with quick-strike scores to get back in it, including an 89-yard kickoff return touchdown by Shepard Kekahuna going into halftime.
“When you can have a ground attack and playing a good team like Roosevelt who just won’t go down, having the advantage that we had, it was crucial for us to be able to control the clock,” Kaimuki coach David Tautofi said.
PATs were the difference, as Roosevelt missed its kick after its third touchdown of the night — a 3-yard pass from Ogata to Kolea Pa-Macalino — and Ogata and Aalona Monteilh couldn’t connect on the tying 2-point conversion attempt with 4:03 remaining after Myka Kukahiwa ran it in 34 yards on a draw play.
The Bulldogs tried to extinguish the clock, going to Asuega-Fualaau repeatedly. He was driven back and with 33 seconds left Kaimuki’s punt netted only 6 yards to midfield.
With no timeouts, Ogata reared back on the next play and tossed it into double coverage, where Moananu came down with it and celebrated with teammates.
“It was awesome. An awesome game,” Rough Riders coach Kui Kahooilihala said. “Kaimuki, they’re a great team with skilled guys. We made mistakes here and there, but again, we gotta do a better job of executing.”
