A four-game regular season in the ILH Open Division has allowed Kamehameha to shoot to the top in just eight days.
The co-No. 1 team in the state in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser Top 10 this week didn’t give back any ground it made after ending Saint Louis’ 36-game winning streak against Hawaii opponents last Friday.
The Warriors, held to just 57 total yards in the first half by Punahou, bounced back with touchdowns on their first four drives after intermission to turn back the Buffanblu 35-28 on Friday night at Aloha Stadium.
Noah Bartley rushed for 111 yards and two touchdowns and junior quarterback Kealii Ah Yat tossed three touchdown passes for Kamehameha (2-1), which holds the lead in the ILH Open Division with one league game remaining, against Saint Louis.
“My message to (the team) was go play our brand of football,” Kamehameha coach Abu Ma’afala said after the team trailed 13-7 at halftime. “We just had to match and exceed their intensity. Play our brand of football, which our guys did. They did a great job of sticking together.”
Kamehameha’s avenged a 33-28 loss to the Buffanblu (1-2) to open the season in late August with just its second win in the past 17 meetings against No. 5 Punahou.
The teams extended the longest series played between two high schools in the country to 195 games, with Punahou’s lead shrinking to 98-91-6.
It didn’t look that way in the first half as Kamehameha struggled to move the ball against the Buffanblu defense.
Punahou linebacker Tevarua Tafiti, the state’s top-ranked senior recruit, who has committed to Stanford, forced fumbles to end the Warriors’ first two drives and had five tackles for loss in the first half alone.
Punahou turned Kamehameha’s first turnover into seven quick points when quarterback John-Keawe Sagapolutele rolled out to his right and found Astin Hange for a 5-yard TD on third-and-goal less than four minutes into the game.
The Warriors defense set up Kamehameha’s first score when defensive back Connor Hackbarth stepped in front of a third-down pass by Sagapolutele at midfield and returned it to the Punahou 30.
The Warriors started senior Dwight Apao, who played the first three drives at quarterback, before turning to Ah Yat, who had taken every snap in the first two games before he was banged up late in the win over Saint Louis.
Ah Yat completed his first pass to Duke Lorenzo for 18 yards and then watched Bartley do the rest of the work. Bartley carried it each of the next three plays, with a 5-yard power run up the middle tying the game 7-7 midway through the second quarter.
Sagapolutele came back on the next drive and hit Peyton Macapulay for a 36-yard touchdown pass down the Kamehameha sideline on third down to put the Buffanblu back up 14-7.
Punahou had just 116 total yards in the first half but had four key third-down plays that accounted for 69 of those yards and both scores.
Kamehameha went 62 yards in 13 plays to start the second half as Ah Yat tied the game with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Apao.
After a Punahou punt, Ah Yat found Sheyden Iokia, who was all alone behind the Buffanblu secondary for a 48-yard touchdown and Kamehameha’s first lead.
Punahou got a boost from Travis Ross on a 77-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to stop the momentum briefly, but the Warriors came right back out and scored twice to take a 35-21 lead.
“Our coaching staff does a good job of preparing our kids mentally, first of all, to kind of withstand some of these things and to push past some of the adversity they might face,” Ma’afala said. “Credit to the kids. They are buying into it.”
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at Aloha Stadium
Punahou (1-2) 7 7 7 7 — 28
Kamehameha (2-1) 0 7 14 14 — 35
Pun — Astin Hange 5 pass from John-Keawe Sagapolutele (Jordan Kapisi kick)
KSK — Noah Bartley 5 run (Winston Freitas kick)
Pun — Peyton Macapulay 36 pass from Sagapolutele (Kapisi kick)
KSK — Dwight Apao 2 pass from Kealii Ah Yat (Freitas kick)
KSK — Sheyden Iokia 48 pass from Ah Yat (Freitas kick)
Pun — Travis Ross 77 kickoff return (Kapisi kick)
KSK — Raiden Morris 20 pass from Ah Yat (Freitas kick)
KSK — Bartley 15 run (Freitas kick)
Pun — Hange 4 pass from Ty McCutcheon (Kapisi kick)
RUSHING—Punahou: Ean Kamau-Waikiki 13–36, Iosepa Lyman 6-19, Noah Macapulay 2-12, Sagapolutele 5-(minus 12). Kamehameha: Bartley 26-111, Micah Mahiai 5-16, Apao 4-1, Ah Yat 1-(minus 1), team 2-(minus 5).
PASSING—Punahou: Sagapolutele 10-23–1-97, Ty McCutcheon 3-4–0-34. Kamehameha: Ah Yat 15-21-0-205, Apao 3-3–0-8.
RECEIVING—Punahou: P. Macapulay 3-40, Hange 3-30, Lyman 2-29, Kamau-Waikiki 2-20, Alai Williams 2-7, N. Macapulay 1-5. Kamehameha: Levi Maafala 3-40, Morris 3-33, Duke Lorenzo 3-19, Apao 2-30, Blaze Kamoku 2-25, Payton Kahahawai-Welch 2-17, Iokia 1-48, Bartley 2-1.
