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There was nothing left to prove, except in the eyes of Moanalua coach Vince Nihipali.
His defense came up with a goal-line stand with one minute left in a 35-0 loss to Punahou on Saturday.
“I told the team before the fourth quarter, it’s only pride right now. We can’t lose our pride,” Nihipali said. “We went toe-to-toe with them for the most part. We just couldn’t convert when we needed to. The boys didn’t quit. We’ll be fine.”
Punahou’s defense, led by Travis Ross’ two interceptions, was stellar. The Buffanblu have fielded some of the top defensive units in the past several seasons. Coupled with a balanced offense that featured quarterback/state discus and shot put champion John-Keawe Sagapolutele, Punahou looked every bit the ILH title contender.
“It was kind of a disappointing year last year, but we’ve been working over the summer, grinding. Our coaches have been teaching the right techniques and we’re going to take it week by week,” said Ross, a senior. “A lot of video (study) during the week. Moanalua’s a good team. We made sure we did what we had to do.”
Iosepa Lyman, a 5-foot-10, 210-pound running back, scored two TDs, and 6-foot, 215-pound RB Alai Williams added two more TDs. What Punahou lacked in a power running game over the past decade is lacking no more. Punahou finished with 147 rushing yards (6.4 per attempt) and restricted Moanalua to minus-3 rushing yards.
Playing its first season in the Open Division, Moanalua was without several key starters due to injury, but gained experience against a longtime ILH Open powerhouse.
“It’s stuff that we can clean up,” Nihipali said. “This is why I wanted to play Punahou. They can get us ready for the OIA season. That’s a really good football team. (Punahou coach) Nate Kia’s got that thing rolling pretty good.”
Much of the first quarter was klunky, with three combined interceptions by the two offenses. Field position proved crucial after an 11-yard Moanalua punt into the wind, and a short return by Ross to Na Menehune’s 18-yard line.
On the next snap, Williams turned the left corner and raced home for a touchdown to give Punahou a 7-0 lead with 3:28 left in the first quarter.
The junior added a 1-yard TD run to open Punahou’s lead to 14-0 with 11:26 remaining in the second quarter.
Ross’ second interception came in the end zone, stopping Moanalua’s threat.
Late in the first half, Noah Macapulay nearly scored on a 61-yard punt return. Iosepa Lyman’s 2-yard blast to pay dirt extended Punahou’s lead to 21-0 with 1:05 remaining.
Moanalua drove to the Punahou 1-yard line in the final minute, but on the final play of the half, the Buffanblu deflected a pass in the end zone.
Punahou tacked on a 13-yard draw run by Lyman to start the third quarter, and Sagapolutele was done for the night before the end of the stanza.
Backup Ty McCutcheon’s 8-yard TD pass to Kalen Smith, a 6-3, 180-pound junior, closed out the scoring with 9:40 left in the game.
Punahou has nonconference road games at Castle, Waianae and Kahuku over the next three weekends. The Buffanblu open ILH Open Division play on Sept. 17 against Saint Louis.
Moanalua will host Damien in nonconference play on Friday, followed by a game at Kamehameha on Aug. 26.
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At Moanalua
Punahou 7 14 7 7 — 35
Moanalua 0 0 0 0 — 0
PUN—Alai Williams 18 run (Jordan Kapisi kick)
PUN—Williams 1 run (Kapisi kick)
PUN—Iosepa Lyman 2 run (Kapisi kick)
PUN—Lyman 13 run (Kapisi kick)
PUN—Kalen Smith 8 pass from Ty McCutcheon (Kapisi kick)
RUSHING—Pun: Williams 9-81, Lyman 9-46, Kanaloa Kaialau 4-10, John-Keawe Sagapolutele 1-10. Moa: Cameron Johnson 5-13, Reshod Scott 4-5, Gabe Wells 1-(-5), Cade Rodriguez 1-(-7), Tayden-Evan Kaawa 4-(-9).
PASSING—Pun: Sagapolutele 15-23-2-191, McCutcheon 4-9-0-68. Moa: Rodriguez 14-28-3-120, Kaawa 7-13-0-54.
RECEIVING—Pun: Astin Hange 7-92, Smith 5-43, Noah Macapulay 2-56, Dash Watanabe 2-42, Lyman 2-16, Justice Wu 1-10. Moa: Wells 8-55, Kingston Ishimine 4-73, Thor Gante 4-31, Ezekiel Villegas 2-6, Niko Armstead-Lehti 1-7, Daniel Bittle 1-5, Scott 1-(-3).
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