Aiea coach Wendell Say compares Kapolei quarterback Tama Amisone to Patrick Mahomes.
“He’s the magic man,” Say said after Kapolei escaped with a 27-24 win on Friday night at the Hurricanes’ field.
Amisone’s elusiveness, speed and passing accounted for 276 yards and two TDs from scrimmage, but it was Tuli Tagovailoa- Amosa who tossed two more TDs as the ’Canes fought off Na Alii.
Aiea was down 27-10 at one point, but rallied to within 27-24 on a 12-yard scoring pass from Ezekiel Olie to Geronimo Ulgaran with 19.8 seconds to go.
Aiea recovered the ensuing on-side kick, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was assessed to Na Alii.
“You know the saying — the second guy always gets caught,” Say said. “We tell our kids you can’t beat ourselves with selfish penalties. Sometimes kids are kids.”
Instead of taking possession of the ball at the Kapolei 40-yard line, Aiea moved back to its 45. After two incomplete passes to apparently end the game, Kapolei was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty of its own.
Aiea’s final try included a flea-flicker and hook-and-ladder on the final play, but it was stopped at the 30 to finally end the game.
Kapolei is 3-0 in nonconference play. Aiea is 1-1.
“We’ve got two quarterbacks we’re excited about. They both bring something a little bit different to our offense,” Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez said. “Give credit to Aiea. They were well prepared, well coached. They played great. I’m not happy with the amount of penalties we had. We had three penalties after we ran for a first down.”
A 30-yard field goal by Bryson Boyea-Quiton broke the ice with 9:46 left in the second quarter, giving Aiea a 3-0 lead.
After a fair catch on another pooch kickoff by Aiea, the Hurricanes drove 70 yards in seven plays, aided by a facemask penalty. Amisone fired a dart to Hala‘i Kamohali‘i for a 12-yard touchdown, giving Kapolei a 7-3 lead with 7:51 remaining in the first half.
With neither offense able to sustain a drive — despite the relative lack of blitzing — the ’Canes added another TD late in the first half. Amisone connected with Riley Camarillo for completions of 16 and 20 yards to spur the drive, and finished it with a 4-yard QB draw.
The PAT kick was blocked, but Kapolei’s lead was 13-3 with 1:19 to go in the first half.
Aiea drove to the Kapolei 27-yard line, but Iosefa Tapeni sacked Olie for a 12-yard loss. Olie’s Hail Mary heave to the left corner of the end zone was directed to Ulgaran or Jheremie Cacpal, but the ball fell incomplete to end the first half.
Na Alii opened the second half with two runs for losses by Kaimana Lale-Saole, but the relentless junior ran the same play four snaps later and sliced through the defense for a 50-yard touchdown. That brought Aiea within 13-10 with 9:03 to go in the third.
The Hurricanes then gave Aiea a dose or two of Tagovailoa-Amosa. The versatile junior fired a completion for 25 yards, ran from the RB position for 7 more, then lofted a perfect corner pass to Camarillo for an 11-yard TD. Kapolei led 20-10 with 6:48 left in the third stanza.
Aiea drove to the Kapolei 8-yard line, but on fourth-and-1, the ’Canes stuffed Lale-Saole on another run to the left to end the threat.
Kapolei capitalized with an eight-play, 93-yard march. Amisone scrambled and fired a pass that glanced off a Hurricanes receiver near the 5-yard line and into the hands of Diezel Kamoku in the end zone for an 11-yard TD. Kapolei led 27-10 with 8:51 remaining.
Na Alii got within 27-17 on a 1-yard run by Olie with 6:41 to go.
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KAPOLEI 27, AIEA 24
At Kapolei
Aiea (1-1) 0 3 7 14 — 24
Kapolei (3-0) 0 13 7 7 — 27
Aiea—Bryson Boyea-Quiton FG 30
Kap—Hala‘i Kamohali‘i 12 pass from Tuli
Tagovailoa-Amosa (Hurley Kennedy kick)
Kap—Tama Amisone 4 run (kick blocked)
Aiea—Kaimana Lale-Saole 50 run (Boyea Quiton kick)
Kap—Riley Camarillo 11 pass from Tagovailoa-Amosa (Kennedy kick)
Kap—Diezel Kamoku 11 pass from Amisone (Kennedy kick)
Aiea—Ezekiel Olie 1 run (Boyea-Quiton kick)
Aiea—Geronimo Ulgaran 12 pass from Olie (Boyea-Quiton kick)
RUSHING—Aiea: Lale-Saole 21-105, Olie 5-(-3), Kobe Higa 1-1. Kapolei: Amisone 15-41, Camarillo 1-4, Caleb Dela Pena-Pihana 6-27, Tagovailoa-Amosa 1-5.
PASSING—Aiea: Olie 26-46-0-315. Kapolei: Amisone 19-24-0-235, Tagovailoa-Amosa 3-3-0-48.
RECEIVING—Aiea: Geronimo Ulgaran 9-91, Jayden Chanel 6-97, Jheremie Cacpal 6-74, Rico Figueroa 5-53. Kapolei: Esaiah Gideon 3-40, Kamoku 5-49, Malachi Tapaoan 1-6, Camarillo 9-121, Kamohali‘i 3-52, Tagovailoa-Amosa 1-15.
Junior Varsity—Kapolei 22, Aiea 6
