No. 1 Kahuku goes back to its roots in win at Campbell

Tormented by a 30-minute downpour that transformed Campbell’s field into a sloshy pit of mud, No. 1 Kahuku went back to the past. With a ground-and-pound attack, the visitors slogged their way to a decisive 16-6 win over host Campbell on Saturday night in Ewa Beach.

Kahuku improved to 3-0 in OIA Open Division play (5-0 overall) with its heaviest running game in ages. Kahuku ran the ball 32 times for a modest 54 yards, but quarterback Waika Crawford and his receiving corps came through for key first downs. Crawford completed 19 of his 27 pass attempts for 200 yards without an interception despite the swampy conditions. It was an offensive lineman’s fun time.

“You’ve just got to be assignment tight and adapt to the changes,” senior left tackle Teancum Moeai said. “Coaches said don’t be on your toes, you have to be on your heels. I slipped a few times.”

In all, Kahuku’s trenchmen controlled the game. Kahuku had 58 offensive plays, while Campbell finished with just 42. The advantage was much bigger in the first three quarters as Kahuku milked the clock old-school style.

“It’s been awhile because we’ve got the new field. I never played on a muddy field at Kahuku, but we played a muddy game (JPS Oahu) at Kahaluu against Ewa Beach, actually. It was always raining, but it’s fun,” Kahuku linebacker Liona Lefau said.

Leonard Ah You and Sione Pasi each had two sacks for Kahuku. Maximum Fonoimoana and Kitione Nakauciri had one sack each.

Kahuku running backs Va’aimalae Fonoti and Clyde Taulapapa adjusted to the slick situation well enough, combining for only one fumble.

“This is a backyard game. You kind of have to take it a little bit slow. My brain was moving fast, but my legs had to go slow,” Fonoti said.

“We used to practice in this all the time, so it was going back to it. It’s cutting hard, putting your foot on the floor and just start running,” Taulapapa said.

They combined for two touchdowns. Fonoti had 12 carries for 42 yards and Taulapapa had 12 carries for 29 yards.

Campbell dropped to 1-2 in league play (3-2 overall) as Kahuku and the mushy, marshy field limited quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele to 11-for-22 passing with 75 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. He scored on a 5-yard scramble late in the game to prevent a shutout. The 2-point pass attempt failed.

The rain stopped 30 minutes before kickoff, but the damage had been done. It negated the speed of Campbell’s talented playmakers, turning a potential display of speed and offensive explosion into plod time.

The weather was sunny and breezy for most of the afternoon until a large rain cloud sat over Campbell’s grass field for more than 30 minutes during the JV game, which was won by Kahuku 30-12. That left the field primed for slick, mud-frosting playing surface.

Kahuku came into the game with 101 pass attempts and 86 rushing attempts, a pass-run ratio of 54-46 percent. Campbell threw the ball 139 times and ran it just 60 times in four games, a ratio of 70 percent passing.

The sloshy field limited Campbell to 13 rushes and only five pass attempts by halftime. Kahuku ran on 20 of its 32 offensive snaps. Whoever prayed for rain on the West side got quite the game-changer.

Kahuku forced Campbell to punt on its opening series. Kahuku then drove 65 yards in nine plays, getting a 5-yard run over the goal line by Fonoti.

From that point on, however, the tonnage of both teams took a toll on the soft grass. Gradually, small dirt patches turned into mini-mudslides between the hashmarks and along the sidelines. Campbell fumbled twice on sloppy shotgun snaps, and Kahuku fumbled on a run near the right sideline.

Eventually, the visitors got a 33-yard field goal from Zayden Mariteragi for a 10-0 lead with 29 seconds left in the first half. The cakey conditions favored Kahuku, which mustered 35 rushing yards on 20 attempts, including two sacks absorbed by Crawford.

Campbell, a pass-heavy team, had 3 rushing yards on 10 attempts by the half. Chauncee Lopez had 59 yards on just five carries, but Sagapolutele was sacked three times and had minus-32 yards, the Sabers lost 35 yards on two bad snaps. Sagapolutele, one of the top passers in the state, was 3-for-5, 17 yards, before intermission.

The visitors went into uber-patient mode in the second half, holding the ball for nearly six minutes. The drive stalled at the Campbell 10-yard line with a sack, but with two possessions in the third quarter, Campbell could do little and punted both times.

Kahuku put some insurance points on the scoreboard with an 8-yard run off left tackle by Taulapapa. That was set up by an Aidan Manutai interception. Kahuku drove 50 yards in eight plays, stretching its lead to 16-0 with 5:48 remaining.

The Sabers finally got on the scoreboard on Sagapolutele’s 4-yard scramble in the final two minutes. His jump pass try to Chandon-Paul Yuen was too high, and Kahuku led 16-6 with 2:56 to go.

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KAHUKU 16, CAMPBELL 6

At Campbell

Kahuku (5-0, 3-0) 7 3 0 6 — 16

Campbell (3-2, 1-2) 0 0 0 6 — 6

KAH—Va‘aimalae Fonoti 5 run (Zayden Mariteragi kick)

KAH—Mariteragi FG 3

KAH—Clyde Taulapapa 8 run (kick failed)

CAM—Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele 4 run (pass failed)

RUSHING—Kahuku: Fonoti 12-42, Clyde Taulapapa 12-29, Lamana Tapusoa 4-13, Keona Poouahi-McPherson 1-0, Manulele Ah You 1-(minus 1), TEAM 1-(minus 3), Waika Crawford 7-(minus 26). Campbell: Chauncee Lopez 8-63, Rowen Bucao 2-3, Niko Scanlan 1-7, TEAM 1-(minus 31), Sagapolutele 10-(minus 36).

PASSING—Kahuku: Crawford 19-27-0-200. Campbell: Sagapolutele 11-21-1-72.

RECEIVING—Kahuku: Kaimana Carvalho 7-92, Tavian Hallums 4-51, Ah You 3-13, Poouahi-McPherson 1-21, Fonoimoana 1-11, Leonard Ah You 1-8, Fonoti 2-4. Campbell: Tana Togafau-Tavui 4-25, Mason Muaau 2-21, Bucao 3-12, Dallas Fonseca-Juan 1-10, Miles Parlet 1-4.

Junior Varsity—Kahuku 30, Campbell 12