Kailua was missing 12 players due to illness Friday, but the Surfriders still found a way to record a convincing victory over Kaimuki.
Romeo Ortiz completed 13 of 22 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another score as host Kailua beat Kaimuki 38-12 in a nonleague game.
Kailua coach Joseph Wong said his team only suited up 30 players, with six starters — four on defense and two on offense — missing the game.
It didn’t stop the Surfriders from scoring on six of their eight possessions. Kailua’s defense performed well outside of two Kaimuki touchdown drives in the third quarter.
“I’m more critical on a win than I am a loss,” Wong said. “Sometime you don’t learn from a win, you learn from losses. We got the win, but at the same time, there were a lot of things I saw out there that my team needs to get better at.”
The most glaring mistakes for Kailua were a pair of certain long touchdown passes that were dropped.
The Surfriders (2-2) have won two in a row with the victories coming by a combined 41 points.
“We’re putting in the work and we’re going to get there,” Ortiz said.
Kailua was effective at throwing passes into the flat to Aizek Ka’anoi, who was able to pick up yardage after the catch. He finished with seven catches for 66 yards.
“It’s basically like you’re running the ball. It’s a long run way out there on the outside,” said Wong, who added that his team will throw short and to the sideline when an opponent loads up the box.
Kailua scored on its second possession on a 5-yard run by Caysen Samson late in the first quarter. Matthew Mashiba made the PAT kick. The drive lasted eight plays and covered 85 yards.
The scoreboard wasn’t operating, so the time was kept on the field.
The Surfriders went up 14-0 on a 5-yard pass from Ortiz to Collin Friel midway through the second quarter. The big play of the drive was a 49-yard pass to Friel, which put the ball at the 8.
Late in the second quarter, Kailua’s Benjamin Honebein forced Kaimuki quarterback Iosefa Letuli to fumble and the Surfriders’ Kaliko Wilson recovered the ball at the Bulldogs’ 28.
Mashiba made a 49-yard field goal with the wind to put Kailua ahead 17-0.
The Bulldogs (1-3) scored on the opening drive of the second half on a 27-yard pass from Letuli to Jeremiah White down the right sideline to get within 17-6. The PAT kick failed.
The Bulldogs, who had one play go for more than 10 yards in the first half, had three on the drive.
The Surfriders extended their lead to 24-6 on a 49-yard pass from Ortiz to Stoney Pocock, who caught a short pass on the left side and blazed past the defense.
Kaimuki got within 24-12 on Letuli’s 1-yard run in the third.
The Surfriders pulled away with Kristian Yamamoto’s 37-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter and Ortiz’s 8-yard scoring run. Ortiz finished with four rushes for 37 yards.
“Romeo also did a good job at pulling it and running,” Wong said. “That’s what I want because he’s so dangerous on his feet. When he does that it keeps the defense off-balance.”
Kaimuki’s Letuli passed for 152 yards and ran for 65, while White caught seven passes for 98 yards.
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Kailua 38, Kaimuki 12
At Kailua
Kaimuki (1-3) 0 0 12 0 — 12
Kailua (2-2) 7 10 7 14 — 38
Kail—Caysen Samson 5 run (Matthew Mashiba kick)
Kail—Collin Friel 5 pass from Romeo Ortiz (Mashiba kick)
Kail—FG Mashiba 49
Kaim—Jeremiah White 27 pass from Iosefa Letuli (kick failed)
Kail—Stoney Pocock 49 pass from Ortiz (Mashiba kick)
Kaim—Iosefa Letuli 1 run (pass failed)
Kail—Kristian Yamamoto 37 run (Mashiba kick)
Kail—Ortiz 8 run (Mashiba kick)
RUSHING—Kaimuki: Iose. Letuli 14-65, Zechariah Kuratsu-Cook 17-44, Iosu. Letuli 1-1, Lukela Hicks 3-(minus 8). Kailua: Ikaika Quidachay 9-72, Yamamoto 4-54, Ortiz 4-37, Samson 3-14, Team 2-(minus 5).
PASSING—Kaimuki: Iose. Letuli 14-23-1-152. Kailua: Ortiz 13-22-0-187.
RECEIVING—Kaimuki: White 7-98 , Iosu. Letuli 3-32, Kuratsu-Cook 1-13, Hinano Kahawai 1-5, Peter Maulolo 2-4. Kailua: Aizek Ka‘anoi 7-66, Friel 3-58, Pocock 2-50, Ezekiel-Allan Valdez 1-13.
