Ty McCutcheon passed for 319 yards and two touchdowns while Punahou’s defense sacked Kamehameha passers eight times in a 31-3 rout on Friday night at Kunuiakea Stadium.
Fifth-ranked Punahou spoiled homecoming night for No. 4 Kamehameha, which lost for the first time after four nonconference wins. Punahou (4-2) is now 1-0 in ILH Open Division play, bouncing back from a nonleague loss to Campbell.
“We controlled the ball a little more. There’s so much more that we need to work on, but I think our defense came out and in the second half they really kept the door shut,” Punahou coach Nate Kia said.
A consistent performance from start to finish is what the Buffanblu hoped for. Last week against Campbell there were turnovers galore after halftime.
“They didn’t let (Kamehameha) come back in, and our offense improved in the second half, as well,” Kia said.
A swarming, disciplined defense limited Kamehameha’s ground attack to 8 total rushing yards on 30 attempts. A chunk of the losses were due to sacks, but the Buffanblu front limited Kamehameha running back Moe Passi to 26 yards on nine carries. Defensive lineman Kekai Burnett had four sacks as the defensive unit kept its clamps on Kamehameha’s quick, elusive quarterback, Jevin Bolos-Reyes, who was held to minus-nine rushing yards.
“Shout out to my teammates. Most of them get double-teamed. Fua (Ioane), Danner (Lim). Fua’s a dog. Best nose guard in the state,” Burnett said. “We’re a good defense, but we’ve still got a lot to prove and a lot to fix. I feel like we’re the best defense in the state,” Burnett said. “We do our jobs and trust our teammates.”
A flu bug cost Punahou some key players, including running back Ala‘i Williams, but the Buffanblu didn’t miss a beat.
Punahou managed 36 rushing yards on 28 attempts against a stingy Kamehameha defense. McCutcheon took four sacks, but more than made up for it by finding Noah Macapulay (eight receptions, 104 yards) and Astin Hange (five, 143).
In the end, Punahou’s defense was well-prepared for a relatively young Warriors offense, which was 1-for-12 on third downs.
“We’ve got to strengthen everything, really. They were able to sustain more, consistently. We’ve got to execute better in all three phases,” Kamehameha coach Kaeo Drummondo said. “We practice in this every day. We know how the wind works. We wish we didn’t have to punt, but we’re backed up, punting into this wind. The ball hangs up, bounces backwards, we’re playing on a short field all night. You get enough of those, they stack up on you.”
Punahou electrified the stadium on Hange’s punt return for a touchdown, but it was called back by an illegal block, and was exacerbated by an unsportsmanlike conduct flag on the Buffanblu.
Moments later, a pass from McCutcheon bounced off receiver Zion White’s chest and into the hands of Kamehameha defensive back Kilinahe Wong. That set up a 28-yard field goal by Kain Tubania for a 3-0 lead with 7:13 left in the first quarter.
McCutcheon look right, then connected with Hange over the middle, and he raced for a 54-yard gain. That set up a 10-yard TD strike from McCutcheon to Macapulay in the right corner of the end zone. Punahou led 7-3 with 3:41 remaining in the opening quarter.
Kamehameha later faced a strong head wind and punted out of bounds. An 18-yarder gave Punahou the ball at the Warriors’ 30-yard line. After Macapulay juked past two defenders en route to a 25-yard reception, Iosepa Lyman scored on a 5-yard run. After Lyman burst out of a pile and raced left over the end zone, Punahou led 14-3 with 6:25 to go in the first half.
An 18-yard, out-of-bounds punt by Kamehameha set up Punahou at the Warriors’ 45-yard line. Nine plays later, Beard drilled an 18-yard field goal, and the Buffanblu led 17-3 with 2:46 remaining in the first half.
Kamehameha eked out a drive into Punahou territory before Kain Tubania’s 38-yard field goal try went wide right with 4:06 left in the third quarter.
After Beard missed a 26-yard field goal try from the left hashmark, Kamehameha got the ball on its 20 with 9.2 seconds remaining in the third.
Another short field for Punahou turned into an efficient scoring drive. McCutcheon cranked up a 21-yard completion to Macapulay, who nearly scored. Lyman ran it over the goal line for a 1-yard TD for a 24-3 lead with 9:36 remaining.
McCutcheon’s 27-yard bomb to Kyler Matsui extended the lead to 31-3 with 7:01 left to play.
“We had spurts of good play, but just not enough. We wanted to shorten the game, shrink it down. We weren’t able to do that tonight,” Drummondo said. “When we feel good, we’re probably not as good as we think we are when we put the film on. When we feel bad, we’re probably not as bad. There were a lot of breakdowns for sure. We’ve got to get into the film tonight and get back at it tomorrow morning.”
Defense had some big moments for the Warriors.
“I thought they played a good game. We still have some things that we’ve got to cleaned up communication-wise that will cost us tonight and any night against any opponent,” he added.
The Warriors will work out on Saturday, 8 a.m.
At Kunuiakea Stadium
Punahou (4-2, 1-0) 7 10 0 14 — 31
Kamehameha (4-1, 0-1) 3 0 0 0 — 3
KS—Kain Tubania FG 28
PUN—Noah Macapulay 10 pass from Ty McCutcheon (Carson Beard kick)
PUN—Iosepa Lyman 5 run (Beard kick)
PUN—Beard FG 18
PUN—Lyman 1 run (Beard kick)
PUN—Kyler Matsui 27 pass from McCutcheon (Beard kick)
RUSHING—Pun: Lyman 8-33, McCutcheon 5-(-12), Keegan Dunn 2-10, Nelson Aau 6-7, Kahn Ho 1-3. KS: Moe Passi 9-26, Jevin Bolos-Reyes 12-(-9), Madden Aquino 1-3, Nainoa Simmons-Kaohelaulii 1-2, Nainoa Melchor 2-1, Hayzn Botelho 4-(-16).
PASSING—Pun: McCutcheon 19-29-1-31, Maulama Kimata 0-1-0-0. KS: Jevin Bolos-Reyes 6-12-2-72, Hayzn Botelho 2-4-0-10.
RECEIVING—Pun: Macapulay 8-104, Astin Hange 5-143, Lyman 3-27, Dash Watanabe 2-18. KS: Kalai Bradley 3-27, Ty Perkins 2-36, Passi 2-11, Taimane Purcell 1-8.
