Kahuku’s Tulilele Tagovailoa-Amosa and Diezel Kamoku really came to play against their former school Saturday.
Tagovailoa-Amosa completed 23 of 27 passes for 338 yards and four touchdowns, and Kamoku caught eight passes for 114 yards and one touchdown as No. 1 Kahuku beat No. 6 Kapolei 49-7 in an OIA Open Division semifinal game at Kahuku.
Tagovailoa-Amosa and Kamoku transferred from Kapolei to Kahuku this season.
“They had this game marked on their calendar,” Kahuku coach Sterling Carvalho said. “They wanted to show the reason why they came here was to play for a championship. Nothing was given to them, nothing was promised to them. They came in and they worked.”
The Red Raiders scored touchdowns on all seven of their full possessions.
Tagovailoa-Amosa completed his first 13 passes for 203 yards. He finished the half 20-for-23 for 336 yards and four touchdowns.
“It was fun playing my old team, but this is my family right here,” Tagovailoa-Amosa said. “Great team win, everyone did their job and we just executed together.”
Kahuku (10-1, 7-0) will play Mililani for the title next week. The finalists qualified for the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Open Division State Football Championships, which start Nov. 17.
“We just want to make sure we’re peaking at the right time,” Carvalho said. “We had three weeks off, so it was about time to get back to football.”
Kapolei (8-3, 5-2) will play Campbell for third place next week for the league’s final berth in the state tournament.
The Red Raiders have won 12 in a row against the Hurricanes, with the average margin of victory being 31 points. Kapolei’s last victory over Kahuku was 14-7 on Oct. 26, 2007.
The Red Raiders scored touchdowns on their five first-half possessions Saturday.
Kahuku, ranked No. 8 in the MaxPreps Top 25 and No. 9 in the USA Today Super 25, averaged 11.6 yards on 30 plays before halftime.
The Red Raiders scored on their first possession on Tagovailoa-Amosa’s 35-yard pass to Kaimana Carvalho with 7:34 left in the first quarter. Manoa Kahalepuna made the PAT kick. Tagovailoa-Amosa was 5-for-5 for 65 yards on the drive.
Kahuku went up 15-0 on Tagovailoa-Amosa’s 15-yard pass to Kamoku and Kaimana Carvalho’s 2-point conversion run with 2:27 to go in the quarter.
“Me and my guy Tuli, we’ve stayed together and been on the same page,” Kamoku said.
Tagovailoa-Amosa went 5-for-5 for 83 yards on the series.
The drive was set up by Madden Soliai’s interception.
The Red Raiders took a 22-0 lead on Tagovailoa- Amosa’s 25-yard pass to Carvalho with 9:16 remaining before halftime.
Carvalho finished with six receptions for 109 yards.
Kahuku extended the lead to 28-0 on Va’aimalae Fonoti’s 3-yard run with 5:56 to go in the half.
The Red Raiders went up 35-0 on Tagovailoa- Amosa’s 6-yard pass to Kache Kaio with 36 seconds left in the half.
Kahuku scored on the opening possession of the second half on Tagovailoa- Amosa’s 20-yard keeper to make it 42-0 with 5:34 remaining in the third quarter.
The Red Raiders went up 49-0 on Sheadon Kanoa’s 16-yard run with 10:34 remaining in the game.
The Hurricanes got on the scoreboard on Liatama Amisone’s 25-yard pass to Zayne Pasion with 2:53 remaining. Hurley Kennedy made the PAT kick.
Amisone rushed for 85 yards and passed for 96 for Kapolei, which had 210 yards of total offense.
“They were disciplined,” Carvalho said of this defense, which has allowed 21 points over its past four games. “They kept their keys and did what they had to do. I couldn’t contain them 100%, but we contained them for the most part.”
NO. 1 KAHUKU 49,
NO. 6 KAPOLEI 7
At Carleton E. Weimer Field
Kapolei (8-3) 0 0 0 7 — 7
Kahuku (10-1) 15 20 7 7 — 49
KAH—Kaimana Carvalho 35 pass from
Tulilele Tagovailoa-Amosa (Manoa Kahalepuna
kick)
KAH—Diezel Kamoku 15 pass from Tagovailoa-
Amosa (Carvalho run)
KAH—Carvalho 25 pass from Tagovailoa-
Amosa (Manoa Kahalepuna kick)
KAH—Va’aimalae Fonoti 3 run (run failed)
KAH—Kache Kaio 6 pass from Tagovailoa-
Amosa (Kahalepuna kick)
KAH—Tagovailoa-Amosa 20 run (Kahalepuna
kick)
KAH—Sheadon Kanoa 16 run (Kahalepuna
kick)
KAP—Zayne Pasion 25 pass from Liatama
Amisone (Hurley Kennedy kick)
RUSHING—Kapolei: Amisone 11-85,
Chase Camarillo 7-25, Reeno Teo 1-4,
Vaimetua Kamakele 1-1, Kaina Kamohalii
1-(minus 1). Kahuku: Fonoti 7-55, Tagovailoa-
Amosa 5-38, Kanoa 2-19, Damon
Lauaki 3-11, Carvalho 1-10
PASSING—Kapolei: Amisone 9-26-1-
96. Kahuku: Tagovailoa-Amosa 23-27-
0-338.
RECEIVING—Kapolei: Kamohalii 3-29,
Pasion 2-29, Izaea Lino 2-28, Camarillo
1-9, Tristen Inay 1-1. Kahuku: Kamoku
8-114, Carvalho 6-109, Fonoti 2-51, Kaio
4-47, Bryant Lauano 2-24, Tavian Hallums
1-(minus 7).
Junior Varsity—Kahuku 35, Kapolei 0
KAIMUKI 35, PEARL CITY 28
At Bino Neves Stadium
Kaimuki (5-5) 6 8 21 0 — 35
Pearl City (8-1) 7 14 7 0 — 28
PC—Lennon Elder 19 pass from Trey Dacoscos
(Kahai Chang kick)
KAIM—Iosefa Letuli 1 run (kick blocked)
PC—Javian Mizuno 15 pass from Dacoscos
(Chang kick)
PC—Koalii Torres 14 pass from Dacoscos
(Chang kick)
KAIM—Iosua Letuli 11 pass from Iosefa
Letuli (Iosefa Letuli run)
KAIM—Iosefa Letuli 37 run (Iosefa Letuli
run)
KAIM—Iosefa Letuli 4 run (run failed)
PC—Tobias Vazquez 20 pass from Dacoscos
(Chang kick)
KAIM—Jeremiah White 67 run (Hinano
Kahawai kick)
RUSHING—Kaimuki: Iosefa Letuli 31-
281, White 11-105, Lukela Hicks 3-17,
Iosua Letuli 2-11. Pearl City: Shaedyn
Quemado 5-36, Dacoscos 4-15,
Shaeden Talo 1-5, Bobby Best 2-4, Team
1-(minus 1).
PASSING—Kaimuki: Iosefa Letuli 4-11-
0-32. Pearl City: Dacoscos 18-31-2-
240.
RECEIVING—Kaimuki: Ezekiel
Kuiee-Matias 2-14, Iosua Letuli 1-11,
White 1-7. Pearl City: Keaton Tomas
3-56, Vazquez 2-38, Torres 3-36, Derek
Kusano 3-28, Mizuno 2-20, Elder 1-19,
Talo 2-18, Best 1-17, Quemado 1-8.
