It wasn’t always pretty and it took another record-setting performance by a freshman to get through the adversity.

Taulia Tagovailoa passed for 448 yards and four touchdowns as No. 10 Kapolei held on for a 33-21 win over Moanalua on Saturday night.

A home crowd saw the Hurricanes open a 27-0 lead before withstanding a late rally by the visiting Na Menehune.

The win was the first in league play for Kapolei (1-3, 2-3 overall) and brought some much-needed wind to their sails. A playoff berth is still within reach, more so with this win over a pesky Moanalua squad that is now 1-3 in league play (OIA Blue) and 2-3 overall.

Tagovailoa threw all four of his TD passes in the first half and all three of his interceptions in the second. He finished 42-for-67 with 10 completions in a row early in the contest. It was very much by necessity. Kapolei’s ground game saw a white wall of Moanalua defenders all night. The Hurricanes rushed 28 times for a hard-earned 81 yards.

"We’re trying to get our offense to balance out, but we had missed (blocking) assignments and the way Moanalua was stacking our line, they weren’t respecting our passing game," Kapolei offensive coordinator Galu Tagovailoa said. "But it could be they were trying to test a freshman and put pressure on him."

Taulia, son of the OC, threw three TD passes to Alika Bantolina, all in the first half. It was Bantolina’s first extended action since suffering an ankle injury in a preseason scrimmage against Saint Louis.

Jaymin Sarono had a breakout game with 14 receptions for 147 yards for Kapolei.

Moanalua struggled offensively against Kapolei’s pass rush. The ‘Canes finished with six sacks, including two by Johnny Morrison, who also recovered a fumble.

Moanalua quarterback Alakai Yuen, who suffered a stinger to his neck last week against Farrington, made the surprise start.

He wasn’t effective until the final minutes of the first half, when he drove his team to the end zone, firing the first of two TD passes.

Down 30-7, he hit Brandon Bender for a 62-yard TD play, and then Rodson Kealohi scored on a 15-yard run after a big interception return by Nehemiah Saovao. That brought the visitors within 30-21 with 5:42 left, but their 2-point pass fell incomplete and they never got closer.