DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Castle's Guy Humalon and Blaze Soares chased down Kaimuki's Shelden Sarcedo last night. Castle won 27-7.

Castle holds in
OIA opening round

The Knights use a
critical goal-line stand
to break the Bulldogs

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By Tim Crouse
tcrouse@starbulletin.com

Kaimuki proved it could move the ball on Castle, but a multitude of mistakes and a backbreaking goal-line stand by the Knights proved too much for the Bulldogs, as Castle won 27-7 to open the OIA playoffs.

The Knights (5-4) face Campbell in the Oahu Interscholastic Association quarterfinals Thursday, also at Aloha Stadium -- with a berth in the state tournament at stake.

"We're happy with the win, but we're going to have to clean a lot of things up," Castle coach Nelson Maeda said. "It got sloppy throughout the game. We need to be at the top of our game if we're going to have a chance against Campbell."

Kaimuki (5-3) drove as time wound down in the second quarter, with the Knights ahead 13-0. The Bulldogs held the ball the final 5:11 of the half, and moved inside Castle's 10-yard line with less than a minute remaining. Daniel Tautofi ran the ball to the 1-yard line to give Kaimuki a first down.

With 30 seconds left, Shelden Sarcedo was stopped for no gain. Cory Daniel tackled Tautofi short of the end zone on second down, and as time ran out in the half, Blaze Soares stuffed Tautofi again to preserve Castle's 13-0 lead.

"That was a very crucial play. It was a great goal-line stand by our defense," Maeda said. "For the most part Kaimuki did a great job of ball-controlling us and the defense played (most of) the second quarter.

"It was a critical stand. The difference between 13-0 and 13-7, it makes a world of a difference," he said. "Our (defensive players) happened to be in the right place at the right time."

Two Bulldog penalties helped the Knights score in their opening drive of the game.

Castle produced a 12-play march that took up more than four minutes. Louis Mansanas threw six consecutive passes at one point -- completing the first five to four receivers -- then the Knights ran the final five plays, with Kawika Sebay walking it in from the 2 for a 7-0 Castle lead.

Twice Castle induced an encroachment penalty, with the quarterback shifting from under center to the shotgun at the last second before the snap. The first penalty turned a fourth-and-six into a makeable fourth-and-one and the second one gave Castle a first-and-goal at the 2 on a fourth-down play.

Another Kaimuki mistake led to the Knights' second score.

Kaimuki ran seven plays from scrimmage, but the drive stalled when Mana Sasaki sacked Sarcedo on third-and-11 at Kaimuki's 42. Disaster struck for the Bulldogs when the snap on the punt attempt went through the hands of the punter. Castle ended up with the ball at Kaimuki's 18.

Five rushing plays later, Emil Kruse found the end zone from a yard out. The Knights missed the PAT attempt and led 13-0 with 41 seconds left in the first quarter.

Sebay gained 22 yards on the drive (the Knights were called for an illegal motion penalty to push them back 5 yards), with two big gains coming on shotgun handoffs.

Soli Lefiti sacked Sarcedo on fourth down to end Kaimuki's next drive. It was one of four Castle sacks in the game. Lefiti later had a tackle behind the line of scrimmage and he recovered a fumble.

Kaimuki couldn't hang onto the ball in the second half, fumbling four times in a quarter-and-a-half.

Tautofi lost the ball on a hit by Guy Humalon at Kaimuki's 36. John Reis picked it up and returned it for a crushing touchdown and a 20-0 Castle lead.

Less than two minutes into the final quarter, Castle caught the Bulldogs blitzing and Jacob Ramos threw a quick screen to Ikaika Ho, who split the defense and scored easily from 15 yards out to give the Knights a 27-0 lead.

Sebay led Castle with 68 yards rushing. Ramos and Mansanas combined to pass for 100 yards, with 75 going to Jared Suzui.

"Jacob did a great job of spreading the ball around," Maeda said. "Jared has been our go-to guy the whole season. He's a great athlete, a very dependable player in the clutch."

Darin Fujimoto scored Kaimuki's lone touchdown late in the fourth quarter on a 19-yard run.

Kaimuki gained 232 yards, to 187 for Castle, but couldn't overcome its mistakes. The Knights' defense was led by Soares -- who finished with 14 tackles (two for loss), a sack, three hurries and two passes defended -- and Daniel, who added 11 tackles (two for loss) a sack and a forced fumble.

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At Aloha Stadium

Kaimuki (5-3)	0	0	0	7	--	7
Castle (5-3)	13	0	7	7	--	27

Cas -- Kawika Sebay 2 run (Ethan Gonsalves kick)
Cas -- Emil Kruse 1 run (kick failed)
Cas -- John Reis 36 fumble return (Gonsalves kick)
Cas -- Ikaika Ho 15 pass from Jacob Ramos (Gonsalves kick)
Kaim -- Darin Fujimoto 19 run (Ji Min Kim kick)
RUSHING -- Kaimuki: Shelden Sarcedo 14-18, Daniel Tautofi 17-74, Fujimoto 12-53, Semi Qoro 3-5, Kellen Kawasaki 3-15, David Taumalolo 2-8, Team 1-(-20). Castle: Sebay 17-68, Louis Mansanas 1-2, Jared Suzui 1-11, Kruse 4-1, Ramos 4-0, Aldrin Fernandez 1-5, Bryce Kalauokaaea 1-0
PASSING -- Kaimuki: Sarcedo 6-14-0-47, Tautofi 3-6-0-32. Castle: Mansanas 5-6-0-32, Ramos 6-12-1-68, Kalauokaaea 0-2-0-0.
RECEIVING -- Kaimuki: Tautofi 4-37, Fujimoto 3-13, Reid Yamane 2-29. Castle: Suzui 5-75, Brandon Shimomura 2-10, Gonsalves 1-(5), Robin Smith 1-9, Sebay 1-(-4), Ho 1-15.

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