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‘This is history’
Kamehameha beats Saint Louis
18-0, putting itself in position
to win its first ILH title
in 25 years
Kamehameha took a large step toward its first Interscholastic League of Honolulu football championship since 1979 by finally getting the upper hand against longtime rival Saint Louis in front of 4,946 at Aloha Stadium last night.
The Warriors (7-2-1, 5-1) broke through for a touchdown in the first quarter and added two more scores in the second half on the way to an 18-0 victory over the 18-time defending ILH champion Crusaders (7-3, 4-2).
"This is history," said Kamehameha quarterback Pono Kam, who completed 12 of 17 passes for 132 yards. "It's been, what, 25 years now? We've trained so hard for this. The line told me they'd give me time and the receivers told me they'd go up and get anything I threw up."
Kamehameha can clinch the league's Division I state berth with a victory over Pac-Five in the regular-season finale next week. The overall title race, however, is still wide open, with the Warriors, Crusaders and Iolani Raiders (5-1 ILH) in the mix. The league may need playoff games to decide either the overall title or the D-I state berth if ties arise after next weekend's games.
With last night's victory, Kamehameha avenged a 21-20 loss to Saint Louis earlier this season. A win next week would guarantee the Warriors revenge for numerous second-place finishes to the Crusaders throughout the years.
"We did it because it was all team," said Kamehameha's Kepa Gaison, who helped in the field-position battle with punts that pinned Saint Louis deep in its own end twice.
"We've been through a lot this year, especially with that loss to them earlier. Everybody has their day. Today was our day."
It was the first time Saint Louis was shut out in 178 games. Canyon Country of California beat the Crusaders 40-0 in August 1990.
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As usual, the Warriors used effective ball control and clock management to complement a heavy dose of swarming defense. Saint Louis crossed midfield twice in the first half and penetrated deep into Kamehameha territory only once, but came away with nothing to show for it when the Warriors' Drew Ueno blocked Jeremy Shea's 42-yard field-goal attempt early in the second quarter.
"We had bad field position in that first half, and that makes things a lot tougher," Crusaders coach Delbert Tengan said. "We're disappointed, but we'll bounce back, play hard next week (against Damien) and see where it falls."
Kamehameha's hard-hitting defense had lots of success against the run, holding power runner Kevin Sullivan to 45 yards on 17 carries. The Warriors' defensive backfield also did its part with second-half interceptions by Michael Holt, Travis Uale, Brad Nakamura and Ramsey Brown to go along with blanket coverage that resulted in quarterback Cameron Higgins' 14-for-32 passing performance. Stanley Nihipali, Saint Louis' usual starter, is out with an injury.
The Kamehameha defensive unit's brightest moments came late in the third and early in the fourth. First, the Warriors stopped a lengthy Crusaders drive on downs at the 13. Then, Nakamura picked off a Higgins pass and went untouched 77 yards for the Warriors' final score with 7:08 left in the game. Later, Brown added his pick to end Saint Louis' second-to-last possession.
Offensively, Jayson Rego carried the load once again for the Warriors. He rushed for 190 yards on 25 carries, and 154 of those yards came in the second half. His 78-yard run with 5:47 left in the third quarter was good for a 12-0 lead.
"This gives us a chance to play for the championship," Kamehameha coach Kanani Souza said. "The thing about it (the shutout) is that our coaches did a helluva job preparing for this game and our players did a super job doing what the coaches wanted."
The Crusaders drove to Kamehameha's 25 as time ran out.
The Warriors got their 6-0 first-quarter lead when Waika Spencer twice bobbled a Kam pass, but eventually hauled it in for a 33-yard TD.
"We shut ourselves down," said Saint Louis wide receiver Shane Perry, who caught four passes for 61 yards. "We didn't make the plays we needed to make, plain and simple. It hurts, but it's our fault."
Punahou 35, Pac-Five 2
At Aloha Stadium| Pac-Five (3-6-1, 0-5-1) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | 2 |
| Punahou (4-5, 2-4) | 14 | 14 | 7 | 0 | - | 35 |
Pun- Zac Yamagishi 13 run (River Kim kick).
Pun - Jeremiah Ostrowski 16 pass from Brett Kan (Kim kick).
Pun- Ostrowski 61 pass from Kan (Kim kick).
Pun- Ostrowski 30 pass from Kan (Kim kick).
P5 - safety.
Pun - Brian Matsumoto 49 pass from Kan (Kim kick).
RUSHING - Punahou: Yamagishi 6-19, Stanley Malama 3-14, Mat Young 3-14, Matt Solomona 1-11, Kainoa Carlson 1-7, David White 1-6, Reid Nakahara 2-6, Kan 1-(-1), Christopher Wong 1-(-1), Justin Ingalls 4-(-5). Pac-Five: Brashton Satele 9-26, Kawika Searle 4-2, Royce Alvarado 3-1, Bryson Bernie 7-(-21).
PASSING - Punahou: Kan 15-21-0-262, Ingalls 4-8-0-16. Pac-Five: Bernie 4-18-3-40, Alvarado 0-1-1-0.
RECEIVING - Punahou: Ostrowski 5-118, Matsumoto 6-109, Yamagishi 4-35, Kim 2-12, Trenton Zane 2-4. Pac-Five: Searle 1-19, Brent Umehira 2-12, Kaimana Komine 1-9.
No. 4 Kamehameha 18, No. 3 Saint Louis 0
At Aloha Stadium| Saint Louis (7-3, 4-2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 |
| Kam.(7-2-1, 5-1) | 6 | 0 | 6 | 6 | - | 18 |
Kam - Waika Spencer 33 pass from Pono Kam (kick failed).
Kam - Jayson Rego 78 run (pass failed).
Kam - Brad Nakamura 77 interception return (kick failed).
RUSHING-Saint Louis: Kevin Sullivan 17-45, Aaron Bain 2-3, Shaun Kauleinamoku 1-7, Cameron Higgins 1-0. Kamehameha: Rego 25-190, Tyson Fujimoto 3-11, Ryan Montez 1-2, Jeremiah Dela Pena 1-1, Kam 3-0, Ikaika Hardie 1-(-10).
PASSING-Saint Louis: Higgins 14-34-4-206. Kamehameha: Kam 12-17-1-132.
RECEIVING-Saint Louis: Kauleinamoku 7-117, Shane Perry 4-61, Matthew Zablan 2-24, Bain 1-4. Kamehameha: Spencer 3-51, Hardie 5-43, Kamuela Kapanui 3-22, Aaron Nichols 1-16\
Punahou finds right combo
to take care of Pac-Five
The sophomore combination of quarterback Brett Kan and wide receiver Jeremiah Ostrowski enabled Punahou to breeze by Pac-Five 35-2 in Interscholastic League of Honolulu football last night.
Kan found Ostrowski for three first-half touchdown passes as the Buffanblu (4-5, 2-4) grabbed a 28-2 lead at intermission.
The victory gave Punahou some momentum going into next weekend's rivalry game against Iolani. The Buffanblu can put a dent in the Raiders' overall ILH title hopes. Iolani already clinched a berth in the Division II state tournament and is in a race against Kamehameha for the league's top honors.
Ostrowski, who is also an all-state guard in basketball, caught TD passes of 16, 61 and 30 yards to put the Wolfpack (3-6-1, 0-5-1) virtually out of reach. He finished with five catches for 118 yards, while teammate Brian Matsumoto added 109 yards on six receptions, including a 49-yard TD catch from Kan in the second half.
Kan, the son of offensive coordinator Darryl Kan, didn't throw an interception and completed 15 of 21 passes for 262 yards.
The Buffanblu defense also played a big part in the victory. Jay Angotti, Tysan Pa'aga and Maika Murashige came up with first-half interceptions of Pac-Five sophomore quarterback Bryson Beirne, while Dane Nishikawa added a pick on Royce Alvarado's halfback pass in the second half. Pa'aga and fellow defensive back Ryan Nobriga each sacked Beirne once.
Facing pressure all night from Punahou's defensive front, Beirne went 4-for-18.
Led by the run defense of Jonathan Overton and Sean Murphy, the Buffanblu limited Pac-Five to 8 yards rushing and a total offensive output of 48 yards.
Tackles for loss by the Wolfpack's Brashton Satele and Maika McWayne pinned Punahou deep in its own end late in the first half. A bad punt snap rolled out of the back of the end zone for a safety and Pac-Five's only two points.
The Wolfpack finish their season next weekend against Kamehameha.
