Alama-Francis and Purcell injured

Ikaika Alama-Francis could have skipped yesterday's Hula Bowl to prepare for next week's East-West Shrine Game in Houston. But he wanted to play one last time in front of his hometown fans.

Unfortunately, that decision could end up being a costly one.

In the first quarter, Alama-Francis recorded one of the three sacks by the Kai team, but suffered an injury to his pectoral muscle late in the first half.

"(Alama-Francis) was in a lot of pain," Kai assistant coach Rich Miano said. "Pectoral tears don't always require surgery, but it might. It's also terrible since he might miss the East-West Shrine Game now."

Alama-Francis returned to the field without his pads for the opening kickoff of the second half, but left midway through the third quarter.

Fellow All-WAC defensive end Mel Purcell was also injured. Like Alama-Francis, Purcell had a sack, but sprained a knee in the final minute. The early diagnosis is an MCL sprain, Miano said.

"I really liked the way these kids came out here and played hard, but obviously you don't want to see anyone get injured in a game like this," Kai coach Pat Hill said.

The injuries and late comeback by the Aina team offset a first quarter that featured the UH contingent, and the Warriors responded.

Ross Dickerson returned the opening kickoff 24 yards, and the Kai offense took the field with Dane Uperesa starting on the offensive line and both Reagan Mauia and Nate Ilaoa lined up in the backfield.

The team looked like it had been practicing together for months, driving 68 yards in nine plays before Ilaoa capped it by taking a swing pass from quarterback Jared Zabranksy 16 yards into the end zone. Ilaoa plowed through three defenders on the way to the score.

"It almost felt like we were back in the run-and-shoot there," Ilaoa said. "But unfortunately we couldn't get much more on the board."

It wound up being the only TD of the game for the Kai.

"It's really hard to score touchdowns and score points in these kind of games," Hill said. "As the game wore on and we kept interchanging bodies, the timing gets a little bit confused."

As the game wore on, the hitting got harder, and the trash-talking seemed to get louder.

"Early on we didn't want to cut each other or play dirty or try to kill each other there," Mauia said. "But toward the end everybody wanted to step their game up, so it got real heated."

After the game the Hawaii players got together one last time at midfield to reflect on their careers before being mobbed by hundreds of autograph-seeking kids.

"It's going to be tough leaving, but at some point you have to move on," Ilaoa said. "My work isn't done yet though because there's a lot of kids I've got to see and you know Nate loves the kids."

Leonard Peters recorded two tackles for the Kai team while wearing No. 38 in honor of Miano, who has coached Peters for the last six years.

"I told him he better hit hard, run fast and do everything right wearing that number," said Miano, who played in the Hula Bowl in 1985.