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GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Kamehameha's Sy Cullen squeezed between Punahou's Robert Miller and Sam Higgins last night at Aloha Stadium. The Warriors beat the Buffanblu 42-20.
Warriors do it all
to beat Buffanblu
With up-the-gut running and timely precision passing, Kamehameha marched past Punahou 42-20 last night in front of 5,685 at Aloha Stadium.
Running backs Sy Cullen and T.J. Kuahine tested the Buffanblu defensive front and succeeded in getting the Warriors into the red zone and the end zone.
"The offensive line really did some great pushing for us tonight," Kamehameha coach Kanani Souza said. "And the defense did a great job creating turnovers. Those are two things we had to do well to win."
Cullen's 10-yard touchdown run and two Pono Kam TD passes -- to James Hardy for 20 yards and to Kawika Vincent for 9 yards -- gave Kamehameha a hefty 21-6 halftime lead. Travis Correa's fumble recovery led to Hardy's score.
Led by quarterback John Morris, Punahou's short passing game clicked, but the Buffanblu couldn't punch it home in the first half and settled for Chris Takemoto-Gentile's field goals of 27 and 23 yards.
With the victory, the Warriors improved to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu.
The Buffanblu (2-2, 0-1) were plagued by turnovers all night in their league opener, losing that battle 6-1. Kamehameha's Gabriel Spencer came up with two of Morris' five interceptions. Morris, who threw 30 times in the first half, completed 29 of 56 passes.
"Our line did a great job and our receivers ran great routes, but I threw some high balls and that was my mistake," Morris said.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Punahou's Micah Strickland tried to elude the tackle of Kamehameha's Gabriel Spencer last night.
The Warriors' bulge ballooned to 35-6 in the third quarter as Matt Coelho scored on a 13-yard pass form Kam and Cullen sprinted into the end zone from 27 yards out.
Late in the third quarter, Morris led Punahou to its first touchdown, completing six passes, including a 9-yarder to Cameron Grace to polish off an 83-yard drive. Grace added a 13-yard TD from Morris with 3:23 left in the game.
"We were disappointed that we didn't cash in on our opportunities, especially since we were playing a strong team like Kamehameha," Punahou coach Kale Ane said. "They wear you down. John (Morris) played well, and he's going through some growing pains."
Cullen finished with 126 yards on 17 carries and two scores, while Kuahine churned out 55 yards on 12 carries and added the Warriors' final TD with a 1-yard dive.
Buffanblu running back Micah Strickland piled up the yardage, rushing for 96 yards and adding another 49 yards on eight receptions.
But the Warriors' defense didn't let Strickland get near the end zone.
"We went into the locker at the half and coach told us that we were better than we had been showing," said Kamehameha's Spencer. "We came out and really stepped it up in the second half."
Kam completed just six of 16 passes, but three of his completions went for touchdowns.
Iolani 14, Pac-Five 8: The Raiders won their ILH opener by shutting out the Wolfpack in the second half of a game in which both teams scored with a safety.
Pac-Five had the ball in Iolani territory with time running out, but couldn't score on four downs as the clock ticked to zero.
The Wolfpack's Koa Pickard scored the game's only offensive touchdown when he pounced on a loose ball in the end zone after teammate Shane Lawrence fumbled at the 1. The play gave Pac-Five an 8-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Two Nick Wong field goals -- of 39 and 32 yards -- proved to be the final difference for the Raiders.
Iolani grabbed a 9-8 halftime lead on Wong's first field goal and Milo Kalama's 68-yard interception return. The Raiders got a tiny bit more separation in the third quarter when Malosi Toilolo tackled Wolfpack punter Brent Umehira in his own end zone for a safety and Wong added his second field goal.
Iolani running back Mike Hirokawa ran 23 times for 84 yards in place of injured starter Raynold Stowers. With the win, the Raiders tied Damien for the league's Division II lead.
Kamehameha 42, Punahou 20
At Aloha Stadium
Pun -- Chris Takemoto-Gentile FG 27
Kamehameha (4-0, 2-0) 7 14 14 7 -- 42 Punahou (2-2, 0-1) 3 3 7 7 -- 20
Kam -- Sy Cullen 10 run (Kepa Gaison kick)
Kam -- James Hardy 20 pass from Pono Kam (Gaison kick)
Kam -- Kawika Vincent 9 pass from Kam (Gaison kick)
Pun -- Takemoto-Gentile FG 23
Kam -- Matt Coelho 13 pass from Kam (Gaison kick)
Kam -- Cullen 27 run (Gaison kick)
Pun -- Cameron Grace 9 pass from John Morris (Takemoto-Gentile kick)
Kam -- T.J. Kuahine 1 run (Gaison kick)
Pun -- Grace 13 pass from Morris (Takemoto-Gentile kick)
RUSHING -- Kamehameha: Cullen 17-126, Kuahine 12-55, Jason Rego 3-13, Adam Picadura 1-3, Evan Collier 1-0, Kam 3-0, Tyson Fujimoto 2-(-2). Punahou: Micah Strickland 12-96, Morris 1-8, Reyn Wicklund 1-6.
PASSING -- Kamehameha: Kam 6-16-0-113. Punahou: Morris 29-56-5-250.
RECEIVING -- Kamehameha: Hardy 2-61, Coelho 2-34, Vincent 1-9, Waika Spencer 1-9. Punahou: Christopher Duncan 8-84, Strickland 8-49, Grace 4-37, Chad Tamashiro 4-36, Chris Shiramizu 2-20, Wicklund 1-17, Brian Matsumoto 1-9, Matt Solomona 1-(-2).
Iolani 14, Pac-Five 8
At Aloha Stadium
Pac -- Safety: Iolani's John Takamura recovery in own end zone after blocked punt by Pac-Five's Puna Kaopuiki.
Iolani (3-2, 1-0) 0 9 5 0 -- 14 Pac-Five (2-2, 0-2) 2 6 0 0 -- 8
Pac -- Koa Pickard recovery of teammate Shane Lawrence's fumble that rolled 1 yard into Iolani end zone (run failed)
Iol -- Nick Wong FG 39
Iol -- Milo Kalama 68 interception return (run failed)
Iol -- Safety: Malosi Toilolo tackles Pac-Five punter Brent Umehira in end zone.
Iol -- Wong FG 32
RUSHING -- Iolani: Mike Hirokawa 23-84, Peter Heimerdinger 5-0. Pac-Five: Gyles Lawrence 11-43, Cheyne Abbey-Chong 6-21, Andrew Rutherford 5-18, S. Lawrence 5-14, Gilbert Gonzales 2-3, Koa Pickard 1-1, Brent Umehira 1-0, Jordan Tani 2-(-3), Team 1-(-24).
PASSING -- Iolani: Heimerdinger 9-23-2-113. Pac-Five: Tani 20-39-3-181, Gonzales 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING -- Iolani: Paul Bennett 3-52, Blayne Yama 1-36, Kekai Kealoha 3-16, Chris Oda 1-7, Hirokawa 1-2. Pac-Five: Paul Kaohu-Nishimura 6-63, Travis Tyler 6-61, G. Lawrence 4-35, Abbey-Chong 3-21, Umehira 0-2, Rutherford 1-(-1).
