Kaiser QB Wise
runs wild

With quarterback Steven Pratt still suffering the effects of last year's knee injury, the Kaiser Cougars turned to converted defensive lineman Shannon Wise for help.

Wise rushed for three touchdowns and threw for another as the Cougars defeated the rival Kalani Falcons 33-14 last night.

"This game is always tough for us," Cougars head coach David Maeva said. "They always rise to the occasion against us and they've got some tough and talented kids over there."

Early on, it seemed the Cougars were poised to run away with the game. Kaiser's Evan Miller intercepted a Preston Pires pass on the first play of the game, which led to Wise hitting Matt Ching on a 2-yard touchdown pass.

After a three-and-out, Wise took the first snap of the Cougars' second possession and raced through the Falcons defense for a 58-yard touchdown run.

"I was supposed to throw the ball on that play, but I saw it open up in the middle and went for it," Wise said.

Trailing 13-0 less than six minutes into the game, Kalani coach Greg Taguchi called a quick timeout and huddled his players for a meeting. They responded with a nine-play, 60-yard drive, capped by a 14-yard touchdown pass from Pires to Corey Konishi to cut the Cougars' lead to 13-6.

The next 15 minutes featured sloppy play and a bunch of penalties, which worried the Kaiser coaching staff at halftime.

"We kept telling the kids in the locker room that we were helping (Kalani) beat ourselves, and against a team like them in a game like this, we can't do that," Maeva said.

After both teams went three-and-out to open the second half, the Cougars switched to a run-oriented offense to attack the Falcons' undersized defensive front.

Wise and running back Isaac Saffery combined to carry the ball 12 times on the next drive, with Wise eventually bullying his way into the end zone on a 1-yard run to put the Cougars up 20-6.

Ariel Santos then recovered a fumble on the first play of Kalani's next possession, and Saffery scored from 3 yards out to give the Cougars a three-touchdown lead.

"They have a lot of guys going two ways on their team, and eventually they started to wear down and we took advantage," Maeva said.

Wise would score again on a late 1-yard touchdown run before Kalani's Karson Kim scored on a 1-yard dive for the game's final margin.

"Our goal is to get to the championship, and this is the first step," Wise said. "We feel pretty good about ourselves."

"Any time you win it's a good thing," Maeva said. "But we have a short week coming up with a good team coming in, and there's a lot of things we need to fix."

Waipahu 20, Waialua 7: Krypton Taito scored the go-ahead touchdown from 5 yards out in the third quarter as the Marauders beat the Bulldogs.

Quarterback Austen Benito completed eight of 16 passes for 139 yards in the win.

Alvin Foster scored Waialua's only touchdown and rushed 12 times for 53 yards.