Hurricanes wear down
Chargers

For more than a half, the Pearl City Chargers seemed destined for an upset.

The Hurricanes of Kapolei decided at halftime that a loss would not be in their best interest. Kapolei dominated the line of scrimmage and limited Pearl City to 11 total yards in the second half for a 21-10 win last night at Mililani Stadium.

Kapolei kept its playoff hopes alive, improving to 2-1 in Oahu Interscholastic Association Red West play (2-3 overall). Pearl City, struggling with injuries and a lack of depth, dropped to 0-4 (1-5 overall).

"It's a big win for us. We can't afford to lose," Kapolei safety Gilbert Brown said.

Five miscues -- two fumbles lost, a muffed punt return, and two punts that were blocked by Pearl City -- nearly did Kapolei in. So did 13 penalties for 121 lost yards.

Fortunately, Radford Raquedan came up with his best performance of the season. The tough running back rushed for 129 yards on 19 carries, including 98 yards in the second half.

In all, Kapolei amassed 368 yards in total offense, including 215 on the ground in 37 attempts. Kapolei's alternating quarterbacks, Jon Medeiros and Brad Padayao, combined for 13-of-23 passing for 153 yards with one interception.

Pearl City finished with 110 total yards, using a gutsy effort to stay close for most of the game.

"They stood in there and fought to the end," Pearl City coach Watson Tanuvasa said. "They did the best they could. Our guys did all we could expect, playing through injuries."

Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez tipped his hat to the Chargers.

"They came to play and hit us hard in the first half. Give 'em credit," Hernandez said. "Our guys were anxious and excitable, especially being on TV for the first time (this season). We'll work on some things."

Pearl City's first blocked punt came early in the contest, setting the Chargers up at the Kapolei 24-yard line. That led to Steven King's 33-yard field goal, giving Pearl City a 3-0 lead with 8:43 remaining in the first quarter.

Kapolei was rather pass-happy in the first half, leaning on trips formations. It wasn't until Pearl City's first turnover, a fumble by Chevis Ginon-Asato, that the Hurricanes got an offensive spark.

The 'Canes drove 73 yards in seven plays, with Medeiros finding wide receiver Jimmy Stevens on an out route in the end zone. The 10-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-4 gave Kapolei a 7-3 lead with 9:20 remaining in the first half.

With Andrew Blue, normally a running back, at quarterback, the Charger offense sputtered until the final minutes of the half. That's when Blue, wearing No. 42 and looking oddly out of place in the shotgun formation, caught fire. He found Larry Va'a and King for key completions, and picked up a big first down with a quarterback draw.

Using a bunch formation on the left, Blue eventually found King on a fly pattern down the right sideline for a 29-yard touchdown pass. King, who started at safety, drilled the extra-point kick, and Pearl City led 10-7 with 1:06 remaining in the first half.

By intermission, 17 of Kapolei's 29 plays from scrimmage were pass attempts. The Hurricanes went back to their spread option game after the break. Twenty-five of their 31 offensive plays in the second half were on the ground, grinding out 6.5 yards per play against a tiring Charger defense.

The Hurricanes mixed coverages more often after intermission. "It was good coaching. We just had to calm down, play our game, keep our assignments," Brown said.

Blue, trying to play through an injury, didn't start the second half. That made life easier for the Kapolei defense, which saw Pearl City backup Josh Tokunaga take over.

"We could read the plays by where he looked," Brown noted.

The Chargers bent, but didn't quite break defensively until the fourth quarter, when Kapolei defensive back Mike Carlson picked off a pass by Tokunaga. That led to an eight-play, 55-yard scoring march by the Hurricanes.

Blasting away at the interior, Kapolei ran its spread option relentlessly before Medeiros scored from 1 yard out on a sneak play. Aaron Santiago's PAT gave Kapolei a 14-10 edge with 8:23 left in the game.

Nanakuli 9, Waianae 7: Edmound Ybarra scored the game-winner in the fourth quarter as the Golden Hawks defeated the Seariders.

Ybarra's 8-yard run with 3:43 remaining helped Nanakuli rally from a 7-3 deficit. Ybarra also rushed 13 times for 46 yards.

Darius Fuller rushed for 73 yards to lead Waianae and scored his team's only touchdown in the second quarter on a 2-yard run.