Kahuku’s defense drills Farrington

With Kahuku locked in a scoreless duel with Farrington at halftime of last night's showdown, Red Raider defensive lineman Kaniela Tuipulotu took it upon himself to set the tone for a pivotal second half.

"I just wanted to make sure they know the whole season our team pretty much really hasn't been clicking," Tuipulotu said of his halftime speech to the Red Raiders.

With their leader's words ringing in their ears, fourth-ranked Kahuku turned a tight defensive battle into a rout over No. 5 Farrington, scoring a 38-0 victory to rebound from last week's stunning loss to McKinley.

The Kahuku defense scored four touchdowns in a remarkable 32-point fourth-quarter outburst, and limited Farrington to 111 yards of total offense.

The Farrington defense matched the Red Raiders most of the night, as the Governors came away with five turnovers. But Kahuku had seven takeways, scoring on three interception returns and a fumble recovery in the end zone.

"The defense won it for us tonight," Kahuku coach Reggie Torres said. "Not only did they shut them out, they got the turnovers, they got the spark, they got the momentum on our side. We didn't do much on offense, we have to go back to do a lot of work.

"At halftime (Tuipulotu) gave them a great speech, got them motivated and they came out firing the second half and lucky for us we got all those turnovers."

Farrington had a chance to assert command of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red East conference with a win last night. Instead, both the Red Raiders and Governors are 4-2 overall and tied at 3-1 atop the conference standings. Castle, Kahuku's next opponent, is also 3-1. Farrington next plays McKinley.

"It's going to be an interesting race," Farrington coach Randall Okimoto said. "But we have to learn from this loss first."

Kahuku running back Lehi Aumua led the Red Raider offense with 112 rushing yards on 15 carries and Shiloah Teo scored on both offense and defense.

The Red Raiders moved the ball deep into Farrington territory in the first half, but gave the ball away twice and missed a field-goal attempt.

The momentum of the game swung with Kahuku facing fourth and 12 at the Farrington 35. Quarterback Richard Torres escaped the grasp of two Governor linemen and fired a strike to Aumua for a 17-yard gain and a first down.

John Gomez gained 16 yards on a reverse and the Red Raiders broke the shutout with a 2-yard run by Teo.

The defense took over from there.

Farrington dodged another Kahuku threat by recovering a fumble at their own 5. But two plays later, Kahuku linebacker Paipai Falemalu intercepted a pass from Maeli Siliga and returned it 10 yards for a score.

On Farrington's next possession, a high shotgun snap sailed into the end zone and was recovered by Kahuku's Alema Tachibana, and Teo returned an interception 29 yards for a score on the Governors' next play from scrimmage.

The offense added a 2-yard run by backup quarterback Nalu Carvalho, and defensive back Pita Tanuvasa capped the night by intercepting a pass in the end zone and racing 100 yards on the final play of the game.

"We had a lot of doubters this whole week, the community questioning us, our heart," Tuipulotu said. "We had to come out and show we're still the same, we're still a wild group of guys."

Kailua 20, Kalaheo 7

Kortney Yano threw for one touchdown and rushed for another as the Surfriders beat the Mustangs in Kailua.

Bruce Andrews opened the scoring with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Cody vonAppen. Kailua's Darren Sugimoto then tied it up with a 31-yard touchdown reception before Yano scored on a 3-yard run just before the half.

No. 10 McKinley 30, Moanalua 13

Keawe Kalama rushed for 145 yards and two touchdowns on just 12 carries as the Tigers defeated the Menehunes.

McKinley's Tilton Kaluna added 54 yards and a touchdown on the ground, while Moanalua's Jordan Monico ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns.

OIA RED WEST
Campbell 20, Radford 6

Obadiah Mataio threw for a touchdown and ran for another as the Sabers picked up their first league win.

Justin Lord threw for 169 yards and a touchdown for the Rams in the loss. Bronson Ellis-Rivera led Campbell with 89 yards rushing while Lowen Tynanes-Perez added 70 yards on the ground and a touchdown.

Leilehua 23, Kapolei 14

With 2 minutes left in the game, Micah Abreu-Laybon broke away for a 20-yard touchdown run for the Mules to break a 14-14 tie. Leilehua added a 35-yard field goal in the final minute to clinch the victory.

OIA WHITE

Waipahu 32, Kalani 0

Tauave Vili rushed for 154 yards and three touchdowns as the Marauders finished with 437 total rushing yards in shutting out the Falcons.

Jesse Doctolero added 140 yards on the ground as Waipahu won without completing a pass. Ryan Tanaka led the Falcons with 78 total yards.