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Hurricanes had their chances, but it was Sabers' night


Sixth-ranked Campbell did all the things typical of a team on the losing end of a football game Friday night. Yet, when the final seconds ticked off the clock at Kapolei Stadium, the visitors from Ewa Beach were the ones celebrating a narrow 14-13 win over their rivals.

The Sabers (4-0) kept alive their undefeated season — barely — and kept pace with fellow unbeatens Farrington (5-0) and Mililani (5-0 overall, 4-0 league) in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I Blue standings.

It didn't come easy. In fact, it almost didn't happen at all if not for a 35-yard extra point kick by Kona Reiny-Aloy with a mere 57 seconds to play.

After scoring the game-tying touchdown on a 75-yard pass from Ezra Savea, Jayce Bantolina drew a timely personal foul for taunting, which pushed the PAT back 15 yards.

No biggie.

Reiny-Aloy trusted in his himself and his faith and booted it through the uprights with room to spare.

"I was thinking that that was all God," Reiny-Aloy said. "Jayce made a clutch play and I knew that I could do it after that. I knew I could make the PAT, but all the glory goes to God and this win is just a blessing."

"Blessing" might be the perfect word to sum up what exactly transpired for the Sabers Friday night.

In the first half, Campbell completed just 4 of 13 passes for 44 yards, picked up only five first downs — just one by pass — and turned it over twice on interceptions.

Things got off to a shaky start for the Sabers. Kapolei fumbled the game's opening kickoff, which was forced by Jenesus Tago-Sue and recovered by Reiny-Aloy at the 'Canes 25. However, the offense failed to capitalize and turned it over on downs.

Early in the second quarter, linebacker Isaiah Gibson intercepted Kapolei's Panaewa Julius, but four plays later Ezra Savea was picked off by Malik Smith. Two plays after that, Julius hit Ty-Noah Williams for a 31-yard touchdown and the game's first score.

Campbell's final two first-half drives ended in another turnover on downs and Savea's second interception. However, the defense came up huge in the final seconds of the second quarter, when it stuffed Alton Julius on back-to-back quarterback sneaks from the 1-yard line to deny Kapolei.

The game's final 24 minutes, however, went the way of the Sabers.

Savea completed 12 of 19 for 179 yards after halftime, including the two touchdown passes to Bantolina, who finished with nine catches for 164 yards.  

The Kapolei secondary played admirably — three different players each recorded an interception — but allowed Bantolina, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound senior wideout, to take over the game. Bantolina caught just one pass for 8 yards in the first half. If you haven't done the math in your head yet, that means he caught eight balls for 158 yards after halftime when no other Campbell pass-catcher had more than two receptions the entire game.

The Hurricanes' run defense did its part — allowing just 68 yards on 29 carries — against a team that averages well over 200 yards on the ground per game, but their own offense managed just 16 yards on 12 carries in the second half. This coming a week after rushing for 275 yards against Moanalua and on a night when Campbell was never really able to get its own run game going. They weren't exactly clutch either, converting on just 5 of their 14 third downs and 0 of 3 on fourth.

In the end, the body language of Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez said it all. The longtime Hurricanes' head man almost had a look of disbelief long after the game had ended.

"No words, no words," Hernandez said. "We had a lot of chances and they stopped us and they made the plays when they had to and we didn't and that sums it up."

While the 'Canes may that fumbled their chances, Reiny-Aloy, for one, believes that the Sabers got some extra support from above.

"We played with so much emotion, especially because our (linebackers') coach, Dave (Wojcik), passed away," Reiny-Aloy said. "This game was for him and the rest of the season is for him. We knew that he was watching over us and it just makes us all proud to get this win, because it was for him."



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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