Eugene Tanner | SL

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WR Ethan Takeyama smiles and celebrates with his teammates after a Punahou touchdown. Takeyama caught a team-high six passes for 97 yards and a score. Eugene Tanner | SL

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Fri, Aug 5, 2016 @ Leilehua [ 7:30 pm ]

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Punahou

70

Leilehua

9

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Punahou (7-3-0)	14	35	14	7	70
Leilehua (5-8-0)	3	0	0	6	9

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Konapiliahi Andres 206 yd

Stephen Barber 240 yd 3 TD

Kalika Seumanutafa-Bryant 39 yd 1 TD

Enoch Nawahine 95 yd 1 TD

Charles Watson 68 yd

Cole Arceneaux 107 yd 2 TD

WAHIAWA — On the opening night of prep football, Punahou looked in midseason form.

Stephen Barber threw for 240 yards and three touchdowns as the Buffanblu cruised to a season-opening 70-9 win over Leilehua before a crowd of about 700 at Hugh Yoshida Stadium Friday night.

Punahou, the No. 3 team in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Division I Power Rankings, amassed 401 of its 530 yards of total offense in the first half and held a 49-3 lead by the intermission.

"I thought the kids played very well today and we're not as good as the score indicates, but it's hard to complain with the way the kids played," said Buffanblu coach Kale Ane, whose team ended 10 of its 12 offensive possessions in touchdowns.

Barber, a junior quarterback, completed 12 of his 19 pass attempts. He directed four scoring drives, three of them culminating in second-quarter touchdown passes.

"I feel we did pretty good," Barber said. "Everybody did their job and we just played with a lot of energy and a lot of passion."

Senior Nick Kapule was a perfect 5-for-5 passing for 133 yards and three more TDs. He started the game and also led four drives with all but one resulting in a score. Neither quarterback attempted a pass in the second half. The pair are locked in a quarterback battle for the starting job.

"We're trying to make a decision (between the two) and it's been really hard," Ane said. "They both played well, they're both competing, they're both classy about it, so it's tough because they both want to start and they're both deserving to start, so it's really a tough call for us, but overall they both played excellent."

Punahou scored 28 points off of four Leilehua turnovers and kept the home team to just 5 of 15 on third-down conversion attempts.

"Turnovers are going to kill you," Mules coach Nolan Tokuda said. "Our defense was on the field for so long that they were cramping up. It was just a tough night, but (Punahou) is a tough team, so they're going to expose a lot of things."

Ane credited his defensive unit for being opportunistic.

"Defense is good. We have a lot of young kids and some kids with experience, so it's a nice blend of both and everybody is competing," Ane said. "There's a lot of competition, so the starters know that they have to keep working hard if they want to continue to start, so it's very competitive and it makes for some tough practices."

Leilehua threw for 206 of its 290 yards of total offense, but managed just 128 yards in the first half.

"Leilehua is better than this," Ane warned. "They had a couple mistakes and we took advantage of things, but we're just going to have to go back and continue to work hard and do the things we need to do and definitely work on our running game."

It was Punahou's first game since the graduation of Wayne Taulapapa, a three-time All-Hawaii running back.

Junior Enoch Nawahine rushed for a game-high 95 yards, including an 84-yard TD, on just three carries. Three other backs combined for 62 yards on 11 attempts.

"It really starts with the line. The line has to continue to grind it out and make things happen," Ane said. "We have three different kinds of running backs and we gave some opportunities for them, but it's hard to replace Wayne; he spoiled us. They've got to used to reading the right hole, they've got to get used to making breaks, they've got to get used to working together with the line, but that'll come with time."

Punahou needed just three plays and 83 seconds to get on the board with Kapule's 13-yard TD pass to Ethan Takeyama.

Leilehua committed its first turnover of the night — a Konapiliahi Andres interception — on its opening drive. Marist Liufau tipped the Andres pass, which fell into the waiting hands of Aaron Woo. The Buffanblu eventually recycled the turnover into a 1-yard TD run by Cortez Feria to cap a nine-play, 52-yard drive.

One play into the second quarter, Barber lofted a pass in the end zone for Keala Martinson, who leapt over the defensive back for the 4-yard TD on fourth-and-goal. Barber's second TD pass — a 36-yarder down the left sideline to Cole Arceneaux — came on fourth-and-19.

"It's just about executing the plays, the coaches having faith in us in doing that and we just executed it," Barber said.

Arceneaux also pulled down a 21-yard TD pass from Kapule earlier in the second quarter. He finished with three receptions for a game-high 107 yards. Takeyama added six catches for 97 yards. Tamatoa Falatea and Eamon Brady also recorded a touchdown reception each.

Satya Mindich led the Punahou defense with seven tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Tanner Ono and Maninoa Tufono added six tackles each. Tufono, an outside linebacker, is filling the role of three-year starter Seyddrick Lakalaka, who is sidelined with a foot injury.

Defensive backs Liufau and Aaron Woo each notched four tackles and an interception. Liufau took his back for a 33-yard pick-6 early in the third quarter and linebacker Mason Canonico also intercepted a pass.

"I think our defense did really good tonight and I'm just proud of the way they performed and how they've got my back even though sometimes I messed up on my assignment; they always have my back," Marist said.

Andres, who missed a few series in the first half after he was on the receiving end of a punishing hit just after releasing a pass, threw for 206 yards on 27-of-47 passing with three interceptions.

Leilehua's lone score came midway through the fourth quarter on a 5-yard TD run by Kalika Seumanutafa-Bryant. Kaleoaloha Piceno caught a game-high seven passes for 52 yards and Moku Watson had five grabs for 68 yards.

Kenoa Tilimwar made six tackles with a sack and Donavon Ugalino added five stops for the Mules defensively.

Leilehua's only other points came off a 29-yard field goal by Akoni Makue late in the first quarter.

The Mules (0-1), who played without eight players due to academic probation or injuries, are coming off a 3-6 record last season and will host defending state champion and top-ranked Kahuku in their Oahu Interscholastic Association opener next Friday.

The Buffanblu (1-0), who went 8-2 and finished second in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu last year, will not play again until their regular-season opener against Kamehameha on Sept. 1.

The teams met to open the season for the second straight year. Punahou defeated Leilehua last season, 49-7.