Konawaena's Domonic Morris makes a leaping catch over Nanakuli's Jaryn Paris. Brien Ing | SL

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Nanakuli running back Khade Paris rumbled for a game-high 135 yards and a touchdown against Konawaena. Brien Ing | SL

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Nanakuli players and coaches celebrate after defeating Konawaena. Brien Ing | SL

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Konawaena running back John Kamoku gets airborne near the goal line against Nanakuli. Brien Ing | SL

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Konawaena wide receiver Kenan Gaspar makes a catch in stride against Nanakuli. Brien Ing | SL

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Konawaena quarterback Lii Karratti puts up a pass attempt against Nanakuli. Brien Ing | SL

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Nanakuli quarterback Chazz Troutman attempts to escape the grasp of Konawaena's Brandon Awa. Brien Ing | SL

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Sat, Nov 10, 2012 @ Konawaena [ 7:00 pm ]

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Nanakuli

25

Konawaena

23

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Nanakuli (7-5-0)	0	7	8	10	25
Konawaena (9-5-0)	6	17	0	0	23

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Kahoalii Karratti 295 yd 1 TD

Chazz Troutman 67 yd

Bubba Ellis-Noa 2 yd 1 TD

Khade Paris 135 yd 1 TD

Kenan Gaspar 132 yd

Nyenoa Ulangca-Kauwelo 47 yd

KEALAKEKUA, Hawaii - Skippy Lopes hoped a historic figure would lend some inspiration to his Nanakuli football team, but it was the Golden Hawks who made history Saturday night.

Chazz Troutman ran for two touchdowns and Royce Ochimas forced the game-winning safety to rally Nanakuli to a 25-23 win over Konawaena in a first-round game of the First Hawaiian Bank/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II State Championships at Julian Yates Field.

Nanakuli, the Oahu Interscholastic Association runner-up, improved to 7-4 and advanced to meet tournament No. 2-seed Lahainaluna in next Saturday's semifinal round at Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium.

The Golden Hawks, who were making their state-tournament debut, scored the game's final 18 points and pitched a second-half shutout to overcome a 23-6 halftime deficit.

"I told our guys that (King) Kamehameha started his conquering of the Islands here," Lopes said. "We did that tonight and now we have to go back home and play Lahainaluna and then win the next one and be like Kamehameha and conquer the Islands again."

The Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion Wildcats, who had won seven straight, saw their season come to an abrupt end at 9-5.

Konawaena scored 17 second-quarter points on a pair of rushing touchdowns and a field goal on the final play of the first half, but posted just 43 second-half yards and turned it over twice. Whatsmore, the Wildcats were 2-of-8 on third downs and picked up just five of their 19 first downs after the intermission.

Conversely, Nanakuli racked up 194 of its 262 yards of total offense in the final 24 minutes. The Golden Hawks were just 3-of-9 on third downs in the first half, but 6-of-8 after.

"It's just a matter of whether we believe," said Ochimas, a senior lineman. "It's always been a team thing with us. This year, we basically know that no matter how tough things are, in the second half we can come back."

Troutman, who plays both quarterback and safety, passed for 67 yards, ran for another 33 and recovered a fumble on the game's final play. Fullback Khade Paris carried 20 times for 135 yards and a touchdown.

"(Konawaena) hasn't lost on this field since 2010, so it feels good to give them their first loss," said Troutman, who was 7-of-15 passing with two interceptions. "We've never made it this far, so hopefully we can keep this going."

Nanakuli got 15 of its 21 first downs by rush, including 11 in the second half.

"You can't ask for a better game and the boys came through, as usual," Lopes said. "Tonight was a team effort and my defense pulled it out."

Kahoalii Karratti's 1-yard quarterback sneak into the end zone midway through the first quarter opened the scoring, but the hold on the ensuing point after was botched and Konawaena held an early 6-0 led.

Nanakuli drove 54 yards in eight plays - capped by Troutman's 18-yard option keeper - to pull even early in the second quarter. Joseph Shelton's PAT put his team ahed, 7-6.

However, Karratti answered with a 22-yard scoring strike to Domonic Morris and Bubba Ellis-Noa ran for a 1-yard touchdown on consecutive Konawaena drives to make the score 20-7. The second touchdown was set-up by a failed fourth-down conversion attempt by Nanakuli on a fake punt.

"I put the team in that situation when I called the fake punt," Lopes said. "The team earned the win tonight and covered their coach's blunders."

After Nanakuli went three-and-out, Karratti and company got the ball back with 16 seconds left in the half. On the very next play, he found Morris for a 59-yard completion to set-up John Replogle's 32-yard field as time expired.

Nanakuli cut it to 23-15 after driving 74 yards on the first possession of the second half. Paris capped the nine-play drive that took four minutes and 14 seconds with his 23-yard touchdown run up the middle. Troutman then found Lansen Liki on the ensuing two-point conversion.

"Our linemen were opening up some nice holes for Khade and he was running the ball hard," Troutman said.

Ryan Torres-Tokioka's second interception in less than five minutes was negated when Karratti returned the favor four plays later and was picked off by Nanakuli's Jaryn Paris at the Wildcats' 32-yard line.

Troutman capitalized on the takeaway as he ran his second touchdown - an 11-yarder - to culminate Nanakuli's ensuing drive. The scoring play was a triple-option and Troutman executed perfectly. He pulled the football from the belly of Paris on the dive, faked a pitched to tailback Brandon Felisi as he turned the right corner and scampered in on the keeper. Troutman then hit Felisi for the game-tying two-point conversion with 7:26 remaining.

"(Konawaena) was over-running for the pitch man, so I just cut it upfield and it was wide open," Troutman said.

Konawaena's next drive ended with a lost fumble, which was forced by Au Hoon-Kaawa and recovered by Desmond Kaaihue. However, the Wildcats' defense held and got the ball back to Karratti and company with 4:16 to play at their own 7.

Four plays into that drive - facing a 3rd-and-16 - Karratti was flushed to his left out of the pocket and with Ochimas closing in, threw the pass away to his right. However, with no eligible receiver in the vicinity, he was flagged for intentional grounding. Whatsmore, because Karratti was in his end zone when he threw the ball, the result of the play - after some consultation by the seven-man officiating crew - was a Nanakuli safety. The Golden Hawks reclaimed the lead with 2:32 to play and got possession back when Michael Windham recovered the Konawaena onside kick.

"All I wanted to do was focus on the quarterback, because they were in a third-and-long and the idea was not to let him throw the ball at all," Ochimas said. "The linemen put penetration on me, so I did my best to get around them and when I had that gap open, I got close enough where I could actually reach him, so I jumped and I took his legs out."

The Wildcats eventually got the ball back with two seconds to play - enough time for one final play. Dishon Cho received a short pass from Karratti and made the first of several laterals on the play with Kenan Gaspar ending up with the ball. He had some running room along the left sideline and got to the Nanakuli 43-yard line, but his lateral was covered up by Troutman to seal the win for his team.

"Our coaches made adjustments at halftime and our team adjusted and we executed our plays out there," Troutman said.

Karratti completed just nine of his 25 pass attempts for 295 yards with one touchdown and an interception. He was 7-of-13 passing for 256 yards in the first half. Gaspar finished with 132 receiving yards on four catches and Morris hauled in three passes for 111 yards.

The Wildcats, who were already playing without defensive lineman Kawika Kealoha and running back/defensive back Austin Denis, were dealt another blow when both running back John Kamoku and linebacker Evyn Yamaguchi left in the first half and did not return with shoulder injuries. Kamoku was the team's leading rusher with nearly 1,000 yards and 20 touchdowns on the season, while Yamaguchi was arguably the Wildcats' top linebacker.

Konawaena, which has won the last two BIIF titles, is now 0-4 all-time in state-tournament games.

Nanakuli and Lahainaluna meet in the 4 p.m. semifinal Saturday while Radford plays five-time defending state champion and No. 1 seed Iolani at 7 p.m.