Late interception seals Castle's win over Kaiser

Ryder Kapuwai-Mapu celebrates with a teammate after making an interception in the first half against Kaiser. Kapuwai-Mapu also had the game-sealing interception with seconds left in the game. Leighland Tagawa | SL

Castle outlasted Kaiser, 17-13, getting a key interception from Ryder Kapuwai-Mapu in the red zone with just seconds left in the contest to seal the win.

Ezekiel Totten got the Knights on the board in the first quarter with a 14 yard score on the ground, and finished with a game-high 102 yards on 21 carries.

The home team extended the lead to 10 on a 30 yard field goal from Aztin Pitt, but Sean Connell's 64 yard TD keeper got the Cougars on the board just before the half.

Connell, a transfer from Punahou, completed 18 of 35 passes for 182 yards and added 88 more yards on the ground in his Kaiser debut.

In the second half, Castle made it 17-7 on a 19 yard rumble by Kaize Steverson in the third quarter to make it a double-digit lead once again, but Connell connected with Keegan Lime on a 30 yard pitch and catch to get the visiting team back in it. The PAT was blocked, however, keeping the margin at four.

The Knights ended up giving the ball back to the Cougars with just over a minute to play, and saw Connell drive Kaiser down into the red zone with a chance for the win, but a sack by Totten disrupted momentum and Kapuwai-Mapu's pick two plays later, his second of the game, ended it.

Kaiser outgained Castle, 311 to 283 in total offense, but three interceptions proved costly. Junior wideout Jesse Shinagawa had 11 grabs for a game-high 112 yards in the loss.