Kaluna accounts for 4 TDs in Waianae's win against Dreamhouse

Dhenz Agcaoili | SL

KAPOLEI - Kawenalynn Kaluna passed for three touchdowns and rushed for another and Waianae beat upstart Dreamhouse, 28-0, in OIA West flag football Friday night at Kapolei's stadium.

The freshman QB tossed TD passes of 1 yard to Madison Rodrigues, 8 yard to Breilyn-Sophie Napoleon-Keliinohomoku and 10 yards to Kariana Souza-Davis. Kaluna started off the scoring with a 1-yard TD run.

"It's a humbling win," Waianae coach Kenny Joseph said. "Looking forward to the next game."

The game was scoreless after one quarter before Kaluna capped a nine-play 42-yard drive on her 1-yard run with about 7:35 left in the half. She then connected with Rodrigues on the 2-point try from the 10.

Later in the half, Kaluna hit Jedidiyah Toetuu-Aipa on a 1-yar pass. Keira Keamo-Tai caught the 2-point conversion pass to make it 16-0 with under a minute left in the half. Dreamhouse's ensuing possession ended with an interception by Waianae's Mahealani Moses.

Na Hoku, Dreamhouse's mascot, opened the second half the way it ended the first with a tunrover. Waianae's Makahilahila Irvine-Pule's interception set up the Seasiders' next TD an 8-yard pass from Kaluna to Breilyn-Sophie Napoleon-Kealinohomoku with under six minutes left in the third quarter. The 2-point try failed, but Waianae widened its lead to 22-0.

Waianae ended its scoring on Kaluna's 10-yard TD to Kariana Souza-Davis.

Joseph had praise for the public charter school team, which practices at Kapolei Community Park (across the police station).

"I thought they played pretty good football," Joseph said. "Their effort under Coach Micah (Ah Sui), he did a hell of a job with those girls out there."

Dreamhouse, which is nicknamed Na Hoku (Hawaiian for stars), is making its first venture into varsity sports. It played basketball on the JV level in the winter.

"For me, I'm trying to teach the girls how to compete," Ah Sui said. "They're doing great. They're learning how to complete, they're learning how to play a varsity sport. For many of them, this is the first time playing a varsity sport. For them to understand the level of competitiveness and the dedication it takes to play a varsity sport, they're growing and they're learning. For tonight, the score doesn't reflect how our girls are fighting to the end."

Dreamhouse will have its first senior class next school year.

Meanwhile, for Kaluna, she is just happy for the opportunity for girls to play football.

"It's a blessing to get to play a sport we love," said Kaluna, who also plays basketball.

Waianae returns to Kapolei Wednesday to play the Hurricanes, who lost to Campbell, 6-0, in the first game of the doubleheader. Meanwhile, the Sabers (2-0) will take on Nanakuli in the first game of a doubleheader at Mililani on Wednesday. The host Trojans will play Radford in the nightcap

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].