Amanaki Tuulangavalu puts a stiff arm on a Kauai defender en route to the end zone in Kapaa's 20-6 win at the Bryan J. Baptiste Sports Complex Saturday afternoon. Brian Bautista | SL

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KAPAA, Kauai — Amanaki Tuulangavalu made the most of his opportunities.

The 6-foot, 200-pound junior caught a touchdown and rushed for another to help No. 8 Kapaa pull away from visiting Kauai, 20-6, Saturday afternoon at the Bryan J. Baptiste Sports Complex.

The Warriors, the reigning KIF and Division I state champions, improved to 6-1 overall and 5-0 in league play with their fifth straight victory.

"It was good," said Tuulangavalu. "We all did our job and everything. It was just amazing and we've been trying hard, practicing hard, doing our things."

The Red Raiders (2-7, 1-5) held the early advantage however.

Kauai, who was coming off a dominant 21-0 win over Waimea, was firing on all cylinders on its opening possession that culminated in Jonah Javinar's 12-yard TD pass to Paoa Itamura for the early 6-0 lead with 8:39 to play in the first quarter.

Kapaa couldn't get anything going offensively on the ensuing possession, but defense jumpstarted the Warriors after Kili Williams recorded the first of four interceptions made by the Kapaa defense.

Isaiah Kaaumoana-Lizama, Leia Jerves and Kaeo Contrades also came down with interceptions for the Warriors while the Kapaa defense as a whole recorded nine total pass breakups with a fumble recovery.

"They're the best defense that I've ever played in my life," Tuulangavalu said of the Kapaa defense. "They were strong and they practiced hard during practice too."

The Warriors recycled Williams' takeaway into a nifty jump pass from quarterback Kaitin Mundon for a 2-yard TD scoring reception by Tuulangavalu. Yair Antonio was good on the PAT to make it 7-6 in favor of Kapaa at the 5:24 mark of the opening period.

Tuulangavalu credited the Kapaa coaching staff for drawing up the scoring play at the goal line.

"If it wasn't for them, it wouldn't have happened," he said.

Alakai Pigao-Mundon, who had the bulk of the carries with 19 attempts, scored on an 8-yard run at the start of the second quarter to make it a 14-6 game.

That score would hold until the first play of the fourth quarter when Tuulangavalu scored on a 13-yard run for the final points of the contest. The scoring play was set up by Isaiah Konishi's 29-yard run towards the end of the third quarter.

"It was really important because our coaches really wanted that touchdown," Tuulangavalu said of the final score. "Thanks to the linemen, it was all of them, just really appreciate it."

Mikemund Jose led the Red Raiders in their season-ending loss with 11 total tackles — one for loss — and a pass breakup.

Kapaa has one more game against Waimea to wrap up KIF play on Nov. 1 before waiting for the HHSAA to release the state tournament brackets to learn of its future opponent.

"Just keep practicing hard, play hard and always thank God for everything," Tuulangavalu said.