Kalaheo battles past Kapolei to claim OIA Division II title

Brian Bautista | SL

It was a rags to riches story for the Mustangs in 2026.

Kalaheo capped off a 10-1 league slate with a 28-25 win over Kapolei to claim its first Oahu Interscholastic Association flag football title in school history, in stark contrast to its 2025 campaign that saw the Mustangs finish 1-4.

"Nobody thought that Kalaheo could do (it), coming from last year only one win to only losing one game," said quarterback Elizabeth Kennedy, who threw two touchdiowns, ran in the eventual game-winning scamper from two yards out, and also added an interception for good measure.

In the early going, a pair of early interceptions thrown by Kennedy, both snagged by Kapolei's Kira Otsuka, were costly.

The first got Kapolei on the board with 8:28 in the second, as it led to a 23 yard pass from Taimane Amisone to Kaylyce Kauwe that made it 6-0 in favor of the Hurricanes, and the other stalled a drive deep in Hurricanes' territory.

Kalaheo benefitted a play later, however, as Kirie Bowman snagged a forward toss and nearly returned it back the other way. That turnover, which gave the ball right back to Kalaheo, set up what would be a momentum changing play via a bit of trickery.

Jourdyn Kekauoha-Viena, the team's leading receiver this season but the starting signal caller a season ago, hauled in a swing pass from Kennedy on the near side and promptly loaded up a perfect lofting ball to a streaking Kamaile Hassett in stride for a 37 yard score.

"I was the QB last year, so we kind of figured like that kind of trick play would go in and I was very sure that Kamaile would catch that ball," said Kekauoha-Viena of the play. "We practice it a lot, so it was a good opportunity and it throws teams off most of the time."

And that it did, but not only that, but that big play also served to release much of the nervous energy in an instant.

"I feel like that throw knocked us all of out of our like jitters," said Kennedy.

From there, the teams ultimately traded score for score, with Amisone and Kennedy factoring into every score down the stretch. The fourth touchdown toss, and the second of the game to Infinitiz Galeano-Soares, inched Kapolei back into the lead with 7:50 in regulation, but Kalaheo responded with a four minute drive of its own that saw Kennedy break off runs of 24 and 17 yards to set up the go-ahead rumble from two yards out at the 3:18 mark.

The Hurricanes had its chances to answer, but Amisone came up a yard short on a fourth down scramble that gave the Mustangs that ball back just inside Kapolei 40, and a clutch 17 yard pass from Kennedy to Shannon Love sealed the deal, allowing Kalaheo to end the game in victory formation.

Kekauoha-Viena had a game-high 120 yards on 10 grabs, nearly equalled by Kauwe's 10 grabs for 110. Amisone racked up 254 yards of total offense, which included four receving yards on a lateraled pass. Kennedy racked up just two less rushing yards than Amisone (67) on four fewer carries.

Defensively for Kapolei, Rylie-Marie Keao-Alaivanu-Puha had double-digit pulls with 15 and Otsuka snagged three interceptions and had three pulls. Bowman had six pulls and two picks and Love eight pulls and another interception for Kalaheo.