Kaiser's defense limited Aiea to seven points and 119 yards of total offense in an opening night victory. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Kaiser's defense limited Aiea to seven points and 119 yards of total offense in an opening night victory. Sylvia Lee | SL

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The Oahu Interscholastic Association’s Division I regular season got off to a bang Friday night with four games played along the farthest regions of the island. While there was a lot of scoring in these games, none of the victors had a stronger defensive performance than the Kaiser Cougars. 

Kaiser, the reigning Division II state champions, got its first taste of Division I ball with an early home game against Aiea. The result was a big 52-7 victory for the boys of Hawaii Kai.

“We want to prove (ourselves) a lot,” said Kaiser defensive end Zeno Choi who had two sacks and a fumble recovery in the win. “This year we have a lot to prove because (the pressure) is on us, returning state champions Division II coming up to (Division I). We just got to step up our game and prove everyone wrong and that we can win in Division I.” 

Defensive tackle and All-Hawaii Division II first-team selection Manase Palu also had two sacks and a forced fumble in the contest.

Cougar running back Jensen McDaniel should and deservedly so get much credit for the win, but the Kaiser defense also played extremely well against Aiea’s offense. Kaiser held Na Alii to seven points and 119 yards of total offense.

Although starting Aiea quarterback Jordan Liilii sat out in the contest, you still have to credit the Kaiser defense for being prepared against the Na Alii passing attack. Aiea tried to utilize a high volume of bubble and receiver screens early on in the game, but it came with little success. Aiea’s first seven completions went like this: six-yard gain, no gain, five-yard gain, no gain, four-yard gain, two-yard gain, catch for minus one yard. 

“Our pass defense was great,” Choi said on the team’s defensive performance. “We studied their film well and we practiced well. This whole summer we watched film. We got to know how their offense was. When it came to game time we knew exactly how it was going to be and we just executed.”

The Cougars’ back seven did an impressive job against Na Alii’s aerial attack, picking up six total pass deflections. Linebacker Parker Higgins led the way with three near interceptions of his own. Higgins’ also had a fumble recovery in the second quarter that led to a McDaniel touchdown.

Kaiser’s defense also got on the scoreboard with Nicolas Tom’s juggling 46-yard interception return for a touchdown late in the first half. 

“Our back seven is young. A lot of shoes were filled in because of all the players we lost last year. We don’t have a lot of depth or size, but we held it down,” said Choi.

Other key contributors in the Kaiser’s pass defense were Cody Kim, Keoua Mahiko, Keoni Pangan and Levi Richards.

The Cougars’ opening night win showed that Kaiser is capable of defending the pass. However, next week will be a different story with Waianae coming into town with a revamped running attack.