The Chargers celebrate after stopping Kaimuki on the final play of the game. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Fri, Oct 13, 2017 @ Pearl City [ 7:30 pm ]

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Kaimuki

0

Pearl City

7

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Kaimuki (5-4-0)	0	0	0	0	0
Pearl City (7-3-0)	0	0	7	0	7

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Isaiah Asinsin 28 yd

Jordan Solomon 137 yd

Isaiah Asinsin 47 yd

Ieke Seei-Cleveland 46 yd

Micah Quillopo-Jamile 16 yd

Ieke Seei-Cleveland 76 yd

PEARL CITY — For the past two seasons, finishing games have been the Pearl City football team's achilles' heel.

Friday night against visiting Kaimuki was a different story.

The Chargers (7-2) played 48 minutes of shutout ball and Pookela Moses-Espanto accounted for the lone score of the game to help Pearl City top the Bulldogs, 7-0, in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II semifinal game at Bino Neves Stadium.

Pearl City, ranked seventh in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric D2 Power Rankings, moves on to the league championship game where it will face No. 2 Waipahu (9-0) on Thursday, Oct. 26.

It will be the Chargers' first championship game appearance since making back-to-back trips in 2013 and 2014. Fifth-year Pearl City coach Robin Kami said his players took the initiative to make sure they came out on the winning side of the game.

"The senior leadership was big, learning from last year. They didn't want that sour taste in their mouths again so they dug deep and they were like coaches on the field yelling ‘hey, let's go, let's do it.'"

Much like it did in the regular season meeting between the two teams — a 17-15 Pearl City win on Sept. 16 — this one went down to the wire.

The eighth-ranked Bulldogs (5-4) got the ball back on their own 25 with 3:25 left in regulation and drove down the field in 17 plays — converting two third and two fourth downs along the way — before falling short on the Pearl City 11-yard line as time expired.

"At that last two minutes, we were just thinking about all the time that we invested in this whole year," said Pearl City senior safety Kasey Kikuyama. "We just didn't want it to fall apart at that last second. They're a hard fighting team so we just wanted to come out stronger."

Kikuyama led the Chargers in their fifth shoutout win of the season, recorded a game-high 12 tackles, three for loss, and a 8-yard sack on Kaimuki quarterback Jordan Solomon during the Bulldogs' penultimate drive.

The senior safety's sack set up 6-foot-4 senior defensive end Zion Tupuola-Fetui's bat down on the following play to end the drive. Tupuola-Fetui was also solid, registering six tackles, a forced fumble and two pass breakups.

"Our defense did a great job for playing for four quarters, that's all it's about," said Kami. "They played for four quarters and we finally finished."

The Chargers' defensive effort was much better than in their previous meeting with Kaimuki. In the regular season matchup, the Bulldogs were able to rumble out 219 yards on the ground and averaged 5.8 yards per carry. That number dropped to 42 yards and a 1.3 average the second time around.

"They did a great job," said Kaimuki coach David Tautofi. "We thought that we could still break that, but they were disciplined."

The Pearl City defense ultimately set up the contest's only score of the night.

After Kaimuki picked off Isaiah Asinsin at its own 8-yard line, the Chargers forced the Bulldogs into a fourth-and-15 situation. Having to punt from the back of his own end zone, Sio Uhatafe booted a short kick that was scooped up by Moses-Espanto at the Kaimuki 31. The shifty 5-foot-8 junior made a couple of moves before following a crease down the left sideline to give Pearl City the lead with 5:49 to play in the third quarter.

"When I was on that play, all I was thinking about was getting that touchdown, trusting in my blockers and making the cuts to get into the end zone," said Moses-Esparto. "I'm just thankful for my defense, holding it down, otherwise we wouldn't get that win. I'm grateful for No. 11 (Chase) Cudiamat for making those blocks so I can get in that hole."

Ieke Seei-Cleveland rushed for 46 yards and caught eight passes for 76 yards to lead the Bulldogs in the loss.