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Amisone dazzled in varsity debut for Hurricanes Saturday




Liatama Amisone

Kapolei football  •   #7    

As far as first impressions go, Liatama Amisone's to prep football fans over the weekend was about as good as they come. 

In his very first varsity game, the Kapolei quarterback passed for 234 yards and seven touchdowns in his team's 70-0 rout of visiting Kealakehe on a blistering hot afternoon at the Alvin Nagasako Sports Complex Saturday. Amisone, a 6-foot, 175-pound sophomore completed all 16 of his passes and also scored another touchdown on his only rushing attempt of the game. 

It wasn't exactly Amisone's first impression on his coach, Darren Hernandez. Amisone was the starting quarterback for the Hurricanes at the junior varsity level a year ago. 

"I saw him play on JV, so I was hoping that the same kind of awareness and escape-ability, the dual-threat quarterback that I was just hoping that that would transfer to the varsity and we will see. It was just the preseason and I don't want to draw any conclusions, but it was a very impressive first start for a young, first-year (varsity) quarterback," said Hernandez, who is in his 21st season at Kapolei and his 26th overall as a prep coach. 

The Hurricanes, who scored on every possession en route to their largest win in school history, capped their first drive with Amisone's 25-yard touchdown pass to Diesel Kamoku. He then found the end zone a few minutes later with a 26-yard TD run before he connected with Riley Camarillo and Caleb Dela Pena-Pihana on scoring strikes of 9 and 5 yards, respectively. 

And that was just the first quarter. 

Amisone, who is also a member of the school's canoe paddling team during the winter season, passed for four more touchdowns in the second stanza. He hit Halai Kamohalii for a 29-yard TD, then hooked up with Esaiah Gideon for a 56-yard score before he re-connected with Camarillo for an 8-yard TD. Amisone closed out the first half scoring with his 10-yard TD pass to Malachi Tapaoan just 33 seconds before the intermission. 

Despite the out-of-this-world statistics Amisone put up Saturday, Hernandez explained that the job isn't his just yet. In fact, Amisone is competing with incumbent Tuli Tagovailoa, who was the starter as a sophomore himself last season. 

"We went into that game thinking that we were gonna play one quarterback in the first half and one in the second half," said Hernandez, whose team led 28-0 after the first quarter and 56-0 by halftime against the overmatched Waveriders from the Big Island Interscholastic Federation. 

"We were surprised at how many points we put up, so by the time Tuli went in it was kind of mop-up duty and it was such a big score (disparity) that we had Tuli hardly passing," he said of Tagovailoa, who finished with a game-high 79 rushing yards on only seven carries, including touchdown runs of 16 and 8 yards for Kapolei's only points of the second half. 

Hernandez said that Tagovailoa-Amosa was slightly ahead of Amisone after a couple of scrimmages two weeks ago, only for the latter to flip the script in the lead-up to the season opener Saturday. 

"We still feel like both guys can play and that we have two really good quarterbacks that we're blessed with and they still compete every day and if you look at Kahuku and Mililani last year, you need two capable quarterbacks and I feel like we've got that with the two guys we got," Hernandez expressed. 

Despite the daily compettion, both Amisone and Tagovailoa-Amosa have been the consummate teammate to the other, Hernandez said. 

"I think they have a close relationship. They're good friends, they work out together, they push each other, they support each other — I haven't seen anything like it," Hernandez said. 

He went on, "They're very positive and they're very happy for the other one when the other one does well and both guys are super athletic in that they can play other positions, too, on offense, so both guys have the ability to be on the field at the same time. They both can do a lot."

Amisone, Hernandez noted, can play wide receiver, while the 5-foot-11, 190-pound Tagovailoa-Amosa is also an option at slotback or even running back. 

"Tuli is a strong and powerful runner," he said. 

Hernandez isn't about to make a decision on a starting quarterback just yet. After all, Kealakehe is a middle-tier (Division I) team, while Kapolei competes in the top tier (Open Division). 

As Hernandez pointed out, the Waveriders were at a distinct disadvantage in the non-league game. 

"They came in at 6 a.m. so they probably didn't sleep well the night before and it was a 3 p.m. kickoff in the hot sun," he said. "I thought we were clicking and executing both offensively and defensively and it was nice to see that, but they didn't have the size or number of players on their roster and I think that obviously the traveling was hard on them, so we're not ready to raise any banners on our size. We understand that it was just one game."

Hernandez pointed out that four of the ‘Canes' five projected starters on the offensive line did not play Saturday due to injuries. 

While the lopsided win was a nice start to the season for his team, Hernandez reiterated that it is a long season ahead. 

"We got everybody in the game Saturday and everybody got to play and so I think that's a positive for any team and so it does give us a lot of confidence, but we're not gonna order rings yet. We're still in the process of building our team," Hernandez said. "We only won two games last year and we were young last year and we'll be young again this year — we have a whole bunch of sophomores and juniors that are in the starting group — so hopefully that experience will come into play as the season progresses."

The longtime coach said that he scheduled as many non-league games as he could in the lead-up to the six-game OIA Open Division schedule. 

"We have four preseason games so we actually have 10 games before any postseason games are played. We wanted a larger body of work, especially after the pandemic-(canceled) season and the shortened season, so we wanted to have more games because the kids love to play, so I thought let's get them opportunities to get on the field and play," Hernandez said. 

Amisone and the Hurricanes (1-0), who moved up a spot No. 9 in this week's ScoringLive Power Rankings, will host No. 15 Farrington (1-0) Friday at approximately 7:30 p.m. 

FOOTBALL

Makoa Ah Mook Sang, Aiea — Had two sacks in a win over Kapaa

Sylas Alaimalo, Damien — Caught touchdown passes of 12 and 20 yards on offense and recorded a sack on defense in a win over Kalaheo 

Liatama Amisone, Kapolei — Threw for 234 yards and seven touchdowns on 16-of-16 passing and also scored on a 26-yard touchdown run in a win over Kealakehe 

Timothy Arnold, Leilehua — Caught 10 passes for 136 yards, including a 77-yard touchdown reception, in a tie with Kailua 

Kainoa Carvalho, Kahuku — Caught a pair of 41-yard touchdown passes and also ran for a 2-yard touchdown in a win over Kamehameha 

Jake Chambers, PAC-5 — Recorded two sacks in a win over Pahoa 

Waika Crawford, Kahuku — Threw for 195 yards and three touchdowns on 13-of-20 passing and also ran for a 10-yard touchdown in a win over Kamehameha 

Trey Dacoscos, Pearl City — Threw for 217 yards and two touchdowns on 26-of-34 passing with one interception in a win over Kauai 

Maximum Fonoimoana, Kahuku — Forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and had a sack in a win over Kamehameha 

Garrett Hayes, Kapolei — Had one sack and forced a fumble in a win over Kealakehe 

Darien Hoeppner-Corales, Leilehua — Caught touchdown passes of 14 and 80 yards in a tie with Kailua 

Shyne Kalilikane-McMoore, Pearl City — Intercepted three passes in a win over Kauai 

Blade Kaululaau, PAC-5 — Ran for three touchdowns on offense and tallied three tackles, one interception and a pass break-up on defense in a win over Pahoa 

Kaeo Kawaakoa, Iolani — Rushed eight times for 100 yards and three touchdowns in a win over Kaiser 

Kaimana Lale-Saole, Aiea — Rushed 12 times for 149 yards, including a 71-yard touchdown run, in a win over Kapaa 

Daymian Lapitan, PAC-5 — Scored on a 62-yard interception return for touchdown and also forced a fumble in a win over Pahoa 

Jabiel Lauvao, Mililani — Made seven tackles, including four sacks and forced a fumble in a win over Saint Louis 

Keagan Lime, Kaiser — Caught six passes for 106 yards in a loss to Iolani 

Asher Matsui, Iolani — Scored on a 22-yard fumble return for touchdown in a win over Kaiser 

Treston McMillan, Mililani — Threw for 308 yards and four touchdowns on 15-of-25 passing with one interception in a win over Saint Louis

Zechariah Molitau, Farrington — Rushed nine times for 103 yards and a touchdown and caught a 28-yard touchdown pass in a win over Waialua 

Makana Naleieha, Kaiser — Had 10 receptions for 87 yards and two touchdowns in a loss to Iolani 

Elijah Nua, Mililani — Made 6 1/2 tackles, including three for losses, one sack and recovered two fumbles in a win over Saint Louis 

Donovan Reis, Kaiser — Ran for 122 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries and threw for 136 yards and another touchdown on 10-of-17 passing without an interception in a loss to Iolani 

Julian Savaiinaea, Saint Louis — Had three tackles for loss, including two sacks in a loss to Mililani 

Elias Tania, Mililani — Made five tackles, including three for losses and 2 1/2 sacks in a win over Saint Louis 

Nela Taliauli, Iolani — Caught six passes for 203 yards and three touchdowns in a win over Kaiser 

Coby Tanioka, Castle — Caught eight passes for 123 yards and ran in a 5-yard touchdown in a loss to Waianae 

Kamakana Tisalona-Perez, Farrington — Scored on an 84-yard kickoff return for touchdown in a win over Waialua

AJ Tuifua, Damien — Threw for 264 yards and four touchdowns on 22-of-37 passing with one interception and ran in a 2-yard touchdown in a win over Kalaheo 

Geronimo Ulgaran, Aiea — Caught touchdown passes of 6 and 27 yards and also scored on a 64-yard punt return for touchdown in a win over Kapaa 

Zion Vea, Damien — Forced two fumbles, recovered one and also registered a sack in a win over Kalaheo 

Riis Weber, Kailua — Recorded two interceptions on defense and caught a 17-yard touchdown pass on offense in a tie with Leilehua 

Tevin Wilbur, Waianae — Ran for 122 yards and four touchdowns on 17 carries in a win over Castle 

Kaliko Wilson, Damien — Had three tackles for loss, including two sacks, forced a fumble and also intercepted a pass in a win over Kalaheo 



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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