OIA Football
Kaiser pulls away from Waialua behind Yoshino's six TDs


Michael Lasquero | ScoringLive
September 3, 2022, 9:37am

  

Fri, Sep 2, 2022 @ Waialua [ 7:00 pm ]

Kaiser

45

Waialua

28

Final 1 2 3 4 T
Kaiser (6-5-0) 0 6 19 2045
Waialua (4-5-0) 0 7 15 628
Tyson Apau 174 yd 1 TD
Easton Yoshino 405 yd 6 TD
Tyson Apau 131 yd 3 TD
Kai Blackston 77 yd
James Zara 110 yd 1 TD
Makana Naleieha 203 yd 2 TD



WAIALUA — For nearly two quarters, the Kaiser football team was in a rut.

Then the floodgates opened.

The Cougars scored on six consecutive possessions in the second half to come out on top over Waialua, 45-28, in an OIA Division II contest at Toshi Nakasone Field Friday night.

Senior quarterback Easton Yoshino completed 27 of his 40 pass attempts for 405 yards and six touchdowns in the win to help Kaiser improve to 2-2 overall and 2-1 in league play.

Three different receivers scored twice for the Cougars. Makana Naleieha was the top pass catcher with 13 receptions for 203 yards. Donovan Reis followed with six grabs for 105 yards and Keagan Lime turned in six catches for 82 yards.

While the first half was a defensive struggle with neither team scoring until the final minute before the break, the second half was a track meet as both squads combined for 60 points and 503 yards of total offense after halftime.

The Bulldogs (1-3, 1-2) hung in with Kaiser for the most part, but three pivotal moments swung the game in the Cougars' favor.

After Reis took a 24-yard catch-and-run to the end zone to give Kaiser a 19-15 lead with 7:31 to play in the third quarter, the Cougars elected for a pooch kick on the ensuing kickoff. Waialua failed to pick up the live ball, which allowed Kaiser to take possession on the Bulldogs' 25-yard line.

Kaiser capitalized on the quick change and Bulldogs' confusion on the very next play with Yoshino's TD pass to Naleieha, who got a free release after initially being uncovered near the left sideline. This gave the Cougars a 10-point lead at the 7:22 mark of the third quarter.

The second key moment came midway through the fourth quarter. Still with a 10-point lead after the two teams traded scores, senior defensive back Blaze Kodama picked off a pass on the Cougars' own 4-yard line to come away with the only turnover of the second half. The takeaway led to a 40-yard TD reception by Naleieha to extend Kaiser's lead to 38-22 with 5:02 left in regulation.

Waialua continued to fight and found the end zone on Tyson Apau's 2-yard keeper with 3:24 left in the game, but another special teams blunder put the game out of reach for the Bulldogs. Jesse Palmer, who led the Cougars in tackles with six, recovered Waialua's ensuing onside kick attempt off the bounce. Instead of falling on it however, Palmer took the live ball in stride and went 51 yards untouched for the final points of the game.

The Bulldogs deserve credit for their performance against the Cougars, who went undefeated in league play last season before winning the league title. With many players going both ways, Waialua was stretched thin by the time the game was over.

Apau passed for 174 yards and ran for 131 yards and three scores, but had to be helped off the field and did not return after scoring Waialua's final points of the night. Backup QB Jack Amancio — who caught a 25-yard pass over a defender and broke up a potential scoring play on defense in the first half — did not play after halftime, which forced top receiver James Zara (five catches, 110 yards, TD) to finish the game behind center.

The game was also delayed for about 30 minutes at the 2:32 mark of the first quarter when an ambulance needed to come for an injured Waialua lineman.

Both quarterbacks threw interceptions in the first quarter. Jesse Oku came away with the first takeaway of the game for the Cougars while Kaleb Rice got possession right back for the Bulldogs on the following drive.

The first score of the game came on a 10-yard TD pass to Lime with 37.8 remaining in the first half. Prior to the score on the same drive, Kaiser had two trips to the end zone wiped out due to penalty.

Rice returned the ensuing kickoff to the Kaiser 35-yard line to set up a Waialua score before halftime. Zara caught two straight passes, with his second being a 24-yard TD with six ticks on the clock. Makoakai Fierro tacked on the PAT to give the Bulldogs a 7-6 lead at the break.

Zara also had a TD wiped away from the scoreboard midway through the second quarter due to offensive pass interference. The Bulldogs had to settle for a 27-yard field goal from Fierro that could have given them the first points of the game, but the kick was off to the right.


Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].




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