Football
No. 7 Kapolei rallies in second half to pull away from No. 10 Moanalua


Brandon Ching | ScoringLive
September 18, 2022, 7:00am

  

Sat, Sep 17, 2022 @ Moanalua [ 6:30 pm ]

Kapolei

42

Moanalua

17

Final 1 2 3 4 T
Kapolei (6-5-0) 0 7 14 2142
Moanalua (2-6-1) 3 14 0 017
Tayden-Evan Kaawa 277 yd 2 TD
Liatama Amisone 214 yd 2 TD
Eric Stephens 141 yd 1 TD
Diezel Kamoku 138 yd 1 TD



SALT LAKE— Liatama "Tama" Amisone accounted for four total touchdowns in the second half to rally No. 7 Kapolei past No. 10 Moanalua, 42-17, in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Open Division contest at Na Menehune's field Saturday.

The Hurricanes (5-0 overall, 2-0 OIA) trailed by 17 and scored before halftime and erupted for 35 points in the second half to keep their winning streak alive.

Na Menehune (2-3-1 overall, 1-2 OIA) bottled up Amisone in the first half for 40 rushing yards on nine attempts and was 9 of 16 for 99 yards and an interception.

Amisone broke out in the second half and finished with 177 yards and two rushing touchdowns and 214 yards on 17-of-26 passing and two more scores through the air.

"That was big, he's really an amazing player," Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez said. "It was a close game, they're (Moanalua) a tough team and we were able to wear them out in the second half."

Moanalua scored on its opening drive with a 43-yard field goal from Andy Nguyen.

Na Menehune extended its lead after Hunter Eagen recovered Tuli Tagovailoa-Amosa's fumble and found the end zone in eight plays. Tayden-Evan Kaawa completed a 64-yard pass to Eric Stephens and went to Jayce Bareng to get to the Kapolei 7.

Kaawa completed a 6-yard pass to Cameron Johnson that set up a 1-yard touchdown pass to Stephens for a 10-0 lead. Stephens led all receivers with nine catches for 141 receiving yards.

After Kapolei punted, Moanalua started on their own 2 and capitalized on two pass interference penalties to get into Hurricane territory. Kaawa finished the 10-play, 98 yard drive by lobbing a 4-yard pass to Johnson for a 17-0 lead with 4:22 to go before the half.

Kaawa finished with 277 yards on 21-of-46 passing, two touchdowns and was intercepted twice.

The Hurricanes answered on the ensuing drive to get on the scoreboard. Halai Kamohalii returned the kickoff 51 yards to the Moanalua 34. Aminsone completed two passes for 14 yards and hit-to-the-helmet penalty put the ball on the 8. Three plays after the penalty, Amisone pitched it to Tagovailoa-Amosa from 4 yards out for to trail by 10 going into halftime.

"It was very sloppy in the first half. The penalties killed us and hurt us," Hernandez said.

Kapolei was flagged 15 times for 166 yards. Moanalua had nine penalties for 70 yards.

Reuben Chavez recovered a fumble to end Kapolei's offensive drive to start the third quarter, but Moanalua went three-and-out to give it back to the Hurricanes on Na Menehune 34.

The Hurricanes found the end zone four plays later with Amisone's 2-yard rushing score to trail, 17-14.

Kapolei forced Moanalua to punt and Johnson tried to run a fake but was dropped for a loss. The Hurricanes took the lead on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Amisone to Malachi Tapaoan.

"We made some adjustments, especially on defense. We were able to get the job done and I'm proud of them," Hernandez said.

Treston Lalau intercepted Kaawa on Na Menehune's next drive and turned the turnover into the points after Triton Keliikipi rushed up the middle for a 13-yard touchdown to go up, 28-17.

Moanalua went on a lengthy drive that started on their own 9 and got as far to the Kapolei 30 but turned it over on downs.

Amisone broke out for a 69-yard run that set up his 6-yard keeper for a 35-17 lead.

Shaz Lopes picked off Kaawa and Amisone completed a 40-yard pass, his longest of the night, to Diezel Kamoku and the pair connected for a 4-yard touchdown for the final points of the night. Kamoku had nine catches for 138 yards to lead all Hurricane receivers.

Garrett Hayes had four sacks, Chase Camarillo had a tackle for loss and pass break up for the Hurricane defense.

Jeremy Garner had five tackles and broke up a pass, Jordan Paredes had six total tackles, and Chavez had four including one for a loss for Na Menehune.

Kapolei hosts top-ranked Kahuku (5-1 overall, 3-0 OIA) on Friday, Sept. 23 while Moanalua plays at Campbell (3-2 overall, 1-2 OIA) on the same night.


Reach Brandon Ching at [email protected].




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