Rayden Aoki | Special to SL

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Rayden Aoki | Special to SL

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For the first time since 2019, the Falcons are starting on a winning note.

Buoyed by a pair of passing touchdowns by Kynan McCartney, Kalani jumped out to a 20-0 first quarter advantage, thrwarted a Waialua drive deep in the red zone to end a real scoring threat just before the half, then weathered a third quarter rally en route to a 20-9 victory.

"A win is win, " said McCartney. "It was just a good team win."

The senior QB threw 174 of his 188 yards in the first half, including a scoring strike to Sonny Iaea from seven yards out that opened the Falcons' account and a 45 yard pitch and catch to Silas Soberano that made it a three score game.

The Bulldogs saw a golden opportunity to put points on the board in the waning seconds of the half, but came up empty as time expired, keeping the margin 20 and preserving the shutout for the Falcons' defense.

Waialua converted its second red zone chance however, when Jace Apao punched one in from three yards out to make it a 20-6 game, and then recovered an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff to really make things interesting.

That chance resulted in a mini six-play drive that culminated in a 38 yard field goal by Makoakai Fierro that pulled the Bulldogs to with 11, but that would be as close the visiting team would get.

Kalani's defense stiffened down the stretch, preserving the win. The Falcons racked up six tackles for loss, two sacks, a fumble recovery  and four pass break ups in the game.

"I commend our defense a lot, they did a really good job tonight," said McCartney. "We had some errors at one point but way to bounce back (after the two scores)."

The Falcons last won an opening game on Aug. 3, 2019, a 35-0 result over Kohala, having lost to Kaiser, 28-6, to open up the 2021 campaign and a 36-21 loss to Keeau in the opening game of the 2022 season.

Kalani also got back into the win column against Waialua, who defeated the Falcons 36-13 on Sept. 22.