OIA Football
Aiea locks up postseason ticket in dominant second half over Nanakuli


Michael Lasquero | ScoringLive
October 14, 2023, 7:58am

  


Fri, Oct 13, 2023 @ Nanakuli [ 7:30 pm ]

Aiea

29

Nanakuli

8

Final 1 2 3 4 T
Aiea (2-7-0) 0 0 7 2229
Nanakuli (1-6-1) 0 0 8 08

NANAKULI — A-town is playoff bound.

Visiting Aiea punched its ticket into the OIA Division I playoffs with a 29-8 win over Nanakuli in both teams' regular season-finale Friday night.

After a scoreless first half, Na Alii (2-6 overall, 1-5 league) scored on every possession after halftime to lock up the No. 3 seed in OIA D1 Group A. They will take on Group B No. 2 seed Kailua next week in the opening round of the playoffs.

Despite impressive showings against Open Division teams Kahuku and Moanalua in recent weeks, the Golden Hawks' season ends with a 1-6-1 overall record.

"Our team, we told them the game will go to whoever wants it more," said Aiea coach Wendell Say. "They just needed to want it more because Nanakuli is a good team."

Aiea's offensive game plan needed to shift gears early on after starting quarterback Noah Deed went down with an injury two plays into the game. Sophomore receiver Hiki Kim Choy-Keb-Ah Lo caught a 9-yard pass on the first play of scrimmage before taking over signal-caller duties for Na Alii.

The result speaks for itself. Kim Choy-Keb-Ah Lo rushed 18 times for 135 yards and three touchdowns, which all came in the fourth quarter when Aiea outscored Nanakuli 22-0. He also completed eight passes for 89 yards and had a 2-point conversion pass to Jheremie Cacpal.

"Coaches have always said whenever a man goes down, next man up," said Kim Choy-Keb-Ah Lo. "We worked our butts off the whole week and we came out with the W."

The Aiea defense also did its part by forcing five turnovers and recording two interceptions. The momentum shifting play came on the opening series of the second half when junior linebacker Eric Saau stopped Nanakuli running back Imi Asinsin for no gain on fourth down to give Na Alii possession on the Golden Hawks' 35.

"Our defense did incredible," said Kim Choy-Keb-Ah Lo. "We asked them to step up to get some turnovers and they did exactly that. They stepped up, gave us the ball back and gave us a chance."

The Aiea defense combine for a tackle against Nanakuli RB Imi Asinsin in the first half. Michael Lasquero | SL    Purchase image

Kim Choy-Keb-Ah Lo completed an 11-yard pass to Cacpal and a 12-yard pass to Bryson Boyea Quiton after the change of possession before Aiea ran it up the middle with Kobe Higa on consecutive plays. Higa, who ran for 60 yards, found the end zone from three yards out on the sixth play of the drive to score the first points of the game. Boyea Quiton's PAT made it 7-0 at the 8:18 mark of the third quarter.

The Golden Hawks bounced back on the following series thanks to a pair of fourth down conversions by Asinsin. An 18-yard run by Asinsin on fourth-and-1 took Nanakuli inside the Aiea 30 before a 3-yard run on fourth-and-goal put the home team on the scoreboard. A sweep around right end on the 2-point try by Talitonu Keohuhu put the Golden Hawks ahead, 8-7, with under three minutes to play in the period.

A pass interference against Nanakuli at the start of Aiea's next possession put Na Alii at the Golden Hawks 48. Kim Choy-Keb-Ah Lo had runs of five and 12 yards before taking a sack for six yards. He was able to convert second-and-16 with a 23-yard gain before taking another sack. However, a 18-yard completion over the middle to freshman Kila Spencer on the next play put Aiea at the 1-yard line before Kim Choy-Keb-Ah Lo punched it in on a QB sneak. The 2-point conversion pass was good to make it 15-8 within the first minute of the fourth quarter.

Momentum was all on Na Alii's side from that moment on.

Back-to-back incompletions brought up a fourth-and-7 situation for the Golden Hawks on the next series. Nanakuli elected to go for it on a fake punt, but Aiea sniff out the punt protector's pass to the far sideline gunner and Na Alii took over on downs.

Kim Choy-Keb-Ah Lo kept it himself around left end for a 43-yard TD on the very next play to give Aiea a 22-8 lead with 10:21 left in the game.

Junior defensive back Chad Colburn then came up with an interception on the Golden Hawks' very next play from scrimmage.

Aiea CB Chad Colburn (22) broke up two passes and had an interception against Nanakuli. Michael Lasquero | SL    Purchase image

Aiea was able to milk clock after the turnover before Kim Choy-Keb-Ah Lo scored his third TD of the game with 2:45 left in regulation.

Na Alii ran for 200 of their 316 yards total yards and averaged 5.3 yards per carry when the night was over.

"The game plan coming out of halftime was pound the ball," said Kim Choy-Keb-Ah Lo. "We're just going to win this, we did exactly that."

Say added that the team's efficient offense against Nanakuli helped the defense performed better.

"We were able to move the chains on offense this evening, that was the difference, being able to move the chains and resting our defense" Say said. "Defense stepped it up, all season I think our defense has been keeping us in the game."

It was a euphoric win for Aiea, who has been through a lot with nearly half the team transferring out of the program during the offseason. Na Alii has over 20 underclassmen on its squad that is seeing playing time that they normally wouldn't see.

"We're very young. Talent wise, we're capable, but it's just a matter of building the confidence," said Say. "They're maturing, they're getting better every week. They're growing. They did a good job and I'm proud of the boys."


Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].




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