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Kalani Takase | ScoringLiveOctober 26, 2024, 12:35am
Fri, Oct 25, 2024 @ Castle [ 7:00 pm ]
KANEOHE — Kauanahe Kalahiki-Gohier made sure it was a happy homecoming night for the Castle Knights.
Kalahiki-Gohier ran for 129 yards and two touchdowns, including a 1-yard TD run in overtime, to help Castle rally to a thrilling 20-14 walk-off win over Kalaheo Friday night.
A crowd of about 1,500 fans saw the Knights (7-3 overall, 6-1 league) close out the regular season in at least a two-way tie for first place atop the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II standings.
Castle and Roosevelt ended the night with identical league records, while 5-1 Kaiser will play 1-5 McKinley Saturday night. Castle lost to Roosevelt in the regular season, but beat Kaiser. Should the Cougars beat the Tigers Saturday, all three teams will finish with 6-1 league mark. By virtue of Kaiser's win over Roosevelt, a three-way tie would be broken by a coin toss early next week.
Regardless of how the final day of the regular season shakes out Saturday, Castle coach Junior Pale is appreciative that his team will be one of four OIA D2 teams playing in the postseason.
"It's just too bad somebody had to lose tonight, it's too bad," Pale said of the overtime battle with the Mustangs (4-4 overall, 3-4 league), who could have secured a playoff spot with a win Friday.
"I'm glad we came out on top, but what a game from both teams — never gave up, both sides never gave up; had everything in this game," Pale added.
The Knights trailed 14-7 for much of the second half, but parlayed a pivotal goal-line stand on defense into a 14-play, 83-yard drive that culminated with a 1-yard touchdown run by Rolly Gamez with 3:27 left to play. Braven Hopkins converted the all-important extra point to tie the score at 14-all.
The score remained tied through the end of regulation. Kalaheo began the overtime period on offense, but Kamalu Jordan was stopped for short gains on runs out of the wildcat on first and second down. Jordan's pass on third down fell incomplete and the Mustangs attempted a 35-yard field goal, but Loch Moorman's kick missed wide left and was no good.
"When they walked out, they said, ‘Coach, I got you, coach. We got you, coach,' so I knew they were gonna do their job," Pale said of his defense.
After Kalaheo came up empty, Castle got its turn on offense and didn't waste much time cozying up to the goal line. Riley Burton ran up the middle for a 17-yard gain on the Knights' first play in OT. That set up first-and-goal from the Mustangs' 3-yard line. Kalahiki-Gohier, a 5-foot-8, 205-pound fullback, ran for a two-yard gain to put the ball just outside the end zone. On the very next play — second-and-goal from the 1 — Kalahiki-Gohier followed the lead of his offensive line and plunged across the goal line to ignite the Knights' celebration.
Pale said that the Knights' offensive line was eager to pave the way for running backs Kalahiki-Gohier (10 carries for 129 yards), Burton (20 for 106) and Aiden Kahele (5 for 28).
"Before we went on that last drive in overtime, our line said, ‘I don't care, just hold on to the ball, follow us and we just drive. We ain't gonna get tackled,' and Riley just followed the line and just did his job and then we gave it to Nahe twice and nobody could really stop him — it was a no-brainer: just run the ball," Pale said.
Kalahiki-Gohier credited his linemen up front of opening up the running lanes and sustaining their blocks.
"Beautiful. I seen from the early start that it was gonna be hard for our o-line to push because (Kalaheo) tried to chop, but they found a way to work through it ad we were ale to make it a win," Kalahiki-Gohier said.
When he heard his number called in the huddle just prior to his game-winning touchdown, Kalahiki-Gohier said he knew he had to do it for his teammates.
"At that point it was make it or break it and I had to carry us all together so that we made one together because there's no I in team and I'm just doing what I have to do for my part so that everybody else could do their part," he expressed.
Quarterback Nat Kalauokaaea completed just five passes all game, but none was bigger than his 27-yard connection with Isaiah Felipe to convert a fourth down late in regulation. Facing a fourth-and-13 from near midfield, Kalauokaaea found Felipe with a pass to the left sideline to keep the Castle drive alive.
"That was big time," Pale said. "That was big time and it was like a broken play. (Kalaheo) took away the post and that safety just took it away and I'm so happy our quarterback stayed with it and our receiver got open. You know, it was all them, it was just all them with that play, nothing that we did; They just wanted it, so that was big."
Six plays later, Castle punctuated the possession with Gamez's 5-yard TD run, which also came on a fourth down.
Conversely, it was Kalaheo's failed fourth-down conversion on the 10th play of its previous drive that gave the Knights the ball back with a little more than nine minutes left in regulation.
The Mustangs found themselves in the red zone after a clutch 21-yard completion from Benjamin White to Cody Salas on a fourth-and-15 play. They drove all the way to the Castle 2-yard line, where they faced 3rd and 1. However, Vance Ramolete was stopped for no gain on third down. Kalaheo opted to go for it on fourth and 1, but Matthew Pyne was stopped for no gain and the result was a turnover on downs.
Pale said that the Knights sold the farm to blitz Pyne once they saw him in the offensive backfield.
"We watched all the film and every time (Pine) comes in, it's just a wildcat, so we just took a chance and played like a 5-2 and just came downhill," Pale explained.
"You know, if he passed the ball we would just give up that, we've never seen (Pine) pass and probably he could pass but we just came downhill and we practice that in practice, we do the 5-2 and just come downhill and just blitz everybody, get every gap so that's what we did and thankfully we stopped him," Pale added.
Kalaheo took an early lead on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Jude Weber to Chance Baqui a few minutes into the game.
Castle got on the board at the 6:50 mark of the second quarter on a 69-yard touchdown run by Kalahiki-Gohier, who went untouched on the inside trap. The scoring play was set up by a toss to Burton wide to the right side of the field one play prior.
"That was just so surprising to me, it was like a game changer. I was not expecting to get as far as I did, but again I have to give it to my linemen and coaches and it's a set up, so one play has to work for the other to work so it's a cause and effect," Kalahiki-Gohier said.
The teams were tied at 7 through halftime until the Mustangs reclaimed the lead with a short touchdown pass from Jordan to Salas with 9:52 on the clock in the third quarter.
Kalaheo finished with 215 yards of total offense. Jordan had just two carries for one yard in the first half, but finished with 19 carries for 103 yards in the loss.
The Mustangs were seeking their first postseason appearance since 2012. They can still secure a spot in the playoffs, but it would require a Kalani win over Kaimuki Saturday, which would leave Kalani, Kalaheo and Waialua in a three-way tie for the fourth and final postseason berth. Because Kalani beat Waialua, Waialua beat Kalaheo and Kalaheo beat Kalani, a coin toss would then be conducted to determine who will move on.
"It was a good battle all the way to the end," said Kalaheo coach Jaymason Lee, a former standout quarterback during his prep playing days at Castle.
"It was a sold out crowd, standing room only, I can appreciate that. For people to come and watch a Kalaheo football game, we must doing something right; I love that, you know, the community is back. I'm from here, I'm a proud alum. I love what they're doing with their program, I support them 100 percent, but I have a program of my own and I'm glad of the steps we're taking, but in the end I need to do a better job as a coach and put them in better positions to be successful," Lee said.
Castle finished with 350 yards of total offense, including 266 rushing. It averaged 6.8 yards per rush and picked up 13 of its 18 first downs via rush.
"I'm so proud of my guys, they never quit and that's how we been the whole year with close games, but that's our identity — run the ball — and I'm glad we could finish off like that," Pale said.
The Knights will be making their first postseason appearance since 2018.
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