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Jesse Shinagawa wasn't ready to turn in his pads just yet.

The Kaiser senior played a central role in the Cougars' 30-0 win over PAC-5 in the opening round of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Division II State Championships. Shinagawa, a wide receiver-turned-quarterback, factored into three touchdowns and helped his team accumulate 346 yards of total offense on a gusty night at Farrington's Edward ‘Skippa' Diaz Stadium at Kusunoki Field Saturday.

"He rose to the challenge, that's probably the best way I can say it," Kaiser coach Tim Seaman said of the 5-foot-8, 155-pound Shinagawa, a fourth-year player and three-year starter.

Shinagawa ran the football nearly as many times as he threw it, but was efficient in both facets. He ran for a game-high 82 yards on 13 carries – and would have eclipsed the century mark if not for a pair of sacks that cost him 24 yards – while he threw for another 165 yards on 10-of-14 passing without an interception.

"He enjoys playing football and he doesn't want it to end, he shows everybody that," Seaman added.

The win over the Wolfpack kept the Cougars' season alive and extended it for at least another week. They will play tournament No. 2 seed Kauai in one of two D2 semifinals taking place on two separate neighbor islands this Saturday.

Two of Shinagawa's touchdowns came on throws to Dillon Reis and Caleb Hamasaki, for 45- and 65-yard scoring passes, respectively. Shinagawa capped the scoring with his 9-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.

"We had a couple big plays – the pass to Dillon Reis and the pass to Caleb Hamasaki – both really critical plays in the game and the fact that he was able to, on at least one of the plays, he was able to keep the play alive and the other one was probably the best throw of the night he made to Caleb," Seaman recalled.

Shinagawa's TD pass to Reis gave his team a double-digit lead at the 8:49 mark of the second quarter and came on a third-and-nine play.

"To be honest, I can't remember if it was a rollout or (Shinagawa) broke contain, but Dillon did a fantastic job with yards after the catch and he turned that into a really fantastic play for us," Seaman described.

Shinagawa's scoring strike to Hamasaki came on a deep pass down the right sideline and also came on a third down. The long touchdown pass capped a five-play, 85-yard drive and the Cougars' cushion to 21-0. Shinagawa was a perfect 4-for-4 passing for 82 yards on the drive and ran for a three-yard gain on the only other play of the drive.

Four of the 10 first downs that Shinagawa was responsible for came on third down.

"That's something that he's come up big on throughout the season, his third-down awareness, or his ability to convert on third downs has been impressive," Seaman said.

Shinagawa worked his way into the starting lineup as a sophomore and finished fourth on the team in receptions (35) and receiving yards (443) that year. The following season he caught 40 passes for 447 yards and was second on the team in both categories.

"We've had really good receivers throughout his career so he's been kind of a complementary receiver – he had a solid junior year, if I remember correctly – (but) this year he's had to step up to the forefront and be much more of the focus of our offense," Seaman said.

Shinagawa has split his time on the field between wide receiver and quarterback. He has completed 61.3 percent of his passes this season for 678 yards and eight touchdowns against three interceptions. Shinagawa has tallied 13 catches for 224 yards and two TDs while on the receiving end of the equation.

"Right now, he's more of an athlete than he is a quarterback, to be honest. Our offensive coaches have done a good job setting up packages that play to his skillset. He's done a good job with our (run-pass option) stuff and we try to get the ball in his hands and he's been making things happen," Seaman explained.

Shinagawa spread the wealth to five different receivers Saturday night – each of them tallied two receptions – and finished with a completion percentage north of 70 percent for the fourth time this season.

"I think I was most impressed with him just running the offense as it was designed. I mean, there were a couple plays where he kind of broke script, but for the most part he did what was asked. He made the proper read, he made just enough throws that gave us balance on offense," Seaman said.

Shinagawa's decision making was key to Kaiser moving the chains. He accounted for five first downs by pass and five more by run. The two sacks allowed by the offensive line aside, Shinagawa averaged better than 9.6 yards per rushing attempt.

"He has really good vision, he reads blocks well, he has enough speed to get out in the open and he's more of that ‘slash' type of runner; He's physical as needed, it's not a huge part of his game, but right now he's just making the smart plays and getting the most out of each situation," Seaman expressed.  

Seaman said that Shinagawa's experience as a receiver has helped his development at the quarterback position, but mostly it has been the team-first attitude that Shinagawa brings that has expedited the process.

"He's a real smart kid in terms of understanding coverage, adjusting routes and he's got a lot of experience in reading that type of thing and so I think the fact that he's an intelligent kid on top of that plays a big role, but he's just one of those guys – I mean, he's a competitor. He's very coachable, willing to do whatever the team needs, not really a super vocal kind of guy, but more of a lead-by-example guy, although he will speak up when needed," Seaman said.

Kaiser's shutout of PAC-5 came just a week after it was handed a 34-3 loss by Roosevelt in the OIA championship game, which ended a seven-game winning streak.

"Jesse's continued to grow into his role, but I think the challenge of a big game, being in a state tournament kind of situation and his competitive fire is what drives him, so he really stepped up to the challenge this past weekend," Seaman said.   

The Cougars' defense certainly did their part as well. They limited the Wolfpack to only 140 yards of total offense.

PAC-5 was unsuccessful on all five times it went for it on fourth down and was also 0 for 4 on red-zone chances.

Senior defensive end Kolt McCreadie was a force for the Kaiser D. Five of his game-high seven tackles came behind the line of scrimmage and he also forced a fumble that led to the Cougars' first score on a 1-yard scoop and score by Taiyo Fuji.

"I think it was a big win for us. I mean, coming off a game where we didn't play well against Roosevelt and I think it was important for us to re-establish our confidence, Jesse in particular. He's a high character kid, he's someone who leads by example and his hard work in practice paid off this past week and now on the other hand, we've got a very tough game this week on the road traveling, so we've got a big challenge ahead of us," Seaman said.

Shinagawa and the Cougars (9-2) will depart Oahu Friday in advance of Saturday afternoon's showdown against Kauai (3-5). Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Vidinha Stadium in Lihue.

FOOTBALL

Rusten Abang-Perez, Saint Louis — Scored on a 75-yard kickoff return for touchdown and caught five passes for 76 yards in a loss to Saint Louis 

Mahana Alameda, Saint Louis — Made six tackles, including three for losses, in a win over Campbell 

Evan Daligdig, Kapaa — Ran 14 times for 99 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Kailua 

Keawe Davis, Roosevelt — Caught eight passes for 86 yards and a touchdown in a win over Kamehameha-Hawaii 

Austin Espaniola, Kamehameha-Hawaii — Made five tackles, including three sacks, in a loss to Roosevelt 

Taiyo Fuji, Kaiser — Scored on a 1-yard fumble return for touchdown in a win over PAC-5

Sean Fujimoto, PAC-5 — Made five tackles, including two sacks, in a loss to Kaiser

Brandon Gaea, Mililani — Caught five passes for 70 yards and made four tackles, including 1 ½ for losses and intercepted a pass in a loss to Kahuku 

Cameron Keeve, Leilehua — Ran for 256 yards and four touchdowns on 20 carries in a win over Lahainaluna 

Charles-Titan Lacaden, Saint Louis — Ran 27 times for 216 yards and three touchdowns in a win over Campbell 

Gabriel Liua, Leilehua — Made 4 ½ tackles, including one sack, and recovered two fumbles in a win over Lahainaluna 

Aiden Manutai, Kahuku — Scored on a 70-yard blocked field goal return for touchdown in a win over Mililani 

Kolt McCreadie, Kaiser — Made seven tackles, including five for losses and one sack, in a win over PAC-5

Jayden Parker, Campbell — Kicked an Open Division state tournament record field goal of 48 yards and was 3 for 3 on extra points in a loss to Saint Louis 

Stoney Pocock, Kailua — Caught six passes for 133 yards and a touchdown in a loss to Kapaa 

Kyin Rivera-Galbraith, Leilehua — Ran eight times for 112 yards and a touchdown in a win over Lahainaluna 

Brystin Sansano, Campbell — Ran for two touchdowns in a loss to Saint Louis 

Maui Strong, Lahainaluna — Made 7 ½ tackles, including one for a loss, and broke up a pass in a loss to Leilehua 

Takazee Thomas, Kapaa — Recorded two interceptions in a win over Kailua 

Jonah Togafau-Tavui, Mililani — Caught a touchdown pass and made six tackles in a loss to Kahuku