Football
Wolfpack get defensive in bounce-back win over Falcons


Kalani Takase | ScoringLive
August 23, 2025, 5:46am

  

Fri, Aug 22, 2025 @ Farrington [ 5:00 pm ]

Kalani

3

PAC-5

27

Final 1 2 3 4 T
Kalani (4-6-0) 0 3 0 03
PAC-5 (3-4-0) 0 6 14 727



KALIHI — Six days proved to be a world of difference for the PAC-5 football team. 

Less than a week after it was dealt a 24-point blowout loss, PAC-5 bounced back with a convincing 27-3 win over Kalani in a non-league game at Farrington's Edward ‘Skippa' Diaz Stadium at Kusunoki Field Friday night. 

The Wolfpack (2-1) righted the ship largely in thanks to their defense, which tallied five takeaways from the Falcons (2-1). 

PAC-5, which never trailed, recycled three fumble recoveries and two interceptions into 21 points, including Elijah Connell-Chavez's 94-yard fourth-quarter scoop and score.

"Today it was (about) mentality," said Connell-Chavez, who also ran for a 65-yard touchdown on offense early in the third quarter. 

Friday's contest played out in stark contrast to the Wolfpack's 40-16 defeat at the hands of Kalaheo last weekend, which also happened to take place at Farrington. 

"Last game, when we started losing, we started giving up and quitting in our minds, so this game we were just working, not giving up, just keep working the whole game," Connell-Chavez said. 

After being tied with the Mustangs, 7-7 at halftime last week, PAC-5 allowed 33 second-half points, including 26 in the final 12 minutes. 

"We just took that last game and we just took it to heart and at practice we were just training hard because of that game and we used that just to fuel us, stay on our cues and all of that," said two-way lineman Ghesiah Faleafine-Auwae. 

This time around the Wolfpack pitched a shutout after the intermission. In fact, Kalani's lone points came on a field goal in the final minute of the second quarter. 

"Today was really just making sure everybody was doing their jobs," said senior wide receiver/defensive back Mission Uperesa-Thomas, who caught a pair of touchdown passes and came up with a fumble recovery. 

"Nobody had to out-perform, they just had to do their job and we were all going to be successful," Uperesa-Thomas added. 

The game's first score was set-up by Uperesa-Thomas' fumble recovery with 9:36 left in the second quarter. Defensive lineman Kainoa Souriolle jarred the ball loose on a sack-fumble and Uperesa-Thomas pounced upon the loose ball to give his team possession near midfield. 

"I saw the ball just come out and our coaches always told us, ‘don't try to pick it up and run, just dive on it,' so I just went to go dive for it," Uperesa-Thomas said. 

Six plays after his fumble recovery, Uperesa-Thomas went up between a pair of defenders and hauled in a deep pass down the right sideline from quarterback Colton Amai-Nakagawa. On the scoring play, Amai-Nakagawa was pressured by an oncoming defender as he unleashed a throw toward Uperesa-Thomas, who elevated above both defensive backs, then shook off a would-be tackler on his way to the end zone. 

The extra point try that followed was no good, however, due to a low snap from center that threw off the timing of placekicker Keahi Yuen's approach. 

Kalani cut the Wolfpack lead in half with Ryan Bulseco's 26-yard field goal in the final minute of the first half. That came seven plays after Blaze Ouchi made a diving interception on an Amai-Nakagawa pass that was tipped by several Falcons. 

PAC-5 stretched its lead to 12-3 on its very first play from scrimmage of the second half. After its defense forced a punt, Connell-Chavez found a seam off right tackle and turned the corner en route to a 65-yard touchdown run. 

"I think if I would ask Elijah, he would give all praise to the linemen that's in front of him, as it should be, but he was definitely slicing and dicing a bit," Wolfpack coach Kena Heffernan said of his senior running back/linebacker. 

On Kalani's very next play, quarterback Bradin Tollefsen was intercepted by Faleafine-Auwae near the line of scrimmage. It was the first career pick for the 6-foot-4, 295-pound lineman. 

"I came close to getting interceptions last year, twice, but nope — that was my first," Faleafine-Auwae said. 

The Wolfpack cashed in on the turnover four plays later on a 28-yard TD pass from Amai-Nakagawa to Uperesa-Thomas, who got behind a pair of defenders and was left wide open on the play. 

"It was really just remembering the steps, remembering the depth that I was supposed to get and it was gonna be open and I knew my QB was gonna get it to me," said Uperesa-Thomas, who finished with five receptions for 102 yards. 

Amai-Nakagawa found Avari Zion-Branch on the two-point conversion that followed to extend his team's lead to 20-3 with 7:29 remaining in the third quarter. 

Later in the third quarter, Kage Fine — another two-way linemen for PAC-5 — recorded an interception near the line of scrimmage, which led to a 39-yard field goal try by Yuen, but his kick missed wide left. 

The Falcons then orchestrated a nine-play drive that got them all the way down to the Wolfpack 1-yard line, but linebacker Jake Chambers punched the ball loose from Tollefson's grasp and Connell-Chavez picked up the fumble, which he returned 94 yards the other way. 

"(Chambers) did an amazing job. He popped the ball out and the ball was right in front of me. All I had to do was pick it up and run, it was all him," Connell-Chavez said. 

Heffernan praised the play of his defense, which posted five tackles for loss. Souriolle accounted for two of those stops in the backfield. 

"Everybody's playing really hard and they're just trying to do what they can on the field," Heffernan said. 

Faleafine-Auwae also registered a tackle for loss. He also does the punting for the team and even ran for a first down in the third quarter with his 22-yard pick up out of the punt formation on fourth-and-2. 

"Man, he really surprised me today. He always be talking, but he really did his stuff today," said Uperesa-Thomas, Faleafine-Auwae's classmate at Maryknoll. 

"He really did a good job and really performed well today," he added. 

Both offenses were relatively balanced. 

Amai-Nakagawa threw for 165 yards on 14-of-23 passing with one interception and Connell-Chavez paced the run game with 16 carries for 133 yards. 

Tollefsen completed 15 of his 27 pass attempts for 161 yards, with Kristen-Paul Ching accounting for 119 receiving yards on seven grabs. Kalani averaged 5.6 yards per rush and totaled 123 yards on the ground. 

PAC-5 was just 2 of 10 on third downs, but 3 for 3 on fourth downs, including Amai-Nakagawa's first TD pass to Uperesa-Thomas. 

Kalani was 3 of 8 on third downs and 1 for 2 on fourth downs. 

The Wolfpack tallied 12 first downs to the Falcons' 13. 


Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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