OIA Football
Kailua secures OIA D1 top seed with comeback win over Waipahu


ScoringLive staff
October 19, 2025, 8:44am

  

Sat, Oct 18, 2025 @ Kailua [ 2:30 pm ]

Waipahu

15

Kailua

22

Final 1 2 3 4 T
Waipahu (6-4-0) 7 8 0 015
Kailua (12-3-0) 0 0 14 822
Isaiah Keaunui-Demello 237 yd 2 TD
Noa Punivai 122 yd 1 TD
Tayvin Kahele 101 yd 1 TD
Lyric Anuenue 26 yd 1 TD



Whether it be composure or resilience, Kailua showed it possessed both in a gritty win over Waipahu in its final regular season contest, scoring all its points in the second half points to rally from a 15 point deficit.

"We had to just believe in ourselves as a team," said quarterback Isaiah Keaunaui-Demello. "We came out of the first half, scored on our first drive and just kept the momentum rolling."

Two long completions from Keaunaui-Demello to Tayvin Kahele set up Kailua at the goal line, where the eventual game winner was finally punched in three plays later by Micah Sua.

"It was about making the big plays at the right time," said Kahele of the two key catches. "Put my team in a good spot."

Kahele also hauled in a 17 yard pass with 2:36 left in the third that got the Surfers to within a point. He finished with six receptions for 101 yards on the afternoon, both game highs.

A sustained drive in the opening minutes of the third quarter for the Surfriders in the third quarter was capped off by a four yard pass from Keaunaui-Demello to Benjamin Honebein, getting the home team finally on the scoreboard and with it, shifting the momemtum of the game.

"You know we need him everywhere, defense, offense, even special teams," said Keaunui-Demello of Honebein. "He's a man you can look up to, he's one of the captains on this team."

A slow start offensively was due in large part to the gameplan deployed by the Marauders, who ate up nearly six minutes of clock on its opening drive getting on the board via a five yard run by Arona Liaina. That lead expanded on a long pass from Noa Punivai to Lyric Anuenue that stretched the lead to double-digits in the opening minute of the second.

From there, the Waipahu offense was largely stifled by the Kailua defense, who forced three and outs on all but one drive down the stretch.

"We just knew we had to stay positive because we knew our defense would get the ball back and we would have time to score," remarked Keaunui-Demello.

The comeback win was a storybook ending to a send out for 30 seniors on the Surfriders squad.

"This was up to the seniors," said Kahele. "If they really wanted it (the win). It was 15-0, we came back, did what we had to do. This was all for the seniors."




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