HHSAA Football
Kamehameha-Hawaii overcomes slow start in rout of PAC-5, will face defending champ KS-Maui next


Kalani Takase | ScoringLive
November 15, 2025, 1:48am

  

Fri, Nov 14, 2025 @ Farrington [ 7:30 pm ]

KS-Hawaii

43

PAC-5

6

Final 1 2 3 4 T
KS-Hawaii (8-6-0) 7 7 7 2243
PAC-5 (3-4-0) 6 0 0 06



KALIHI — The Kamehameha-Hawaii football team exorcised years' worth of demons Friday night. 

Chaseton Wong and Dallas Enriquez scored two touchdowns apiece and Kamehameha-Hawaii scored 43 unanswered points en route to a 43-6 rout of PAC-5 in a first-round game of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Division II State Championships at Farrington's Kusunoki Field at Edward 'Skippa' Diaz Stadium. 

A crowd of about 1,000 fans saw the Big Island Interscholastic Federation-champion Warriors (8-5), the fifth seed in the six-team tournament, punch their ticket to next week's semifinal round at the expense of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu representative Wolf Pack (3-4), who were seeded fourth. 

It is just Kamehameha-Hawaii's second-ever win in the state tournament and snapped a string of five straight losses that dated back nearly a dozen years. Its only other win came in the form of a 42-20 victory over Nanakuli in first round of the 2014 state tournament. 

The Warriors lost in the tournament's first round in 2023 and 2024, both times at the hands of OIA-champion Roosevelt. 

"This was the team to do it," said Wong, a junior wide receiver. "We have the most chemistry."

Friday's contest got off to a bit of an ominous start for Wong and company after PAC-5 scored on its first two possessions. Both times, they penetrated the red zone, but each time, the Warriors bent but didn't break defensively and held the Wolf Pack to field goals. 

After Keahi Yuen opened the scoring with a 27-yard field goal less than three minutes into the contest, KS-Hawaii turned it over on its very first play from scrimmage when running back Dallas Enriquez fumbled. David Lee recovered for PAC-5, which recycled the takeaway into a 23-yard Yuen field goal a few minutes later. 

Warriors coach Kealoha Wengler said his defense was caught off-guard by the Power-I formation that the Wolf Pack came out in, given the fact that most of what he saw from them on tape featured a pass-heavy, aerial attack that centered around quarterback Colton Amai Nakagawa. 

"We just needed to make some adjustments. Once we made those adjustments we were able to put up a good defense in the red zone and we can always rely on our defense for that — they came up really clutch, really strong — especially in the red zone," Wengler said. 

KS-Hawaii had an answer on its ensuing possession, which culminated with a 34-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kahekili Makekau to Wong. Makekau threw a short screen pass toward the right side of the field for Wong, who worked his way back through the middle of the field and followed a number of downfield blocks on the scoring play — one of two third-down conversions on the six-play drive. 

"I caught the ball and my linemen, they did a great job of (blocking) all of the linebackers and I hit the gap and then I just saw a hole and I punched it right in," Wong recalled. 

PAC-5's possession that followed came to an abrupt end when Amai Nakagawa was sacked on fourth down by Josiah Shaver for a turnover on downs. Seven plays after that — and five plays into the second quarter — Enriquez plunged into the end zone on a 3-yard TD run on a direct snap. 

Wengler credited his defense for turning the tide and helping the offense get into a rhythm. 

"They made some nice fourth-down stops and that really kind of changed that momentum for us. We had a couple turnovers in that first quarter — that's what really hurt us and we couldn't establish a nice rhythm — but once we got that running game going, we got that rhythm going and then you know, it was just like, ‘let's keep this going,' " Wengler said. 

Wong, who finished with five receptions for 129 yards, echoed his coach's sentiments. 

"Honestly, I feel like defense did great throughout the whole game. Even though in the beginning it was a little shaky, we just trust each other — we're all brothers — and we can't score if we don't have good D," Wong said. 

KS-Hawaii's 14-6 lead held until the 3:08 mark of the third quarter, when Enriquez found a crease up the middle on a 16-yard TD run. The scoring play, which capped an 11-play, 78-yard drive that took more than four minutes off the clock, saw Makekau take the shotgun snap and fake a shovel pass to a crossing Chanse Kaaua-Long before he handed it off to Enriquez, who did the rest behind a wall of blockers. 

Early in the fourth quarter, Wong went untouched on a 74-yard TD pass on another throw-short, run-long play. Makekau tossed a two-handed, one-yard touch pass to Wong, who was crossing from right to left in front of him. Wong turned the left corner, then cut back to his right and went untouched on the long scoring play. 

It was Wong's team-leading eight touchdown catch of the season. 

"I had good blocks — my slots cracked the D-end, so I had the outside gap — and then it was just one on one, just me and the safety, and I just cut it back, just took it to the crib," Wong said. 

Earlier in the third quarter, Wong had what would have been a 78-yard touchdown called back due to a penalty for a blindside block. 

"Honestly, I was a little — I wouldn't say I was mad — but I was a little down after that because I put a lot of effort on that one play, but at the end of the day, the biggest win is probably the W at the end, so I'm just glad we scored," Wong said. 

Wengler said that with Enriquez drawing much attention from opposing defense, getting the ball to playmakers like Wong has been a top priority. 

"Chaseton Wong, Cole Walker, Chance Kaaua-Long, we just want to get the ball to them in space and just let them do their stuff. Definitely with that sweep that we're running, getting him out in the open and into open field and he can just make people miss; He's got a lot of speed when he gets out in the open field," Wengler said. 

Two plays into the Wolf Pack's next drive, Maui Kammerer intercepted a pass to give the Warriors the ball back just beyond midfield. Four plays after that, Kahekili scored on a 1-yard quarterback keeper. Thurston Laa tacked on the extra point to give his team a 35-6 cushion with 8:57 to play. 

KS-Hawaii closed out the scoring with an 82-yard interception return for touchdown by linebacker Joziah Bertelsmann with 5:02 remaining. 

The Wolf Pack were limited to only 235 yards of total offense. They were 1 of 14 on third downs. 

PAC-5 saw starting quarterback Nakagawa and standout running back/linebacker Elijah Connell-Chavez exit the game in the first half due to injuries. 

"Injuries changed the complexion of this game," Wolf Pack coach Kena Heffernan said. 

He noted that about eight starters were unable to finish the game due to a multitude of reasons, including an allergic reaction. 

"I mean, it is what it is (but) it was tough. A lot of guys soldiered on and tried really hard and I'm proud of that aspect of it," Heffernan said. 

Heffernan said that Amai Nakagawa sustained a shoulder injury, while Connell-Chavez was also held out by athletic trainers due to injury. 

"(Amai Nakagawa) is a very, very huge part of this team. … Elijah's one of our big weapons and he was down also. A lot of it happened within the first couple of series, so unfortunately having to continue the game without them and their key factors on both sides of the ball, it was tough," Heffernan said. 

The Wolf Pack were playing their first game since Oct. 3 — a layoff of six weeks or 42 days. Heffernan acknowledged the challenges of a lengthy layoff, but ultimately tipped his cap to the Warriors. 

"It was always gonna affect us, but we're not gonna use that as an excuse. … (KS-Hawaii is) good and I'm not taking anything away from that team, they did a fantastic job. … Hats go off to them, they definitely deserved to win tonight," Heffernan said. 

Shimabukuro, a freshman quarterback, finished 12-of-26 passing for 104 yards with two interceptions. Despite playing less than one half, Connell-Chavez ran for 103 yards on eight carries. 

Mission Uperesa-Thomas tallied six receptions for 63 yards and Avari Zion-Branch had five grabs for 62 yards in the loss. 

PAC-5 fell to 1-5 all-time in state tournament games. 

Enriquez finished with 22 carries for 110 yards for the Warriors, who recorded nine of their 16 total first downs by rush. 

KS-Hawaii will visit defending state champion and No. 1 seed Kamehameha next Saturday, Nov. 22, in a semifinal matchup. 


Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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