Kaimuki takes sole possession of OIA D-II lead

There were injuries galore, penalties aplenty, the odd scuffle and no timeouts spared.

Kaimuki’s battle against McKinley at Farrington’s Skippa Diaz Stadium went long and late into Friday night. Maybe it was fitting that there was no working public address in the press box stemming from last week’s power outages due to Hurricane Lane; it was just a weird game, period, with both teams coming off inactivity.

Finally, the Bulldogs put to bed a 22-0 win over the Tigers, as they moved to 3-0 overall as well as in OIA Division II play. Pearl City stands at 2-0, despite a loss to St. Francis on Friday, because the OIA-ILH crossover games are not counted as league games by the OIA teams.

Next week Kaimuki heads up to Las Vegas to play Sierra Vista — which happens to be the new school of former Kaimuki quarterback Jordan Solomon, as well as two other players.

Kaimuki’s new quarterback, Jonah Fa’asoa, threw for 250 yards on 16-for-30 passing, with one touchdown and his first two interceptions of the season. (One bounced off his intended receiver’s helmet, and into the hands of McKinley’s Leon Montgomery, although it appeared on replay that the ball hit the ground first.) Fa’asoa made some timely plays with his legs, as well.

Running back Jonah Stephens rushed 20 times for 84 yards and two touchdowns. Fa’asoa hit Blade Pfeiffer-Kekoa for a 7-yard fourth quarter score. Kaulana Kaluna Jr. had four grabs for 104 yards, including one 43-yard ball that set up Stephens from 1 yard.

McKinley’s rotating trio of quarterbacks — Alexandria Buchanan, Jordon Kanakanui, and Keanu Pimental — combined to throw three picks. Pfeiffer-Kekoa, Matthew Williams, and Isaac Madali came down with them and extended the turnover woes of McKinley (1-3, 0-2). Madali in particular had a nice one-handed snatch with his back to the quarterback.

Bulldogs senior and Washington commit Sama Pa’ama was in action on the line, but he’s apparently ceded his role on kickoffs; he did not take any this week.