A first-time Division II state champion will be crowned tonight when No. 2 seed Radford and top-seeded Kapaa square off in the championship game of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Football State Championships at Aloha Stadium.
Radford (12-0 overall) is 5-3 all-time in the state tournament with one appearance in a state final (34-20 loss to ‘Iolani in 2005) while Kapaa (9-0 overall) is 3-2. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Live updates and in-game videos will follow.
TEAM CAPTAINS
Radford: Blaise Manabe, Thomas Reid, Dillon Sunday, Tayvis Passos
Kapaa: Kurt Napoleon, Henry Mana Kupihea III, Mosese Fifita, Brandon Quilos
Kapaa wins the toss and will defer to the second half. Rams will get the ball first.
Rain is falling as hard as it has in the last two hours as we get ready to kick.
FIRST QUARTER
Ace Faumui back to return the kick for Radford. Faumui fields at the 11 and they try a reverse to Blaise Manabe but Manabe has no room. He gets the edge because of an illegal block and Radford will start inside its 5.
1-10 at the 4. Quintin Iriarte at QB and Radford comes out throwing. Incomplete to Manabe. Low throw. Second play is a pass to Manabe but this one is high off his fingertips. Two poor throws and it’s third down. Draw to Kodi Ongory-Mathias, who is stopped by Akauola Tatofi for no gain. Great start for Kapaa as the punt snap is low. Punt travels 23 yards. Warriors will start at the 27.
Kapaa starts with a jet sweep to Justin DeForge for a loss of 2 yards. Second snap is dropped and fumbled by QB Kurt Napoleon but fortunately Kapaa grabs it at the 40. Third-and-23. Swing pass to Kekoa Kaluahine-Cacal is dropped and Kapaa has to punt. Warriors shank that punt and it goes for negative yards. Radford to start on its 41.
Iriarte comes out firing again and his pass to Thomas Reid is tipped and incomplete. Iriarte 0-for-3. Bad shotgun snap from the center and Iriarte has to fall on it for a loss of 4 yards. Third-and-14. Iriarte finds Ace Faumui for 12 yards to the 49. Fourth-and-2 and Radford tries to QB sneak it and he only picks up a yard. Kapaa takes over at midfield.
Hand off is to Kaluahine-Cacal for a gain of 2. Warriors try another jet sweep and fumble the exchange but a flag went down first for a false start. Ugly, ugly start on offense for both teams. Another handoff to the RB and Dominic Albalos is there for the tackle for loss. Third-and-16 and Kapaa hands off for 2 yards and will punt. Another bad kick and Radford will start at midfield. That’s two punts for 3 total yards by Kapaa.
1-10 at the 50. Ongory-Mathias tries to get outside but is tackled for a loss of 2 by Trestin Alfiler. Iriarte goes deep to Manabe but it’s overthrown as Manabe tried to go up and get it. Good coverage by Kapaa. Third-and-12. Iriarte to Reid who has to go down and get it right at the marker. 12-yard completion is enough for a first down. First first down of the game. Faumui with the carry and he is drilled and fumbles. Jason Hawthorne recovers for Kapaa at the 45.
1-10 at the 45. Justin DeForge with the carry off tackle and he finds a hole for 20 yards to the Radford 35. 2-yard gain on first down by Kaluahine-Cacal. Jordan Walker with a big tackle for Radford as Kapaa tries a misdirection. Third-and-7 at the 32 and Radford jumps. That makes it a much more manageable third-and-2. Kaluahine-Cacal gets low and sneaks through for 3 yards and a first down at the Radford 24. DeForge for 1 yard. Short gain again as Walker comes in from his LB spot and makes the tackle at the line of scrimmage. Third-and-8. Napoleon tries a pass deep over the middle and an easy pass interference call against Radford. That should make it first-and-10 at the 11. They try the sweep to DeForce but Ace Faumui comes up to shed the blocker and make the tackle for a loss. Different look as Leighton Moniz gets it to the 6. Aaron Faumui made the saving tackle or it might have been six. Third-and-6 from the 7 and Radford calls timeout with 1:22 left in the first quarter. Same play to Moniz and he gets the cutback lane and gets it down to the 1. Kapaa goes hurry up. Kaluahine-Cacal is in for a 1-yard TD run and Kapaa strikes first. Kapaa 7, Radford 0, 1:05, Q1.
Kick out of bounds. Radford will start on its 35. Iriarte and Manabe fumble the exchange on the sweep and Jonathan Bilyeu recovers for Kapaa on the Radford 30.
Napoleon has to throw one away as Kapaa calls a pass on first down but he is under heavy pressure. DeForge on the run and he almost breaks one. He gets 4 yards anyway to make it third-and-6. Walker drags him down for another tackle. Next play is the same run to DeForge and Walked blows it up on defense for Radford. Big first quarter for Radford LB Jordan Walker. Quarter ends with Kapaa facing fourth-and-7 on the 28.
SECOND QUARTER
Kapaa will try a 45-yard field goal. Clifton Oliver with a line-drive kick and it’s GOOD! HUGE KICK for the Warriors, who lead 10-0, 11:54, Q2. Oliver’s kick is the longest ever in a Division II state title game.
Radford starts on its 20 after the kickoff into the end zone. Second play is a slant to Thomas Reid and he breaks it. He is GONE! 78-yard TD from Iriarte to Reid. 10-7, 11:12, Q2. That is the first offensive touchdown Kapaa has given up this year.
Squib kick and Kapaa starts on its 29. DeForge stuffed for no gain as Aaron Faumui makes the stop. Warriors try a pass but Aaron Faumui again comes flying in from his DL spot and sacks Napoleon for a loss. Momentum completely in Radford’s favor all of a sudden and the defense is feeling it. Third-and-long and Kapaa tries a simple run that is stuffed for no gain as I think Faumui again made the tackle. That’d be all three tackles on that drive as Kapaa has to punt. Warriors change punters as Napoleon goes back to punt and he gets it to the Radford 46 on the roll.
Radford 1-10, 46. Ongory-Mathias for 3 yards. Iriarte now rolls to his left and there’s nobody open. He stops to think about running backward but the rush is there and he just throws it up. It’s picked off by Bilyeu. Just a poor, poor decision there by the QB and Kapaa has it on its 46.
Quick pass by Kapaa to start is dropped. Another tackle for loss on second down for Radford as David Faletoi gets in on the action. New QB as Teili Fonua, a sophomore, is in. False start on Kapaa and now Napoelon is back at QB. Timeout Kapaa. 7:13, Q2. Third-and-20. Another false start makes it third-and-25 from the 31. Kapaa decides to punt it with the QB and it works out great. 69-yard punt is downed at the 10.
Another fumble on the snap and Bilyeu picks it out of the pile on the 8 and he returns it! It’s a TOUCHDOWN KAPAA! 8-yard fumble return for Jonathan Bilyeu. Extra point is blocked by Sipa Leafa. Kapaa 16, Radford 7, 6:56, Q2.
Radford starts on its 20. Draw to Ongory-Mathias for no gain. Short run again for Ongory-Mathias as Kapaa DL Sosaia Liki Koli is there to help on the stop. Third-and-8 and the crossing route is there to Manabe for 9 yards and a first down at the 31. Delayed handoff to Ongory-Mathias for 3 yards. Iriarte takes a shot deep to Reid and it’s a jump ball and DB Dave Joel breaks it up for Kapaa. Nice play against the taller Reid. Third-and-7 and Kapaa jumps early. Third-and-2. Ongory-Mathias is stopped short of the marker by Hawthorne at LB and Ongory-Mathias spins out but fumbles. Huge dog pile for the ball. A flag comes out. Still not sure who recovered as the referees are talking it over. No fumble as Ongory-Mathias is ruled to have been down. Ongory-Mathias is whistled for the flag though and he has been ejected. HUGE loss for the Radford Rams. Not sure what happened there. He came into the game with 921 yards and 12 TDs rushing.
Meanwhile, Radford has first-and-10 on the 27. Looks like they called him down at the 42 for a first down and then moved it back 15 yards. Solomon Loggins with a 17-yard reception from Iriarte to the 44. Ace Faumui with the carry now and he’s going to get a heavy workload now with Ongory-Mathias out. He picks up 4. Another crazy play as Iriarte escapes about three different sacks, is finally going to go down and then flips it backwards to Faumui who gains a yard. Another dangerous play by the Radford QB. Third-and-5. Screen to Faumui goes for 7 yards and a first down. Faumui for 2 yards to the 41. 2:27 and counting on the clock…Timeout Kapaa with 2:02 remaining. Faumui stuffed by Braylen Mahuiki-Yokotake for no gain. Third down and Iriarte finds Reid for a 12-yard completion. Ball on the 30. Faumui for 2 yards and we’re under a minute. Iriarte tripped and sacked by Alfiler and Radford calls timeout with 39 seconds remaining. Third-and-11. Pass complete to Manabe who is hit and spins to the ground on the catch for 15 yards to the 15. Clock running. Under 30 seconds. Faumui with the carry and he fights to the 13. Radford doesn’t take a timeout. Rams have to hurry. Pass out of the backfield is low and incomplete with 6 seconds left. Radford still has a timeout. Surprised it didn’t use it there. It does now with the clock already stopped. Now Kapaa with a timeout as Radford’s offense comes back out on the field. Here we go. Faumui out of the backfield over the middle. TOUCHDOWN RADFORD WITH ONE SECOND REMAINING. 8-yard TD pass makes it Kapaa 16, Radford 14, :01, Q2.
HALFTIME: Kapaa 16, Radford 14
at Aloha Stadium
Radford (12-0) 0 14
Kapaa (9-0) 7 9
Kap—Kekoa Kaluahine-Cacal 1 run (Clifton Oliver kick)
Kap—FG Oliver 45
Rad—Thomas Reid 78 pass from Quintin Iriarte (Roman Gennero kick)
Kap—Jonathan Bilyeu 8 fumble return (Oliver kick)
Kap—Ace Faumui 8 pass from Iriarte (Roman Gennero kick)
RUSHING—Radford: Kodi Ongory-Mathias 8-11, Faumui 7-10, TEAM 1-(minus 2), Iriarte 4-(minus 10). Kapaa: Justin DeForge 9-21, Kaluahine-Cacal 7-8, Leighton Moniz 3-7, Kurt Napoleon 2-(minus 20).
PASSING—Radford: Iriarte 9-16-1-172. Kapaa: Napoleon 0-3-0-0.
RECEIVING—Radford: Reid 3-102, Faumui 3-28, Blaise Manabe 2-25, Solomon Loggins 1-17. Kapaa: none.
Kapaa will receive second-half kickoff, which should be around 6:11 p.m.
THIRD QUARTER
Bouncing kick down the middle of the field gets away from Kapaa and Patric Diamond recovers for Radford on the Kapaa 15. Faumui carries 5 yards to the 10. Faumui with a poor, slow run to the outside and he’s eventually bottled up and thrown back for a loss of 4. Third-and-9. Iriarte scrambles out to his right. He hits Derek Morton in the numbers in the end zone but it’s dropped. Perfect throw. Morton just couldn’t bring it in. Fourth down and Radford will go for a field goal. Roman Gennero‘s 30-yard field goal is good. Radford 17, Kapaa 16, 10:14, Q3. Rams have their first lead of the game.
Kapaa starts on its 29 and the RB is absolutely blown up in the backfield by Walker, who gets another big play for the Rams defense. Loss of 4. Napoleon keeps on the QB draw and gets about a yard. Third-and-13. DeForge with a pass reception in the flat and he turns it up the field to the 36 but short of the first-down marker by 3 yards and Kapaa will punt. Rain has settled down now.
Radford will start on its 30. Iriarte with a big throw to Loggins for a 16-yard pickup. Faumui explodes for a pickup of 11 yards on second down, breaking tackles and carrying defenders with him. Radford first-and-10 on the Kapaa 42. A 1-yard run is followed by a false start and it’s second-and-14. Faumui gets the penalty yardage back to set up third-and-9. Radford content to keep it on the ground and Faumui only gets 1. Rams will punt.
Kapaa 1-10 on its 12. Kaluahine-Cacal picks up 4. Third-and-5. Incomplete pass and Kapaa goes three-and-out. Punt goes to midfield but a flag near the punter, who got hit after the kick. It was fourth-and-5 so it’ll be a first down if on Radford and it is. First down Kapaa at the 22. Warriors try a pass as the Rams call an all-out blitz. Napoleon escapes one defender but Walker gets him for the sack. Third-and-11. All-out blitz again and Napoleon is going backward. Albalos with the huge sack for Radford and Kapaa will have to punt out of its end zone.
UPDATE: Nick Abramo reports from the sideline than Ongory-Mathias was kicked out of the game for kicking the white hat in the chest before getting out of the pile.
Radford fair catches on the Kapaa 42. First down. 1:09, Q3. Alfiler continues with his game on defense for Kapaa tackled Faumui for no gain. That’s tackle No. 10 for him. Iriarte pass to an open Manabe in the flat for 7 yards to the 36. Third-and-4. Quarter ends first.
FOURTH QUARTER
Iriarte pass to Faumui out of the backfield is dropped. Radford has a choice here. Fourth-and-4 on the Kapaa 36 and the Rams line up to punt. Radford fakes the punt and the pass is complete from Faumui to Walker but a flag is thrown. I’m guessing illegal man downfield. And it is. That wipes out the first down. Punt is downed at the 11.
Fonua in at QB for Kapaa. DeForge with a run up the middle for no gain. Deyshon Slade on the tackle for Radford. Fonua with a deep ball but the receiver ran a comeback route. Confusion there. Third-and-10. Now a false start. Third-and-15 and Radford again with an all-out blitz and Fonua shows a good arm and hits DeForge on the slant for 24 yards. First completed pass of the game by Kapaa but the snap is bad on the next play and Fonua has to fall on it for a big loss. Incomplete pass over the middle on second-and-23. Close to a defensive PI there but not called. Pass over the middle to Moniz is caught for 17 yards but it’s fourth-and-6 and Kapaa will punt.
Kapaa tries one of those rugby-style kicks but Jordan Walker gets there early and blasts the punter to force the fumble. Dillon Sunday picks up the fumble and he races to the end zone. 26-yard fumble return for a TD. Extra point is no good. Radford 23, Kapaa 16, 9:21, Q4.’
Kapaa gets good starting field position at its 40. First pass is picked off by DB Jonah Soakai who goes tumbling over the Radford bench after a late hit. Rams take over. Radford is also called for a blindside block but the penalties offset, Rams keep the ball.
Faumui with the carry and he goes to his right, now he cuts back and is off to the races to his left. Iriarte might have thrown two different blocks on that run and Faumui now cuts back to the middle. TOUCHDOWN! 45-yard TD run. Radford 30, Kapaa 16, 8:49, Q4.
Kapaa gets a nice return to the 48 and then flags fly. Looks like some extra stuff after the play. well, looks like no flag after all. Kapaa starts on the Radford 47. Kapaa forced to throw it now and Soakai breaks up a pass with a big hit from behind on the receiver. Pass over the middle is complete to DeForge who withstands a big shot for 14 yards to the 33. DeForge loses 1 on the reception and an incomplete pass makes it third-and-11. Kalena Harder with the reception out of the backfield but excellent tackle by Faumui. Fourth-and-8. Jump ball to Forge is tipped off his hands, up into the air, and just out of DeForge’s reach. Radford takes over with 7:14 remaining. Injury on the play though and Dominic Albalos has to be helped off by his Radford teammates with a leg injury.
Radford comes out throwing and Manabe picks up a yard. Actually looked like it was backward. Toss sweep to Manabe who is hit and FUMBLES IT but the ball goes bouncing out of bounds right in front of the Kapaa coaches. Third-and-8. Iriarte bobbles the snap and is taken down for a loss by Akauola Tatofi. Rams punt inside of six minutes.
Kapaa starts on its 41 and Fonua finds Leslee Aki for 9 yards. Incomplete pass forces third down. Rams coming every play. Fonua keeps for a yard and it’s close. They will measure. First down. But Ben Leafa leads a host of defenders on a first-down sack by the Rams. Fonua with a nice pass to Gabriel Keener for a nice gain but a bad snap on third down and Faletoi finishes off another sack. Fourth-and-17 and the deep pass is incomplete but a late flag is thrown. Radford coaches look to be in disbelief. Pass interference is called on Kapaa and the Warriors have a little hope left after all. Looked like a tough call but it’s fourth-and-3 from the 42. Quick pass out of the backfield is tipped at the line by Sunday and Radford takes over with 3:18 remaining.
Radford tries to run out the clock but Faumui and Iriarte fumble another exchange. Faumui jumps on top of it though. Kapaa calls timeout with third-and-12 at the 40 for Radford. 2:16 left. Draw to Faumui, who gets 2 yards. Timeout Kapaa. Radford will punt with 2:09 remaining.
Radford can’t handle the punt and Faumui is tackled by Alfiler at the Radford 28. Warriors ball with 2:04 left. Fonua loses three as Slade makes the tackle for loss. Incomplete. Incomplete. Walker ends it with a big sack and Radford will take over. No timeouts for Kapaa. That will do it.
Radford completes a perfect 13-0 season with its first D-II state championship and first title since the 1981 Prep Bowl
Radford 30, Kapaa 16
at Aloha Stadium
Radford (13-0) 0 14 3 13 — 30
Kapaa (9-1) 7 9 0 0 — 16
Kap—Kekoa Kaluahine-Cacal 1 run (Clifton Oliver kick)
Kap—FG Oliver 45
Rad—Thomas Reid 78 pass from Quintin Iriarte (Roman Gennero kick)
Kap—Jonathan Bilyeu 8 fumble return (Oliver kick)
Kap—Ace Faumui 8 pass from Iriarte (Roman Gennero kick)
Rad—FG Gennero 30
Rad—Dillon Sunday 26 fumble return (kick blocked)
Rad—Faumui 45 run (Gennero kick)
RUSHING—Radford: Faumui 20-60, Kodi Ongory-Mathias 8-11, Blaise Manabe 5-2, TEAM 1-(minus 2), Iriarte 5-(minus 15). Kapaa: Justin DeForge 9-21, Kaluahine-Cacal 11-12, Leighton Moniz 3-7, Kalena Harder 1-1, TEAM 2-(minus 22), Teili Fonua 5-(minus 28), Kurt Napoleon 5-(minus 38).
PASSING—Radford: Iriarte 12-21-1-195. Kapaa: Fonua 7-17-1-76, Napoleon 1-5-0-10.
RECEIVING—Radford: Manabe 4-32, Reid 3-102, Faumui 3-28, Solomon Loggins 2-33. Kapaa: DeForge 4-47, Moniz 1-17, Gabriel Kenner 1-10, Leslee Aki 1-9, Harder 1-3.
Kapaa’s Trestin Alfiler finished with 17 tackles (3 for loss).
Radford had 10 tackles for loss. Walker had six tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble. Rams had five sacks.
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Here is today’s Game Day section previewing the Division II title game in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. We also posted a story this week on Kapaa kids getting D-I looks and Radford coach Fred Salanoa expecting this game to come down to the wire.
Here are the listed starters for both teams:
Radford (12-0)
Offense
POS. NO. PLAYER HT. WT. CL.
QB 13 Quintin Iriarte 6-1 185 Sr.
RB 9 Kodi Ongory-Mathias 5-9 185 Sr.
WR 1 Blaise Manabe 5-9 150 Sr.
WR 15 Thomas Reid 6-3 205 Sr.
WR 4 Jake Walter 5-9 150 Sr.
WR 10 Derek Morgan 5-9 150 So.
LT 59 Hezekiah Po-Ching 6-3 250 Jr.
LG 61 John Paolo Pabalate 5-10 210 Jr.
C 53 Tayvis Passos 6-2 260 Sr.
RG 54 Talatonu Von Koppel 6-0 230 Jr.
RT 50 Alika Merck 6-0 210 Sr.
Defense
POS. NO. PLAYER HT. WT. CL.
DE 45 Dillon Sunday 6-0 240 Sr.
DT 42 Aaron Faumui 6-3 250 So.
DT 44 Ben Leafa 6-1 260 Sr.
DE 14 Deyshon Slade 6-1 220 Sr.
LB 6 Jordan Walker 6-2 225 Jr.
LB 31 David Faletoi 6-1 245 Sr.
LB 34 Rex Domingo 5-9 175 Sr.
CB 7 Sipa Leafa 6-1 180 Jr.
FS 3 Jonah Soakai 6-3 180 Jr.
SS 8 Ace Faumui 6-3 205 Sr.
CB 21 Brandon Brady 5-9 160 So.
Special teams
POS. NO. PLAYER HT. WT. CL.
P 8 Ace Faumui 6-3 205 Sr.
K 33 Roman Gennero 5-9 160 Sr.
PR 1 Blaise Manabe 5-9 150 Sr.
KR 1 Blaise Manabe 5-9 150 Sr.
LS 6 Jordan Walker 6-2 225 Jr.
H 18 Jacob Nishitomi 5-7 145 Sr.
Kapaa (9-0)
Offense
POS. NO. PLAYER HT. WT. CL.
QB 10 Kurt Napoleon 6-2 180 Jr.
RB 5 Kekoa Kaluahine-Cacal 5-8 190 Sr.
SB 25 Justin DeForge 5-6 175 Sr.
SB 7 Leighton Moniz 5-7 150 Jr.
WR 9 Gabe Keener 5-10 150 Jr.
WR 2 Leslee Aki 5-6 145 Sr.
LT 68 Morris Unutoa 6-5 280 Jr.
LG 65 Kelepi Loketi 6-0 260 Sr.
C 50 Mikela Matayoshi 5-9 200 Jr.
RG 56 Brandon Quilos 5-7 190 Sr.
RT 54 Llewellyn Woodward 6-0 190 Jr.
Defense
POS. NO. PLAYER HT. WT. CL.
DE 42 Trestin Alfiler 6-0 175 Sr.
DT 95 Sosaia Liki Koli 6-0 260 Sr.
DT 55 Kapena Texeira 5-8 260 Jr.
DE 43 Akauola Tatofi 6-0 175 Sr.
LB 33 Henry Mana Kupihea III 6-2 190 Jr.
LB 35 Mosese Fifita 6-1 220 Sr.
LB 8 Jayson Hawthorne 6-0 170 Jr.
LB 31 Daniel Asotasi 5-10 160 Jr.
DB 28 Dave Joel 5-9 175 Sr.
DB 3 Dillon Apilado 5-7 150 Jr.
S 6 Bryce Dato 5-8 160 Sr.
Special teams
POS. NO. PLAYER HT. WT. CL.
P 10 Kurt Napoleon 6-2 180 Jr.
P 35 Mosese Fifita 6-1 220 Sr.
K 11 Clifton Oliver 5-7 145 Jr.
PR 4 Makena Tabura 5-11 150 Jr.
KR 2 Leslee Aki 5-6 145 Sr.
K-PR/H 7 Leighton Moniz 5-7 150 Jr.
LS 33 Henry Mana Kupihea III 6-2 190 Jr.
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