Going to be an interesting night of prep football, unless Mother Nature has her way.
She has already washed out one game but the others seem to be toughing it out. Here is the schedule:
FB: Radford 74, Mt. Tahoma 6
FB: Punahou 59, Iolani 22
FB: Waialua 13, Kalaheo 12
FB: Leilehua 38, Waipahu 0
FB: Kaiser 32, McKinley 0
FB: Castle at Kahuku postponed until Saturday.
FB: Kapolei 16, Campbell 7
FB: Pac Five 29, St. Francis 18
FB: Nanakuli 40, Roosevelt 14
In early action, Billy Hull was on hand to see Punahou handle ‘Iolani in daytime football. For all of the talk about little ‘Iolani playing a full schedule with the big boys in D1, it was the Buffanblu that had to worry about player safety. Wayne Taulapapa and Ephraim Tuliloa were both banged up but Punahou rolled behind backup QB Nick Kapule, who threw for more than 300 yards and two touchdowns. Billy’s live blog can be found here: http://www.hawaiiprepworld.com/football/live-blog-no-2-punahou-at-iolani/
It seems Washington has its own version of McKinley as Radford went on the road and beat Mt. Tahoma 74-6. The Rams have become quite the road warriors over the years.
Castle and Kahuku didn’t even get off the ground for the varsity game. Homecoming will resume tomorrow at 4 p.m. with 6:51 left in the first quarter of the JV game and Kahuku leading 7-0.
The lightning that did the Kahuku game in has stayed away from the other fields. Over in Kaiser we have a good news / bad news situation. The good news is that the athletic department finally fixed the scoreboard, but no word on whether they added a third digit to the home score just in case the Cougars post 100 on McKinley. The bad news? The field looks is a quagmire, looking even worse than it did for the OIA soccer tournament a few years back.
8:05: Campbell and Kapolei are still about 10 minutes from starting. Darren Hernandez talked a few years ago about a perpetual trophy for this series like the Cane Knife for Campbell and Waipahu, but I don’t know if they ever settled on something. Maybe they can just play for each other’s quarterback. If Campbell wins it gets Tagovailoa (or Savea), if Kapolei wins then Kawika Ulufale will have to cross the line and enroll at the school with the air conditioning. It should be a good game, if staying dry is important to you the contest is airing live on OC-16.
8:10: Kaiser’s JV beat McKinley 14-6 in the muck.
8:11: Kalaheo leads Waialua 12-6 heading into the fourth.
8:13: Paul Honda is at the ILH game at the stadium. Say what you will about whether Iolani should have been dragged into division I, but Pac-Five and St. Francis playing in a meaningful game is pretty cool. Intermediate and JV game are over, follow the live blog here: http://www.hawaiiprepworld.com/football/live-blog-pac-five-vs-st-francis-2/
8:14: Charging admission to an intermediate football game just doesn’t seem right, but I guess the ILH has to pay the bills. I’m sure the league has its reasons.
8:15: And Pac-Five is on the board, leading St. Francis 7-0 early. That might answer the question on who the real St. francis is, the one that beat Honokaa 46-6 or the one that scored six points on Konawaena? It seems to be feast or famine for the Saints, but there is still a long way to go.
8:23: Leilehua has taken its share of punishment this year but looks like it wants to dish some out. The Mules open their game against Waipahu by recovering an onside kick. Nolan Tokuda doesn’t seem to have the weapons he has had in past years, but he sure does keep the game fun for the boys.
8:28: A taste of what OC16 viewers are in for tonight: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1025180517515069
8:30: Kaiser starts the scoring with a safety, Cougars lead 2-0, which is what the score would be officially if the Tigers forfeit.
8:31: Leilehua takes advantage of the onside kick and a 4th-down conversion to hit a 32-yard FG, leads Waipahu 3-0. Count that as a win for the Marauders’ defense, held the Mules out of the end zone on a short field.
8:32: Campbell scores first on a 23-yard field goal by Beau Meyer. Pac-Five adds a field goal against St. Francis. And Kaiser is not going to settle into a kicking game, Jensen McDaniel scores from 21 yards out to make it 8-0.
8:33: Waialua plunges in from the 1 and kicks the extra point for a 13-12 lead over Kalaheo with 3:02 remaining. Waialua won last year’s meeting between the schools 10-7, it looks like its defense is going to need another stop.
8:34: The skies have opened up over Wahiawa and lightning has been spotted in town and delayed the Nanakuli-Roosevelt game. The Golden Hawks lead 7-0 in the first on a 20-yarder by Sunshine Anuenue. Here is what it looks like at Hugh Yoshida Stadium:
8:43: Following Rob Collias on Twitter, he credits Chevee Freitas with a 31-yard field goal to give Maui a 3-0 lead over Baldwin. The first half title is on the line. Hopefully he will get more scoring to feature on his Maui Sports Report video on Monday.
8:46: McKinley (or should it be renamed Denali High School?) is a mudder. The Tigers only trail Kaiser 8-0 after one quarter. Seems the Cougars are hurting themselves.
8:48: Waialua holds on, beats Kalaheo 13-12. Big win for the Bulldogs, who stopped a two-game losing streak and improved to 4-2. The Bulldogs have already matched last year’s win total and face Kaimuki next week. Waialua is two wins away from matching the six-win season Caleb Fore and Donovan Matas put up a decade ago.
8:50: Leilehua QB Kona Andres lobs a 30-yard TD pass to Ty Keough and it’s 11-0 Mules over Waipahu with 51 seconds left 1Q.
8:51: Long pass from Banks to Momoa gives Nanakuli a 14-0 lead over Roosevelt. The Hawks post plenty of highlights on their scorestream here: https://scorestream.com/games/boys-high-school-varsity-football/roosevelt-rough-riders-vs-n%C4%81n%C4%81kuli-golden-hawks/sep-12-2015?gameId=349557&demarc=10010_14_0
8:58: Nanakuli scores again, 21-0 after a quarter. Sunshine Anuenue with another tally.
9:02: Leilehua strikes again, Kona Andres’ second TD pass of the night goes to Anthony Ugalino for 22 yds, and it’s 18-0 Mules over Waipahu 2Q.
9:05: Roosevelt responds, now the Rough Riders trail 21-7 in the first quarter. The Rough Riders looked so good in their opener against McKinley, but that seemed so long ago and we didn’t know that the Tigers would be historically bad.
9:10: Over on the Big Island, Kealakehe leads Hawaii Prep 20-0. Pac-Five is handling St. Francis 23-6 in the second quarter at Aloha Stadium.
9:10: Kaiser 8, McKinley 0, HALF. The field is an absolute disaster and just getting play off is a victory in itself. Kaiser’s Jensen McDaniel has the game’s only touchdown on a 21-yard run and has 115 rushing yards on 12 carries. It is his ninth 100-yard rushing performance in 13 varsity games.
9:11: The Tigers have to be all sorts of pumped up. Talk before the game was how many Kaiser could put up since they don’t have the luxury of backups to put in, but it seems the starters are getting all the challenge they need from the inspired Tigers. They are buying what Sam Cantiberos is selling. This is the first time McKinley has held an opponent scoreless in a quarter since the third quarter in the season opener against Roosevelt.
9:23: Remember way back when Roosevelt students filled Punahou’s pool with paint on game week? Maybe the Tigers should turn a hose on the Roosevelt field every night next week hoping that it will become a sloppy soup of Field Turf and rubber pellets. The messed up track and Kaiser is suiting them well, but I have to wonder if this is more unsafe than lightning. I am not sure I want a kid with a future (Michael Eletise?) running around in ankle-deep mud with people trying to knock him off his feet.
9:28: The rout is on in Wahiawa as Andres and Ugalino collaborate again on a TD. 25-0 Mules
9:29: Kapolei leads Campbell 3-0 at the half. Maybe they should play for middle linebackers instead.
9:40: When Leilehua struggled to find practice time early in the season and lost so many games, you knew something like this was coming. The Mules have finally clicked and and quarterback Kona Andres has 215 yards and three touchdowns at the half. The Mules will host Kahuku with a two-game winning streak next week.
9:42: Nic Tom 9-yard TD run on fourth-and-goal. Kaiser 14, McKinley 0, 7:33, Q3. The Cougars probably got an earful at the half.
9:45: Leilehua’s last shutout was last year against Waipahu 45-0. The Marauders havent beaten the Mules on the field since 2001, Waipahu got a win by forfeit in 2003.
9:50: Andrew Kaufusi 11-yard TD pass from Nic Tom. Kaiser 20, McKinley 0, 3:26, Q3
9:56: Maui does it, beats Baldwin 3-0. Kapolei and Campbell are still at 3-0 in the third quarter. Campbell played a game that ended 3-0 only once, a loss to Mililani in 1989. Kapolei has never played in a 3-0 game.
10:03: Jensen McDaniel 4-yard TD run. Kaiser 26, McKinley 0, 6.7 secs, Q3. They must have moved the game to the parking lot. They move to the fourth quarter.
10:08: Leilehua’s Jadan Gilliand absorbs a hit after catch, spins, and goes 80 yards for a TD from Andres (No. 4). Leilehua leads Waipahu 35-0 3Q
10:09: Campbell ends the third quarter HUGE against Kapolei, getting a pick in the end zone and moving within the 15 on the other end on a big play. Gut check time for the Hurricanes, Felipe Pacheco is saying that was Campbell’s longest play from scrimmage. A blah game just got very interesting.
10:11: Jonny Hanawahine 26 TD pass from Nic Tom. Kaiser 32, McKinley 0, 9:56, Q4. Just get home safely, boys.
10:16: Campbell nearly shot itself in the foot in the red zone but scores on fourth down to take a 7-3 lead. Markus Ramos elevated and hauled in the fade. As the shirt reads, it’s all about the team.
10:21: Over on Kauai, Kapaa defeated Waimea 68-0 Friday at Vidinha Stadium. Warriors junior quarterback Kurt Napoleon threw 4 touchdown passes.
10:22: Nanakuli recovers a fumble in the end zone. Golden Hawks 27-7 in the third.
10:24: Kapolei punts again, will we see a Tua 2-minute drill with the game on the line? Campbell ball with 7:47 left.
10:28: Nanakuli extends its lead to 34-7 over Roosevelt in the third quarter. Banks from two yards out.
10:38: Pac-Five leads St. Francis 29-12. Mules kicker Connor Murakami is money from 40 yards and tacks on 3. Leilehua 38-0 with a couple minutes left vs. Waipahu. Kapolei leads Campbell 9-7 with about a minute left and an injured Saber on the field.
10:45: Tagovailoa throws a play-action pass for a touchdown to Rocky Savea with 24 seconds left, Kapolei leads 16-7 and kids are getting pretty hot on the field after the call to pass in such a situation. Took guts, though, that could have been picked and returned. Kapolei kicks the extra point and it is pretty much over, Campbell is two scores down. Still, Tagovailoa was dropping back to pass right to the end. The Sabers should thank him for giving them a chance. And it is final with a pick by Savea. Kapolei 16, Campbell 7.
So what have we learned tonight?
>> Punahou has a lot of work to do to win the ILH, the Buffanblu just didn’t look very sharp this afternoon.
>> Iolani is looking at the possibility of a winless ILH season.
>> Waialua can get a stop when it needs it.
>> The crazy drawings on Nolan Tokuda’s notepad are finally coming to life. Tokuda vs. Tata next week will be a treat when Leilehua has the ball.
>> McKinley is historically bad, but the players must have had fun playing in the mud tonight and that is all that matters. I am sure there are more than a few kids at Anuenue who envied them.
>> If the lightning shows up again tomorrow, does Nelson Maeda just take his team to Kahuku Golf Course and camp out until the weather clears? Crossing the Waikane Stream every day can get a little scary.
>> Someday Tagovailoa might look back on this win over Campbell and recognize it as the day he made a huge jump in maturity. I saw a lot of dropped passes and nothing was going right for him but he stuck with it and pulled it out. Not crazy about throwing at the end, because it is too risky, but that drive might have told the young man something about himself and come in handy down the road.
>> It is probably more likely that a team will separate itself in ILH D1 than a team will do so in D2. Pac-Five, Saint Francis and Damien are going to battle down to the end.
>> Keala Watson has got something really special cooking over there in Nanakuli. While Kapaa puts up obscene numbers, the Golden Hawks just plug along winning games and wait for the rematch. Watson moved to 18-7 in his career, passing the man he took over for, Skip Lopes, who was 17-63. Up next is Sam Delos Reyes’ 22 wins and then Al Beaver’s 24 to become the school’s all time winningest coach. And he has done it in just 25 games.
And we will leave you with a photo of the mist enveloping Hugh Yoshida Stadium after a long night.
COMMENTS