FIRST QUARTER
Kapolei receives the opening kickoff, drives to the Castle 29 and stalls out. Castle then goes three and out. A lot of passing, not a lot of connections yet.
Eight plays, 85 yards for Kapolei on its second series. After missing the targets earlier, Taulia Tagovailoa is on point with a 20-yard pass to Jaymin Sarono. Ty-Noah Williams is wide open deep for a 57-yard TD pass from Tagovailoa. PAT pass is easy enough from the holder to kicker Beau Meyer. KPO 8, CAS 0, 7:22.
Wow. Castle had the punt team on with fourth and 5 at the Kapolei 45 when their punter dropped the snap, then ran 12 yards for the first down. Castle eventually turns the ball over on downs.
Kapolei gets a fluky 23-yard gain on a pass from Tagovailoa to Williams, who fumbled but got bailed out by a teammate who recovered. Then Tagovailoa slings a 39-yard TD pass to Jenesus Tago-Su‘e, who is uncovered and rumbles down the left sideline untouched. The PAT snap is low and the holder’s wobbly pass is incomplete. KPO 14, CAS 0, 3:57.
Castle’s struggling to get past midfield. Kapolei gets the ball back after another rugby-style punt goes out at the KPO 20. Two plays later, Tagovailoa has Williams wide, wide open again, this time on the right side deep, for a 75-yard TD. PAT kick bounces off the crossbar. No good. KPO 20, CAS 0, :39.
SECOND QUARTER
After completing just one of his first seven pass attempts, Tagovailoa has gone 5-for-7 for 214 yards and three TDs.
Jeremy McGoldrick has his first reception of the game here on the first play of the second quarter. Knights are trying to be deliberate, huddling after each play. When QB Willie Ewaliko has time, he’s connecting. Problem is he isn’t getting enough time consistently and Kapolei is bringing a pass rush.
Long pass play (30 yards) ends with a fumble by Dillon Pakele. McGoldrick returns it to midfield.
Here’s an oddball play. Castle’s punter, Keola Lewis, has trouble with the snap and gets the punt off despite a heavy rush. But he shanks the ball to the right, runs under it and starts running up the sideline before he is plowed. Apparently, it is legal to catch your own punt — I’m assuming the punt rusher got a piece of it — and run like crazy. But Kapolei is called for a personal foul on the hit and Castle gets the ball back. Even though it never really let Kapolei touch it.
Knights trying everything from shovel passes to WR screens, but the drive stops at the KPO 8. Pass play comes up short with 3:27 left in the half.
Punt snap is too high for Ezra Savea, who tries to salvage the play but is stopped for a 2-yard loss. Two plays later, Ewaliko is sacked for the third time by DL Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa. Ewaliko leaves the game for a play.
HALFTIME
At Kapolei
Castle (3-5) 0 0 — 0
Kapolei (5-3) 20 0 — 20
KAP—Ty-Noah Williams 57 pass from Taulia Tagovailoa (Beau Meyers pass from Leon Lee)
KAP—Jenesus Tago-Su‘e (pass failed)
KAP—Williams 75 pass from Tagovailoa (kick failed)
RUSHING—
Castle:
#9 Royce Simeona-Townsend 1-1
#10 Willie Ewaliko 8-33
#5 Keola Lewis 2-18
#1 Quinn Aquino 2-9
#21 Noah Figueroa 1-(-1)
#4 Makana Smith 1-19
#2 Taylor Bee 1-3
Kapolei:
#5 Leighton Rosa 4-15
#31 Kainoa Bardon 1-15
#12 Tagovailoa 1-2
team 1-(-2)
PASSING—
Castle:
Ewaliko 12-25-0-67
Kapolei:
Tagovailoa 11-22-0-325
RECEIVING—
Castle:
#11 Kainalu Moya 3-11
#1 Aquino 4-27
#9 Simeona-Townsend 1-4
#7 Jeremy McGoldrick 2-13
#4 Smith 1-6
#2 Bee 1-6
Kapolei:
#10 Williams 4-194
#8 Tago-Su‘e 2-50
#14 Jaymin Sarono 1-20
#13 Dillon Pakele 1-33
#11 Alika Bantolina 1-6
#45 Lorenzen Panapa 3-55
With 325 passing yards, Tagovailoa is on track to easily surpass the single-game mark he set twice already this season. That mark is 448 yards, though I see at least two QB warming up for the ‘Canes as the second half is nearly set to start.
The receiving mark? The info is on our Kapolei team page.
221 Most receiving yards in a game, by L.J. Esperas in a 67-21 loss at Mililani on Aug. 29, 2015.
Williams is very, very close.
THIRD QUARTER
Tagovailoa picks up where he left off with a string of three completions, capping it with a 49-yard TD strike to Williams. Again. That’s 399 passing yards by the freshman, and Williams sets a new school receiving yardage mark. He now has five catches for 243 yards. KPO 27, CAS 0, 9:21.
Ewaliko gets a low snap and heaves a bomb to the end zone that’s picked off by Leon Lee, who returns the ball to the 50. Tagovailoa hits three passes, including a 31-yarder to Sarono. Then he caps it with a 9-yard TD pass to Xhavier Mason. KPO 34, CAS 0, 5:28.
Tagovailoa now has 454 passing yards and five TD passes. That breaks his school mark of 448 yards set on Sept. 5 against Moanalua.
Nearing the end of the third quarter, 1:06 left. Tagovailoa has 464 passing yards, 17-for-29, five TDs, no INT. He just got sacked for the first time. Elijah Villanueva.
A string of offsides and procedure calls. Then Tagovailoa goes to Williams on an intermediate route and he zigs back across from the left sideline to the right pylon for a 59-yard TD. KPO 41, CAS 0, :00.
Tagovailoa is probably pau for the night as I see the backups warming up on the sideline again. He has 534 passing yards and six TDs. Williams has seven hauls for 313 yards. Both are school records.
The state record for passing yardage in one game is 574 by Moanalua’s Kawika Keama-Jacobe, set last year against Farrington.
FOURTH QUARTER
Running clock.
At Kapolei
Castle (3-6) 0 0 0 0 — 0
Kapolei (6-3) 20 0 21 0 — 41
KAP—Ty-Noah Williams 57 pass from Taulia Tagovailoa (Beau Meyers pass from Leon Lee)
KAP—Jenesus Tago-Su‘e (pass failed)
KAP—Williams 75 pass from Tagovailoa (kick failed)
KAP—Williams 49 pass from Tagovailoa (Meyers kick)
KAP—Xhavier Mason 9 pass from Tagovailoa (Meyers kick)
KAP—Williams 59 pass from Tagovailoa (Meyers kick)
RUSHING—Castle: Royce Simeona-Townsend 2-2, Willie Ewaliko 11-24, Keola Lewis 2-18, Quinn Aquino 7-37, Noah Figueroa 1-(-1), Makana Smith 3-17, Taylor Bee 1-3. Kapolei: Leighton Rosa 4-15, Kainoa Bardon 2-18, Tagovailoa 2-(-4), team 1-(-2), Devin Kapuniai 1-3, Ezra Savea 2-(-10).
PASSING—Castle: Ewaliko 23-42-1-179. Kapolei: Tagovailoa 19-31-0-534, Savea 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING—Castle: Kainalu Moya 4-20, Aquino 8-57, Simeona-Townsend 2-48, Jeremy McGoldrick 3-25, Smith 4-24, Bee 2-5. Kapolei: Williams 7-313, Tago-Su‘e 2-50, Jaymin Sarono 3-76, Xhavier Mason 2-24, Alika Bantolina 2-16, Dillon Pakele 1-33, Lorenzen Panapa 2-22.
***
PRE-GAME
The vibe here in Kapolei, as it is at most communities, is much different when there’s no JV game. Almost nobody but the players and coaches are here, along with staff and volunteers down at the concession stand. Getting to the Leeward side early is always a plus. A lot of town folks don’t like leaving for a game out of town until the last possible minute, which makes no sense to me.
1. Beat horrific, ugly and nonsensical traffic and the dangerous drivers that go with it.
2. Arrive in a quieter, peaceful place of peace and sunshine with nice trade winds.
3. Avoid the crowds that come with game-time traffic at the site.
4. Beat horrific, ugly and crazy traffic.
Castle has a puncher’s chance, kind of like Andy Ganigan against Sean O’Grady or Rolando Navarette against anybody like O’Grady. You may not win every round, but when a few of those haymakers land, the whole fight can change.
I don’t have any serious doubts that Kapolei can’t withstand the Black Knights’ torrid passing attack. Willie Ewaliko has thrown 20 TD passes and 14 picks. That’s a heckuva combination that should keep the Hurricanes on their toes from start to finish.
More than that, I don’t have a lot of doubt that the ‘Canes won’t control the ball. Sure, they throw it a lot with freshman QB Taulia Tagovailoa, but he is patient. He is precise. He is not greedy. So, the blueprint in recent Kapolei games — a four-game win streak — seems to be ball control via the air waves. And let the defense carry the way, because it’s a hard-hitting, physical defense.
For now, it’s roughly 90 minutes until kickoff. All is well.
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