WAILUKU — Picturesque night in Wailuku, lots of wind, probably 10-20 mph. Full moon rising.
Huge Lunas crowd here, reminds me of Kahuku’s faithful following. There are roughly 50-60 Kaiser fans in blue here, too.
Cougars received the opening kickoff and are marching downfield. Ball at the Lunas 26. Shotgun, four wide so far.
10:02, Q1 – Cougars jumped – illegal procedure, then two incomplete passes, including a drop that was almost turned into a pick-6 by Lahainaluna. Ball at the 31, third and 15.
8:17, Q1 – The game is delayed due to a malfunctioning scoreboard. Pesky mongoose!
8:04, Q1 – Cougars stop the Lunas on third and 1, and then fourth and 1 near midfield.
6:56, Q1 – Jared Rocha-Islas with major running room up the middle and scores on a 49-yard run. Lunas 7, Cougars 0.
6:40, Q1 – Squib kick goes deep, ball lateraled to Thomas Buntenbah-Leong, who bolts 78 yards for Kaiser’s first TD. Tied at 7.
12:00, Q2 – Kaiser drove to the Lunas’ 21-yard line before Lii Karratti threw an interception to end the threat. Lunas now driving past midfield with that modified wing-T. QB Sione Filikitonga gashing his way up the middle for chunks of yardage.
9:12, Q2 – Lunas use a shovel pass for a big gain in the red zone, ball at the Kaiser 1. Two facemask penalties hurt the Cougars. They have 90 yards in penalties already. But they’ve also stopped the Lunas twice at the 1. Third an goal.
6:59, Q2 – Kaiser stopped the Lunas on third down and goal (8-yard loss) and the Lunas then missed a 25-yard field goal try. Starting at their own 5, the Cougars had a dropped pass on a bomb to midfield, their third drop of the game. Then on fourth down, Connor Mowat of Lahainaluna sacked Kaiser punter Fitou Fisiiahi in the end zone for a safety. Lahainaluna 9, Kaiser 7.
6:00, Q2 – After Kaiser’s free kick, their defense forces a fumble by Rocha-Islas and recovers at the Lunas’ 25. But Fisiiahi fumbles on the next play and Lahainaluna has the ball back.
5:13, Q3 – On fourth and 1, Fisiiahi bolts up the middle for a 44-yard touchdown to give the Cougars the lead for the first time. The PAT run by Fisiiahi was stopped short. Kaiser 13, Lahainaluna 9.
The drive was aided by a 20-yard Lunas punt that gave Kaiser first down at the Lahainaluna 47.
2:53, Q3 – Another short punt — 18 yards — by the Lunas set up the Cougars for another third-quarter touchdown. Kaiser got possession at the Lunas’ 37-yard line thanks in part to a stiff wind blowing in against Lahainaluna. The Lunas may have been concerned about kicking to Buntenbah-Leong. Kaiser 20, Lahainaluna 9.
4:22, Q4 – Injury to Lahainaluna’s Taylor Kohler-Fonahema. Trainers and paramedics tending to him He got hurt at the end of a 19-yard gain and Kaiser was flagged for helmet contact. He was pulled off the ground by his teammates at first, then went down a few steps later.
He’s been put into an ambulance, holding his right arm while on the stretcher. They braced his neck, too.
What do you have to say about Kaiser now?
Same thing I’ve said all season. Hard working, talented group and their only real test to date was Campbell. The kids had no choice but to play in Division II, and that’s the kind of rigid formatting by the OIA that I wish had a little more flexibility in all sports, not just football.
Tonight, they proved that they can win with special teams, defense, running game. Overcame 160-plus penalty yards.
How would Kaiser have done in the OIA Red? We can only speculate, but it would’ve been a really interesting scenario.
Hmmmm…not sure about that Paul. You’ve been against this team all season with the disrespect with your rankings. The eye test said that Kaiser is a legit and best team in D2. I knew this after the Campbell game. I dont fault you for thinking lunas was better but the score could have been 35-9 tonight. Kaiser could and should move to the white. They are well coached. Paul, thxs for the motivation. ;). How would Kaiser do in the red? Probably semi instead of farrington. After that its a mystery. CND!!! 1
Eh “Handsome”, if I thought Kaiser was not a good team, I wouldn’t write anything about them. If you read objectively, you’d know there was no “disrespect” in all the Kaiser posts. Real motivation should come from within the team and each coach and player. But if you need to sift through my words to pick out a sentence or two to gain motivation, more power to you, I guess.
The talent level and work ethic are outstanding at Kaiser. But I base my ballot on head-to-head results and strength of schedule, which is something that is of no fault of Kaiser. I wrote a bunch of times earlier in the year about Rich Miano’s desire to move the program up to Division I. Then they got left in D-II.
Beating D-II teams by 10, 20, 40, 80 points doesn’t mean much to me, and I don’t think it means much to Kaiser’s coaches and players. They want a state championship, period, nothing less.
Guess who picked Kaiser to win on Saturday? Go look at my pupule picks on Facebook. I would love to see your weekly picks there, if you actually thought about other teams besides Kaiser.
In the end, polls are just polls. I’ve said this for more than 20 years: polls have the nutritional value of whipped cream. Have too much of it and you won’t feel too good. Have a little and it’s pretty fun.
See you at the game. Come say howzit and talk story. I would enjoy that.
Chee