No. 4 Kahuku takes it to Waipahu

Maybe the entire scoreboard should have been blacked out.

Only the score was displayed on Waipahu’s board on Friday night against No. 4 Kahuku — no clock — so there was little else to look at besides the rapidly ballooning lopsided tally rung up by the Red Raiders.

Kahuku rolled up 417 yards of offense exclusively on the ground as the Marauders were powerless to stop them in the trenches, resulting in a 63-0 rout. It was five points off the most allowed in Waipahu history, 68-0 to Campbell in 2011.

The Red Raiders (7-0, 6-0 OIA Red) didn’t miss a beat with leading rusher Sefa Ameperosa out for the game with an ankle sprain suffered during practice this week. And they still steamrolled ahead when starting quarterback Kesi Ah-Hoy went out with a sprain of his own just before halftime.

That’s because junior back Harmon Brown channeled his inner Marshawn Lynch and went Beast Mode. Brown tallied 184 yards rushing on 12 carries, with three of the scampers going for touchdowns. Kahuku’s first play from scrimmage was a 48-yard Brown run, followed soon after by a 20-yard Brown score. He shed some tacklers early in the second half for a 58-yard TD jaunt.

“Brown stepped up,” Kahuku coach Vavae Tata said. “Sefa was injured a few days ago, so hey, next man up, and he did a phenomenal job.

“(Ameperosa) could have come back, but I said ‘hey, don’t rush it and make it worse.’ ”

Ted Kenese added two rushing touchdowns and Ah-Hoy had one before he went out. His replacement, Cameron Renaud, plunged in for a TD soon after filling in for Ah-Hoy.

“It seems like his spirits are up so he’ll be back soon,” Tata said of Ah-Hoy as his team walked to its bus.

Keala Santiago and Hirkley Latu had pick-sixes of Waipahu quarterback Blaise De Asis. Aaron Tapusoa had two more picks of De Asis.

So … complete effort, right?

Not quite to Tata.

“Just trying to play a complete game. We haven’t played a complete game yet,” the first-year coach said. “Nowhere near (close) when you’re double digits in penalties. … We’ve still got a lot of work in that department.”

Kahuku also gave Waipahu a little hope on the Marauders’ first drive when the Red Raiders’ punt returner muffed it and the hosts recovered near midfield … only to have the second-chance drive stall out anyway.

Kahuku and Waianae (6-0) clash at Aloha Stadium next week to settle the Red’s top seed going into the OIA playoffs.

“We’re looking forward to that matchup, but we’ll look at the tape here and make some adjustments, make some corrections,” Tata said. “See what we can get better on.”

——————

Kahuku may not have been the ideal homecoming opponent, but Waipahu should be commended for putting on an enthusiastic ceremony at halftime — when it was 42-0 Kahuku — and then honoring its seniors after the game.

There just wasn’t a whole lot to cheer about on the field of play. Waipahu went to some triple-option looks in the early going, but there wasn’t a whole lot to be gained there. De Asis became primarily a passer from that point on, but the Red Raiders sniffed out four of his passes for picks and had dropped chances on at least two others.

The potent Andrew Simanu was De Asis’ favorite target, and Simanu did finish with 10 receptions for 91 yards.

“Our game plan was to stick to our triple option, see how we fared,” Waipahu coach Bryson Carvalho said. “At the end of the day, their Xs are bigger than our Os. They ran the ball just at will on us. I mean, it was just tough to stop.”

Waipahu (1-6 Red) isn’t done. Carvalho’s team is locked into the sixth seed in the Red for the upcoming playoffs. And the Marauders get a bye next week to rest up for their first-round opponent.

“At the end of the day, we’ve got to get our kids to play at that (Kahuku) level,” Carvalho said. “The bottom line is we’re in Division I, and if we want to get to where we want to be, which is at the championship level, we have to be at Kahuku’s level. And we saw what caliber they’re at. We as coaches just have to make sure we prepare them to be at that level, especially with playoffs coming up.”

On another positive note for Waipahu, it was the last game played before its weathered field is overhauled for a new artificial turf. It should be ready by the start of next season, Carvalho said.