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Kickoff will be around 7:30, the Sabers controlled the JV game with a 39-0 win over Aiea to stay unbeaten.
Talk before the varsity game was about who would be at quarterback for McKinley in its bid for the upset, but Tigers coach Joe Cho ended that suspense the minute he stepped off the bus.
When asked how many quarterbacks he is going to play against Campbell, Cho responded: “We only need one. Mathias (Tuitele-Iafeta) is our guy.”
Campbell coach Amosa Amosa figured as much, saying before McKinley arrived that he had seen plenty of tape this week on Tuitele-Iafeta’s performance in a first-round win over Waipahu.
“He’s athletic,” Amosa said. “And he doesn’t just throw the ball up there, he places it.”
Tuitele-Iafeta, who is Amosa’s wife’s cousin, will have to be on his game to solve Campbell’s defense on its home field. Only one passer, Mililani’s McKenzie Milton, has thrown for more than 200 yards against the Sabers this year when he put up 211 in a win three weeks ago. Campbell has held four quarterbacks, Kaiser’s Kahoalii Karratti, Aiea’s Mana Kuia, Waipahu’s Kai Mercado-Aiona and Kapolei’s Aizon Kahana, under 100 yards this year.
McKinley wins the toss but defers to the second half. Campbell will get the first shot with the ball.
Kick out of bounds.
Both offenses stalled after driving the ball but Campbell went 98 yards on its second drive, capped by Austin May’s 44-yard touchdown run on a draw play.
Campbell 7, McKinley 0
First quarter ends with McKinley driving, facing a third-and-five from Mckinley’s 45. The drive was set up by a long interception by Denzel Kalahiki-Gasper. McKinley lost it on downs.
Campbell scores with 5:01 before the half when Isaac Hurd hits Austin May on a swing pass from four yards out. Hurd, who had been under pressure previously, got the Sabers down there with a pair of long runs.
Campbell 14, McKinley 0
The Tigers respond with a touchdown off a nice drive, capped by an 18-yard pass to Tyrel Tuiapasopo 18 from Matias Tuitele-Iafeta (Liva Logoi kick). The ball was woefully underthrown but Tuiasasopo beat his man to it and cradled it in the end zone with both players on the ground.
The Tigers nearly scored again with less than a minute left in the half but Tuitele-Iafeta threw an interception inside Campbell’s 30-yard line.
Campbell 14, McKinley 7, halftime.
Tuitele-Iafeta needs three tries from the 1-yard line, but finally punches it over on a sneak, but the extra-point try sails wide.
Campbell 14, McKinley 13, 6:06 left in the third
Hurd responds to the threat of an upset by driving Campbell the length of the field after McKinley’s score, driving the Sabers to the 3-yard line with 2:13 left. Campbell calls a timeout then needs two plays to sneak it through. Subia’s kick is good.
Campbell 21, McKinley 13, End third.
Hurd does it again with 5:41 left, running in a quarterback draw from six yards out for an insurance touchdown. The kick failed on the snap.
Campbell 27, McKinley 13, 5:41 left
Campbell’s Devin Benz recovers a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, and Galuega Castro runs it in from five yards out two plays later. The kick failed after three penalties.
Campbell 33, McKinley 13, 4:55 left
Three plays into McKinley’s next drive, Abiel Taito intercepts Tuitele-Iafeta for the second time of the evening, but he takes this one back 45 yards for the touchdown. The kick is good.
Campbell 40, McKinley 13, 3:48 left
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