King Kekaulike High School’s Tysin Zackious stiff-arms Kamehameha Maui’s Paani Yap as he fights for extra yardage in the first quarter of Na Alii’s 24-16 victory over the Warriors on Saturday night at King Kekaulike Stadium. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos
PUKALANI — The King Kekaulike High School football team is blazing trails that Na Alii haven’t traveled much since their 2006 Division II state championship season.
Na Alii beat Kamehameha Maui 24-16 on Saturday night in front of a rollicking, packed house at King Kekaulike Stadium, leaving the host team on top of the Maui Interscholastic League standings at 2-0 and in firm control of the MIL Division II first-round race with the Warriors (0-1).
It was Na Alii’s fifth win since enduring a five-year, 41-game losing streak from 2014-18.
King Kekaulike won two MIL games in 2019, but before that the last time they won twice in league play in the same season was 2010. The last time Na Alii won more than two MIL games was 2009 when they finished 5-3 — they won three league games in a row that season, the last time they had an MIL winning streak.
“It’s still early in the season, I mean we can’t really say nothing about how the rest of the season will go,” King Kekaulike coach Tyson Valle said. “But we can say this: We will continue to work hard, get in the weight room, we’ll continue to do what we’ve been doing and get better and better every week. That’s all we can do.”
King Kekaulike’s Kalani Puu picks up a first-quarter first down Saturday.
Na Alii’s magic number to clinch the MIL D-II first-round title, which guarantees at least a playoff for the league’s state tournament berth, is one.
“This definitely was a big game for us and they weren’t easy, I mean Kamehameha is tough,” Valle said. “They’re a tough team, they’re smart. They know what they’re doing. So, we definitely have got to prepare for the second round, but before that we have got to get through these other teams first.”
Na Alii took the lead for the third time, 18-13, when they took the second-half kickoff 54 yards in 10 plays — the final play was the only pass on the possession, a scoring toss from Kalelepono Wong to Jacob Poouahi on fourth-and-6 with 5:18 left in the third quarter.
Poouahi was emotional as he talked about his first career touchdown reception, at any level.
“Honestly, this is a special moment, especially me being a senior, this is my last year, especially with the boys. … Oh, man, I’m almost in tears,” Poouahi said. “This (expletive) is so amazing.”
Kamehameha Maui’s Frank Abreu is tackled by King Kekaulike’s Oakley Dillon.
The Warriors put together a 13-play, 57-yard drive on the next possession but were forced to settle for a 34-yard field by Makaha Pang when Makana Kamaka-Brayce was sacked for a loss of nine yards by Devin Roberts on third-and-goal from the 7-yard line.
Nursing that 18-16 lead with 8:36 to play after the field goal, Na Alii recovered the onside kick and went on a game-clinching 11-play, 59-yard drive that drained the clock down to 1:41 to play when Tysin Zackious scored on a 21-yard run.
King Kekaulike did not have to punt all night and ended the game when Treydon Wallace intercepted Kamaka-Brayce’s final pass in the waning seconds.
Zackious finished with 56 yards on 12 tough carries and had to be helped off the field after his last touch, the scoring run, with a knee injury that Valle said would be evaluated this week.
Kalani Puu led the King Kekaulike wing-T attack with 160 yards on 21 carries, while Wong had 115 yards on 15 carries and was 2-for-2 passing for 55 yards. The team finished with 341 yards on the ground.
King Kekaulike’s Kalelepono Wong runs for a first-quarter touchdown.
The fourth-down go-ahead pass to Poouahi was the one Wong wanted to talk about. Poouahi, the team’s starting quarterback at the beginning of 2021 and now a starting linebacker, lined up at tight end on the play.
“That was amazing, I dropped back, I seen him, I delivered it to him, it was amazing,” Wong said at midfield after the win as he peered into the stands that were still teeming with happy fans. “It’s so loud and it’s crazy. It’s crazy to see the stands full, compared to last year when there was nobody in the stands.
“And the noise, the noise is outrageous.”
The Warriors held a 13-12 lead at halftime in a back-and-forth battle for the first two quarters.
Na Alii struck first when Wong dove in from 1 yard to cap a nine-play, 50-yard drive on their first possession. The field position was set up when a fake punt attempt by the Warriors on fourth-and-1 was stopped cold by the Kekaulike defense.
The big play on the drive was a 35-yard run by Puu that took the ball to the Kamehameha Maui 15-yard line.
The Warriors took a 7-6 lead when they went 65 yards in six plays on the ensuing possession. Frank Abreu caught passes of 25, 6 and 12 yards to set up Kamaka-Brayce’s 22-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Schnitzer.
Na Alii took the lead right back on the next drive when they went 81 yards in five plays — Puu started the possession with a 44-yard run and Wong finished it with a 20-yard scoring jaunt to make it 12-7 with 56 seconds left in the first quarter.
Na Alii were poised to up the lead on their next possession after they forced a quick three-and-out by the Warriors. King Kekaulike went 69 yards in 10 plays, but the momentum changed in an instant.
Kamehameha Maui’s Keegan Gantala scooped up a fumble by Kamakalei Stone and rumbled 79 yards for a defensive touchdown to give the Warriors the 13-12 lead.
“We persevered through the hardships,” Wong said. “We did it and it paid off in the end.”
Wong gave credit to the large offensive line in front of him.
“It’s incredible, I love my O-line, it’s awesome and they are the reason we won this game,” Wong said.
Na Alii reached the Kamehameha Maui 39-yard line on their next possession, but Kanekoa Maielua-Kekiwi recovered a fumble to stop the threat.
Kamehameha Maui punted and King Kekaulike nearly scored on the final play of the half when Stone hauled in a pass from Wong and rumbled 49 yards before he was just barely knocked out of bounds by Landon Los Banos on the Warriors’ 19-yard line.
For the Warriors, it is back to the drawing board after a tough loss.
“There’s a lot of things we’ve got to correct,” Kamehameha Maui coach Ulima Afoa said. “So, we’ll see what kind of intestinal fortitude we have and just keep pushing. It’s a long season.”
* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com.
KS Maui7603–16
King Kekaulike12066–24
First Quarter
KK–Kalelepono Wong 1 run (kick failed), 5:10.
KSM–Dylan Schnitzer 22 pass from Makana Kamaka-Brayce (Makaha Pang kick), 3:00.
KK–Wong 20 run (kick failed), 0:56.
Second Quarter
KSM–Keegan Gantala 79 fumble return (kick blocked), 5:18.
Third Quarter
KK–Jacob Poouahi 6 pass from Wong (run failed), 5:56
Fourth Quarter
KSM–FG Pang 34, 8:36.
KK–Tysin Zackious 21 run (run failed), 1:41.
KSMKK
First downs817
Rushes-yards17-4951-341
Passing yards10955
Total offense158396
Return yards16510
Comp-Att-Int9-17-12-2-0
Fumbles-lost1-04-2
Penalties-yards5-453-25
Punts-avg2-38.00-0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Kamehameha Maui, Heno Stone-Han 9-52, Joshua Kerr 5-13, Kamalei Cua 1-(minus 1), Kamaka-Brayce 2-(minus 15); King Kekaulike, Kalani Puu 21-160, Wong 15-115, Zackious 12-56, Ahe Sumibcay 1-6, Oakley Dillon 1-4, Kamakalei Stone 1-0.
PASSING–Kamehameha Maui, Kamaka-Brayce 9-17-1–109; King Kekaulike, Wong 2-2-0–55.
RECEIVING–Kamehameha Maui, Frank Abreu 7-87, Schnitzer 1-22, Po’o Aiu 1-0; King Kekaulike, Stone 1-49, Poouahi 1-6.
MISSED FIELD GOALS–none.
Junior varsity–Kamehameha Maui 35, King Kekaulike 6.
*****
Friday’s Result
MAUI HIGH 44, BALDWIN 0
Maui High23777–44
Baldwin0000– 0
First Quarter
MH–Piercen Evans 44 run (Sevy Sconfienza kick), 11:34.
MH–Evans 10 run (Sconfienza kick), 8:41.
MH–Keoni James Ihu-Rodrigues 32 pass from Joe Cariaga (kick failed), 5:04.
MH–FG Sconfienza 37, 0:32.
Second Quarter
MH–Evan Tarasenko 5 run (Sconfienza kick), 1:47.
Third Quarter
MH–Ihu-Rodrigues 2 run (Sconfienza kick), 9:11.
Fourth Quarter
MH–Antonio Castro 29 run (Sconfienza kick), 10:46.
MHB
First downs134
Rushes-yards37-24225-2
Passing yards8730
Total offense32932
Return yards6580
Comp-Att-Int4-7-02-15-4
Fumbles-lost0-02-0
Penalties-yards14-1156-31
Punts-avg3-46.37-26.7
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Maui High, Evans 18-152, Castro 5-38, Cariaga 4-15, Devontae Myrick 4-12, Tarasenko 3-12, Falekaono 2-11, Ihu-Rodrigues 1-2; Baldwin, Gavin Acosta 8-12, Kaimana Kahoopii 11-9, Antone Sanches 2-7, Joseph Randolph 2-1, team 2-(minus 27).
PASSING–Maui High, Cariaga 3-5-0–75, Tarasenko 1-2-0–12; Baldwin, Kahoopii 1-11-4–10, Sanches 1-4-0–20.
RECEIVING–Maui High, Ihu-Rodrigues 2-50, Sky Abilay 2-37; Baldwin, Jeffrey Robson 1-20, Randolph 1-10.
MISSED FIELD GOALS–none.
Junior varsity–Maui High 8, Baldwin 7.
*****
MIL Football
DIVISION I STANDINGS
WLPctPFPA
Lahainaluna101.0001710
Maui High11.5005417
Baldwin02.000671
DIVISION II STANDINGS
WLPctPFPA
King Kekaulike201.0005122
KS Maui01.0001624
Friday’s Result
Maui High 44, Baldwin 0
Saturday’s Result
King Kekaulike 24, Kamehameha Maui 16
Friday, Sept. 2
Maui High vs. King Kekaulike at War Memorial Stadium, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 3
Lahainaluna at Kamehameha Maui, 7 p.m.
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