KAPOLEI — When Aiea’s last-gasp hook-and-ladder play fell through on Friday night, the Kapolei Hurricanes jumped up and down along their sideline while their home crowd let out a collective sigh of relief.
The Hurricanes had their first 3-0 overall start since 2007, a mark achieved for just the third time in their 20-year football history, according to Hawaii Prep World records. Na Alii headed back to their team bus having fallen just short of an amazing comeback, the scoreboard stubbornly stuck at 27-24.
Yet the defending Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I champions could hold their heads high in pushing an OIA Open Division team replete with playmakers to its limit prior to the start of league play.
“Oh man, they had a lot of fight,” Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez said of Aiea. “They came to play, they were well coached, well prepared. They took advantage of our mistakes also. Sometimes when you make mistakes, the other team doesn’t capitalize on them.
“I think Aiea is a quality team and I think tonight showed they can play in the Open.”
In what appeared to be the decisive sequence of the night, Na Alii reached the Hurricanes’ 5-yard line late in the third quarter with a chance of getting within three points with a touchdown. But Aiea got stuffed going for it on fourth-and-1 and Kapolei then drove 95 yards and scored on Tama Amisone’s 10-yard pass that was tipped fortuitously into the hands of Diezel Kamoku, a 14-point swing. It was 27-10 Kapolei with 8:51 remaining in the game.
Coming off a bye week with numerous practices, Aiea quarterback Eziekiel Olie was frustrated by a disjointed first half that saw his team trailing 13-3. Little was going right, including a chance at a score as time expired in the second quarter. Two Aiea receivers appeared to get in each other’s way on a catchable ball in the end zone.
“Coach (Wendell Say) on the sideline told me it was all a mindset,” Olie said. “I know first half I’ve been down on myself, which led to my teammates being down on themselves. So, all of it is mindset.”
Aiea hung around thanks to running back Kaimana Lale-Saole’s 50-yard scoring burst in the third. But it took a 17-point deficit for things to finally clock for Aiea’s prolific air attack in the fourth.
“Like I told the kids, they just gotta do their job. Kapolei’s a good team, but I keep telling our kids that the only thing that can beat us is ourselves,” Say said.
Combined with some untimely penalties by Kapolei that aided a long drive, Olie punched in a 1-yard score with 6:41 left.
Na Alii then got a stop and Olie lifted a 12-yard pass to Geronimo Ulgaran with 19.8 seconds to go. After the extra point by Bryson Boyea Quiton, it was only a three-point game.
Quiton’s well-placed chopper of an onside kick took a tough hop and Kapolei couldn’t field it cleanly. Ulgaran emerged from a scrum with the ball and Aiea was awarded possession, but an unsportsmanlike penalty knocked the visitors back from the Kapolei 40 to their own 45.
Olie had a swing pass get batted down, then a deep ball fell incomplete. Na Alii had one final chance from near midfield after Kapolei was called for a foul with no time on the clock.
Olie’s hook-and-ladder pass went to near the left sideline to Jheremie Cacpal, who lateraled it to an in-stride Ulgaran. However, he had little room to operate and the Hurricanes’ secondary bodied him out of bounds at about the Kapolei 26.
“Gotta try something. I guess we had to dig that out,” Say said of the trick play. “I didn’t think we’d use it, especially in preseason. But maybe it would’ve worked.”
Olie, a junior who was key in the 2021 OIA title, was 26-for-44 for 309 yards and no interceptions, per ScoringLive. Lale-Saole finished with 108 yards on 20 carries.
For Kapolei, the dynamic sophomore Amisone was 21-for-25 passing for 258 yards, plus another 52 on the ground, with a touchdown. The Hurricanes’ other capable QB, Tuli Tagovailoa-Amosa, came off the bench to toss two touchdowns on two attempts. Riley Camarillo caught nine balls for 117 yards and a score.
Aiea (1-1) begins OIA D-I play next week at home against Roosevelt. Kapolei has a bye week then heads to Waianae looking for its first overall 4-0 start since 2003.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii.