Posted on: Saturday, September 25, 2004
Kapolei grinds out win against Pearl City
By Kyle Sakamoto
Advertiser Staff Writer
Kapolei head coach Darren Hernandez wanted to run a balanced offense in last night's game against Pearl City.
The game plan had limited success in the first half, so he reverted to his team's "bread and butter" — its running game — to pull out a 21-10 victory at Mililani.
Radford Raquedan rushed 21 times for 131 yards and the Hurricanes' defense forced turnovers on Pearl City's last four possessions in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red West game.
The Hurricanes (2-3, 2-1), who used a triple-option offense, rushed for 178 yards in the second half and passed for only 16. In the first half, they rushed for 40 yards and passed for 128.
"We wanted to be able to make sure we were a balanced offense and not just running between the tackles," Hernandez said. "You have to dance with who brung ya. We ended up reverting back to our bread and butter, which is our running game."
Kapolei defensive back Kainoa Kaheaku-Enhada intercepted two passes in the fourth quarter. The first pick led to a 9-yard pass from Brad Padayao to Ikaika Tan, which put Kapolei up 21-10 with 4:47 left in the game.
Kaheaku-Enhada said both interceptions came off the same play.
"I saw him running to the right and I knew he was going to throw it against the grain. And I thought 'I'm going to get a pick,' " he said. The first interception was thrown by Andrew Blue, the second by Josh Tokunaga.
Raquedan had 15 carries for 100 yards in the second half.
"He's very strong in the weight room, a tough, low-to-the-ground runner, who is hard to tackle," Hernandez said. "He's the prototype running back for this offense."
Blue played extensively in the first half and Tokunaga played most of the second half for Pearl City (2-4, 1-3)
"Blue was hurt," Pearl City head coach Watson Tanuvasa said. "He was coming in and out with injuries."
He added "30 percent" of his players were playing with injuries.
"They stood in there and fought the fight till the end," he said. "That's all we expect from them. Each and every one of them played their hearts out even though we're struggling with injuries."
Pearl city (1-5, 0-4) 3 7 0 0—10 PC—FG Steven King 33
Kapo—Jimmy Stevens 10 pass from Jon Medeiros (Aaron Santiago kick)
PC—King 29 pass from Andrew Blue (King kick)
Kapo—Medeiros 1 run (Santiago kick)
Kapo—Ikaika Tan 9 pass from Padayao (Santiago kick)
RUSHING—Kapolei: Radford Raquedan 21-131, Tan 7-28, Medeiros 5-0, Padayao 4-43, Santiago 2-17, team 1-(minus 1). Pearl City: Josh Tokunaga 9-30, Zachary Tapaoan 6-12, Nick-Wilson Parez 5-(minus 3), Blue 3-(minus 2), King 1-10, Bryson Nakamoto 1-1, team 1-(minus 5).
PASSING—Kapolei: Medeiros 8-13-1—68, Padayao 4-9-0—76. Pearl City: Blue 3-8-1—23, Tokunaga 3-13-2—23, Larry Vaa 0-1-0—0, King 0-1-0—0.
RECEIVING—Kapolei: Tan 4-68, Santiago 3-45, Stevens 3-23, Lokahi Olayan 1-13, Caleb Spencer 1-(minus 5). Pearl City: Tapaoan 2-8, Vaa 1-7, King 1-6, Tokunaga 1-5, Blue 1-20.
Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8041.
Kapolei (2-3, 2-1) 0 7 0 14—21
