KAILUA — Forced to take to the airways, the Kahuku High School football team completed only three passes last night, but all three proved crucial in a 21-7 victory over Kailua.

The Red Raiders, ranked No. 3 in The Advertiser's statewide Top 10 poll of coaches and media, evened their overall record at 2-2 and improved to 2-0 in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association's Eastern Division.

Kailua fell to 1-4 and 1-2.

The Surfriders did an impressive job holding Kahuku's vaunted rushing attack to 154 yards, and the Red Raiders completed only three passes in 14 attempts. But two completions went for touchdowns, including a 39-yard halfback option pass from Junior Mata'afa to Willie Ching on fourth-and-21 to give Kahuku a 13-0 lead with 3:51 remaining in the third quarter.

"We had to throw more than we wanted to," Red Raiders coach Reggie Torres said. "Their defensive front did a great job; they held their point really well."

Kahuku's defense bent but did not break, allowing 201 rushing yards, but also coming up with two interceptions. One of those was by linebacker Paipai Falemalu, who returned the pick 44 yards for a TD with 4:59 left in the game.

"We made a few mistakes at bad times," Kailua coach Gary Rosolowich said. "Our defense did a pretty good job and we moved the ball, but we gotta put the ball in the end zone."

The Red Raiders, with Advertiser All-State offensive lineman Benji Kemoeatu back in the lineup after sitting out three games to concentrate on academics, broke off two of their longest runs late in the first quarter to gain first-and-goal at the 2. After they were stuffed on a dive play, quarterback Jray Galeai completed a play-action pass to Jerrik Akina in the corner of the end zone with 2:02 remaining. St. John Lessary's extra point made it 7-0.

That score stood until late in the third quarter, when Kahuku capitalized on a muffed fair catch at the Surfriders' 34.

An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty pushed the Red Raiders back to the 45, and Mata'afa — who had sat out until that point due to a back injury — came on. He took a toss from Galeai and ran left, then launched the 39-yard spiral to Ching.

"We had that play called before the penalty," Torres said. "We had been setting it up with the toss."

Rosolowich said coaches smelled the trick play on the sideline, but were unable to warn the defenders in time.

"We couldn't get the guys on the field to not bite," Rosolowich said.

Kailua finally scored with 8.6 seconds left, on Kale Sumner's 6-yard pass to Jackie Uemoto.

KAHUKU (2-2, 2-0) 7 0 6 8 — 21

KAILUA (1-4, 1-2) 0 0 0 7 — 7

Kah — Jerrick Akina 1 pass from Jray Galeai (St. John Lessary kick)

Kah — Willie Ching 39 pass from Junior Mata'afa (pass failed)

Kah — Paipai Falemalu 44 interception return (AJ Atuaia pass from Nalu Carvalho)

Kai — Jackie Uemoto 6 pass from Kale Sumner (Eddie Oden kick)

RUSHING — Kahuku: Lessary 8-16, Kaliki Unga 9-41, Galeai 3-38, AJ Atuaia 2-25, Mata'afa 5-34. Kailua: Kaleo Wong 14-49, Kenny Ellis 5-27, Penni Tuifua 1-1, Lowen Tynanes-Perez 14-76, Bubu Naki 1-2, Kaimi Sarkissian 1-0, Brandon Adviento 3-45, Sumner 1-1.

PASSING — Kahuku: Galeai 2-13-0—33, Mata'afa 1-1-0—39. Kailua: Kale Sumner 3-11-0—42, Ellis 2-5-2—9, Uemoto 0-1-0—0.

RECEIVING — Kahuku: Akina 1-1, Ching 2-72. Kailua: Ellis 2-36, Sumner 1-7, Uemoto 2-8.

JV score — Kahuku 42, Kailua 0.

Read Wes Nakama's blog on prep sports at http://blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.