'Aina cashed in at the Cornerstone Bancard Hula Bowl yesterday thanks to a turnover-prone Kai.

'Aina scored 28 points off turnovers, its defense recorded seven sacks and its three quarterbacks passed for 388 yards in a 38-7 victory before a modest turnout at Aloha Stadium.

'Aina forced six turnovers: four fumbles and two interceptions. Three of the fumbles came off of sacks.

"It's just like any other game," said 'Aina quarterback Bernard Morris of Marshall. "If you turn the ball over, most likely you're going to lose the football game. We took advantage of that."

'Aina defensive lineman Angelo Craig (Cincinnati) had two forced fumbles, two sacks and a tackle for loss — all in the first half.

"Just coming off the ball, going as hard as I can and playing with a motor," Craig said.

'Aina gained 527 yards of total offense, while Kai gained only 240.

'Aina scored all 21 of its first-half points off turnovers.

On Kai's second possession, Craig stripped running back Marcus Thomas, and Haruki Nakamura recovered at the Kai 40.

Six plays later, Paul Smith scored on a 1-yard sneak with 9:57 left in the first quarter.

Later in the first quarter, Kahuku High alum J.T. Mapu stripped quarterback TC Ostrander and Jabari Arthur recovered at the Kai 6. Smith scrambled in on the next play to make it 14-0 with 4:10 left in the first quarter.

"It was just one of those days where the early fumbles kind of hurt us a little bit," said Kai quarterback Kevin O'Connell of San Diego State. "We had a good week of practice. We felt good coming into today, but they had our number."

Morris' 3-yard slant to Bruce Hocker with 8 seconds left before halftime made it 21-0. The 10-play, 76-yard scoring drive was set up by Nakamura's interception off a deflection by teammate Justin McKinney.

In the first half, Kai punted four times, lost two fumbles, turned it over on downs twice and threw an interception.

Kai's only score came on a 15-yard pass from O'Connell to California's Robert Jordan, which made it 24-7 with 5:36 left in the third period.

"Coach (Ron) Zook did a good job. He kept it simple and we just went out there and played hard," Mapu said.

Smith rushed for two first-quarter touchdowns and finished 5 of 12 for 47 yards. Morris was 11 of 22 for 172 yards and Ricky Santos finished 10 of 16 for 169 yards.

"They moved the ball pretty well and they mixed it up. Their balance was good," said Kai coach Mike Riley of Oregon State.

A fumble recovery deep in Kai territory set up a 1-yard run by Toledo's Jalen Parmele, which made it 31-7 with 10:42 left, and Navy's Reggie Campbell capped the scoring with a 1-yard run.

Other 'Aina defensive standouts were Cincinnati's Nakamura (fumble recovery and interception), Tennessee's Mapu (sack, fumble recovery) and Gardner-Webb's Brian Johnston (sack, forced fumble).

"I just wanted to come out and play hard," Mapu said. "It was nice to be back home and I had added energy."

Hawai'i defensive back Myron Newberry had an interception for Kai at the goal line late in the third quarter and returned it 35 yards.

He was one of nine former Warriors on the Kai.

"I'm going to miss it a lot. The fans are great," said former UH defensive tackle Michael Lafaele. "They have a lot of support and a lot of love for us. I thank them for coming out. Most of them came out to see us play."

''AINA 14 7 3 14—38
KAI 0 0 7 0—7

''Aina—Paul Smith 1 run (Arthur Carmody kick)
''Aina—Smith 6 run (Carmody kick)
''Aina—Bruce Hocker 3 pass from Bernard Morris (Carmody kick)
''Aina—FG Carmody 38
Kai—Robert Jordan 15 pass from Kevin O'Connell (Sergio Aguoyo kick)
''Aina—Jalen Parmele 1 run (Carmody kick)
Kai—Reggie Campbell 1 run (Carmody kick)

RUSHING—''Aina: Kalvin McCrae 7-21, Smith 3-3, Parmele 6-46, Campbell 6-20, Andre Callender 5-26, Keon Lattimore 5-6, Morris 4-16, Ricky Santos 3-4, team 3-(minus 3). Kai: Danny Woodhead 3-2, Marcus Thomas 6-29, O'Connell 4-10, TC Ostrander 4-(minus 34), Amir Pinnix 4-9, team 1-(minus 1), Alex Brink 1-(minus 9), Yvenson Bernard 6-23, C.J. Hawthorne 1-6.

PASSING—''Aina: Smith 5-12-0—47, Morris 11-22-0—172, Santos 10-16-1—169. Kai: O'Connell 11-21-0—147, Ostrander 1-7-0—6, Brink 3-8-2—52.

RECEIVING—''Aina: Darrell Strong 5-50, McCrae 1-14, Campbell 2-4, Jabari Arthur 5-88, Josh Morgan 3-82, Maurice Purify 1-9, Hocker 3-32, Marcus Fitzgerald 2-49, Paul Raymond 1-29, Joey Haynos 2-27, Callender 1-4. Kai: Hawthorne 3-57, Adam Bishop 2-10, Pinnix 2-4, Ernest Wheelwright 1-8, Bernard 1-15, Jordan 4-84, Jason Rivers 2-27.

Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com.