Punahou stopped Kamehameha's two-point conversion attempt with three minutes remaining and the Buffanblu held on for a pulsating 14-13 victory last night at Aloha Stadium.

An announced crowd of 7,185 watched Punahou — ranked No. 1 in The Advertiser's statewide Top 10 poll of coaches and media — improve to 4-0 overall by winning its Interscholastic League of Honolulu opener. No. 4-ranked Kamehameha fell to 4-2, and 0-2 in the ILH.

The Warriors appeared to seize the momentum after their six-play, 97-yard touchdown drive was capped by Ryan Montez's 1-yard run to make the score 14-13. They lined up to kick an extra point, but Punahou was called for encroachment before the snap — moving the ball within one yard of the goal line — and Kamehameha used a timeout to consider going for two.

"If it wasn't for the penalty, we would have just kicked it," Warriors coach Kanani Souza said. "It's one of those things: If we make (the two-point conversion), it's a great call; if we don't, then we'll be hearing about it for a long time."

Kamehameha opted for a running play toward the left side, but the tailback was hit at the 3 and tackled by two defenders at the 1.

"It's a tough call," Buffanblu coach Kale Ane said. "In hindsight, you can ask, 'Why?' but I probably would have gone for it as well."

Punahou recovered the ensuing onside kick but was faced with a third-and-15 from its 43 with 1:52 remaining. That's when sophomore running back Dalton Hilliard took a handoff and dashed up the middle for a 16-yard gain. The Warriors had only one timeout left, and the Buffanblu were able to run out the clock from there.

The loss does not eliminate Kamehameha from ILH championship contention — last year's race ended with the Warriors, Buffanblu and Saint Louis all tied with 5-2 league records — but it does eliminate their margin for error.

"Talking it over as a staff this week, we felt we had to win this game so we could control our own destiny," Souza said. "We came to win, and we had our chances. But that (two-point conversion) call shouldn't have made the difference."

Kamehameha was hurt by special teams play twice earlier, including on its first possession when Punahou sophomore linebacker/fullback Manti Te'o blocked a punt and Kimo Makaula scooped up the rolling ball at the Warriors' 6-yard line and ran it in for the score. River Kim's extra point made it 7-0 less than three minutes into the game.

Kamehameha tied it at 7 with 3:35 remaining in the half after a 20-yard touchdown pass from Michael Hoke to tight end Kaneakua Friel. The Buffanblu then took the lead back for good with 6:42 left in the third quarter on Te'o's 7-yard TD run and Kim's extra point.

Punahou started that drive on the Warriors' 38 after a bad snap resulted in Kamehameha's punter being tackled for a loss.

"Once you block a punt, that makes a difference and we're always trying to get after people," Ane said. "We've blocked a punt in every game (this year), and our special teams coach, Derek Takai, works hard on that."

Ane said last night's game was full of crucial plays, as is the case in most ILH showdowns.

"We tell our guys there's between 50 and 70 plays in every game, and you can't take even one of them off," Ane said.

KAMEHAMEHA (4-2, 0-2) 0 7 0 6—13

PUNAHOU (4-0, 1-0) 7 0 7 0—14

Pun — Kimo Makaula 6 blocked punt return (River Kim kick)

KS — Kaneakua Friel 20 pass from Michael Hoke (Tyler Akau kick)

PUN — MANTI TE'O 7 RUN (KIM KICK)

KS — RYAN MONTEZ 1 RUN (RUN FAILED)

RUSHING — KS: Jordan Rego 10-35, Ryan Montez 9-63, Hoke 7-(minus-38), Truman Chun 2-8. Pun: Dalton Hilliard 16-68, Kainoa Carlson 4-10, Brett Kan 3-(minus-8), Kyle Whitford 1-(minus-5), Te'o 2-21.

PASSING — KS: Hoke 10-18-1—162. Pun: Kan 10-22-0—111.

RECEIVING — KS: Ian Bernardino 4-106, Kekoa Osorio 2-8, Montez 1-0, Friel 1-20, Kanalu DeMello 1-16, Charles Soon III 1-12. Pun: Miah Ostrowski 3-41, Carlson 3-30, Te'o 1-6, Whitford 1-6, Hilliard 2-28.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.