PUKALANI, Maui — After seeing a once-dominating four-touchdown lead cut in half and still with nearly 10 minutes to play, King Kekaulike High School football coach J.W. Kenton had a simple message for his offense when Na Ali'i took over for their final drive last night against Maui High.

''That was what I told them before the drive began — was that we had to close the door on them and run out the clock, '' Kenton said to The Maui News. ''The whole offense did a great job tonight.''

Na Ali'i did precisely what their coach asked at King Kekaulike Stadium in front of about 1,000 fans, running off a 15-play, 57-yard drive — all on the ground — that drained 8:29 off the clock. Quarterback Aronne Santos' 1-yard bootleg touchdown run with 1:08 to go capped a 35-14 win.

The win lifted Na Ali'i to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the Maui Interscholastic League, one game behind Baldwin in the Division I standings heading into the Maui County Fair break. Kenton was concerned that his team might experience a letdown after losing a 25-22 decision to the three-time defending MIL champion Bears on a field goal with 17 seconds left last week.

''That was the big concern all week, was that would we recover,'' Kenton said. ''We came out real energetic there in the beginning and jumped on them, but then we relaxed. Our momentum shifted there a little bit, but you have to give credit to Maui High because they made adjustments and they gave us a little game there.''

In a game that started 10 minutes late and was delayed by sprinklers coming on along the Maui High side of the field at the start of the fourth quarter — with a few clock delays added in — it finally ended at 10:10 p.m.

The Sabers cut a 21-point halftime deficit to 28-14 with a nifty run up the middle by quarterback Jordan Inamasu with 5:27 left in the third quarter on which he broke several tackles.

That capped a 53-yard, eight-play drive that was kept alive on a 9-yard run by Judd Sato III on a late pitch by Inamasu on fourth-and-4 from the King Kekaulike 32-yard line.

The Sabers got the ball on an interception by Cory Mukaihata on a pass by Na Ali'i backup quarterback Aaron Sylva, who started the second half. Mukaihata's second interception of the night and subsequent 27-yard return gave the Sabers the ball at their own 47.

Maui High also recovered a fumble of its own on the drive when Inamasu and John Asuncion misconnected on a handoff one play before Sato's fourth-down run.

King Kekaulike enjoyed a 28-7 halftime lead as it dominated the first 24 minutes of play against Maui High (0-4, 0-2). Na Ali'i piled up 231 total offensive yards in the first half, while limiting the Sabers to 79. Na Ali'i had a 14-3 advantage in first downs in the first half.

King Kekaulike jumped on top 21-0 with three touchdowns in a 2:21 span, an explosion helped by a Maui High fumble, a Na Ali'i defensive stop on fourth-and-1 and an apparent fumble nullified when the ballcarrier was called down before the turnover.

The first score came on a 6-yard run by Kapoo Piena with 7:27 left in the first quarter that finished off a 68-yard, eight-play drive. Na Ali'i got the ball back two plays later when Inamasu and his running back couldn't connect on a handoff and Elvis Matagi fell on the loose ball on the Maui High 25.

On the first play of that drive, Santos hit Casey Murayama for a 25-yard touchdown pass with 6:32 left in the first quarter.

After Na Ali'i stopped Sato cold on a fourth-and-1 at the Sabers' 37 on the next possession, Santos hit Michael Lacno over the middle on a 14-yard pass. The ball appeared to come out and was recovered by Maui High nine yards down the field.

Lacno, however, was whistled down and Na Ali'i still had the ball at the Sabers' 22.

On the next play, Piena scored on a 22-yard run with 5:06 to go in the first quarter.

At that point, Na Ali'i had a 148 to minus-4 advantage in yardage and ended the first quarter with a 156-29 edge in yards and an 8-1 advantage in first downs.

The Sabers stopped Na Ali'i on a pair of fake punt attempts in the first half and got as deep as the Kekaulike 11 the first time, and the 17 on the next, but could not punch it in.

Na Ali'i pushed the lead to 28-0 with a 71-yard, eight-play drive that was culminated by a 2-yard touchdown run by Taylor Rodrigues with 1:41 to go before halftime.

Rodrigues was a workhorse with 124 yards on 21 carries, including nine carries for 37 yards on the clinching drive.

A 53-yard kickoff return by Maui High's Kyle Sentinella set up the Sabers' only score of the first half, a 41-yard pass from Inamasu to Travis Fukushima with 1:17 to go before intermission.

Maui High missed a golden opportunity to take an early lead when a wide-open Fukushima dropped a flanker pass from Austin Pierman on the third play from scrimmage.

Maui High 0 7 7 0—14

King Kekaulike 21 7 0 7—35

First Quarter

KK—Kapoo Piena 6 run (James Gamponia kick), 7:27.

KK—Casey Murayama 25 pass (Gamponia kick), 6:32.

KK—Piena 22 run (Gamponia kick), 5:06.

Second Quarter

KK—Taylor Rodrigues 2 run (Gamponia kick), 1:41.

MH—Travis Fukushima 41 pass from Jordan Inamasu (J-Cob Coloma-Moniz kick), 1:17.

Third Quarter

MH—Inamasu 23 run (Coloma-Moniz kick), 5:27.

Fourth Quarter

KK—Aronne Santos 1 run (Gamponia kick), 1:08.

Junior varsity—King Kekaulike 14, Maui High 0.