LIHUE — A touchdown and a safety by Kaiser High School in the final three minutes of play on Saturday catapulted the Cougars to the First Hawaiian Bank Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II championships.
LIHUE — A touchdown and a safety by Kaiser High School in the final three minutes of play on Saturday catapulted the Cougars to the First Hawaiian Bank Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II championships.
Playing before a crowd at Vidinha Stadium, the unseeded Kaiser edged the No. 2 seeded Kauai High School, 16-13, when Cougar Brady Kim found open space on a 14-yard scoot to the end zone. A Morgan White PAT kick sealed the deal as Kaiser took a 14-13 lead for the first time in the afternoon.
The emotionally charged Red Raiders roared onto the field and secured an early 10-point lead behind a Jacob Bukoski 18-yard scoring pass reception from freshman quarterback Haezon Dizon during Kauai’s first possession of the game.
Kai Potts did the point-after honors, and followed that boot with a 27-yard field goal with 6 minutes, 26 seconds remaining in the opening quarter that ended with Kauai holding a 10-0 bulge over Kaiser.
With less than two minutes left in the half, Kaiser answered when Dillon Reis plowed four yards to paydirt. White’s PAT boot saw the scoreboard close the first half on a 10-7 Kauai lead.
Potts came back in the third quarter for a 39-yard field goal before Kaiser swung the tide in the final three minutes.
Defensively, Kauai’s Moli Pahulu led all defenders with six stops, three being unassisted, and a quarterback sack. Paoa Itamura finished with two pass interceptions.
With the victory, the unseeded Cougars advance to the Division II championships on Saturday, starting at 4 p.m. at Mililani High School where the Hawaii Kai kids will face the top seeded Kamehameha Schools-Maui who beat No. 4 seeded Roosevelt, 60-26, Saturday at their Maui home field.
The Division II championship will be followed by the Division I championship starting at 7:30 p.m. when No. 3 seed Kapaa High School faces top-seeded Konawaena High School.
