KEAAU – There was a laundry list of but one reason why Kamehameha had so much trouble cracking through for its first touchdown Thursday night against Ka’u.
Penalty flags.
Spencer Yoshizumi’s long interception return for a touchdown was called back for an infraction, as was Michael Perry’s even longer run for score.
So, when the Warriors’ Rycen Pola scooped up a fumble and ran into end zone in the first quarter, did he look behind him to make sure there wasn’t another flag on the field?
“No, I trusted my guys to not do anything to bring back that touchdown,” Pola said.
Pola’s 12-yard return counted, and Kamehameha defense tacked on two more touchdowns at Paiea Stadium in another suffocating effort in a 50-0 victory against the Trojans.
The Warriors have yet to allow an offensive touchdown in three BIIF D-II games.
“Every practice we run hills for every point we get scored on, so our job is to keep the opponent off the scoreboard,” the junior said.
He and his teammates aren’t seeing many hills these days, though Kamehameha’s offense did yield a long fumble return for a score in a 13-8 win two weeks ago against Honokaa.
“We still ran,” said Pola, who corralled a bouncing ball that went off multiple players for his score.
The Warriors came up with six interceptions, including pick-sixes by Zayden Hernandez and Kekainalu Fuerte. Fuerte has returned interceptions for scores in each of the past two weeks.
Dodge Turner’s interception set up Makai Snyder’s short touchdown run for a 14-0 lead in the second quarter, and the Warriors’ best drive of the game covered seven plays and 47 yards, with Ezekial-Aaron Gragas scoring from 4 yards out for a 21-0 lead.
Sophomore lineman Joshua-Isaac Nihoa got into the interception act, catching a deflection after Robert Kahai pressured the Trojans’ quarterback.
“No, not really,” Nihoa said when asked if he thought an interception was going to be coming his way. “It was all (Robert). It just landed on me.”
Nihoa’s interception set up Perry’s second touchdown, and the junior finished just shy of 90 yards rushing. His wiped out touchdown run would have been an 86-yarder.
Despite falling to 0-3 and remaining scoreless on the season, the Trojans looked more organized than in a 27-0 loss to Kohala two weeks ago, especially defensively.
Senior Jonah Beck was all over the field for Ka’u, forcing a fumble and making a handful of tackles for loss.
“That guy, No. 11 (Beck), he was everywhere,” said Nihoa, also an offensive lineman. “No. 11 and No. 66 (Micah Espejo).”
Bailing on its run game against a stout defense, the Trojans found some success through the air, with Kaimana Kaupu-Manini making four catches.
All to often, however, the ball ended up in the hands of the Warriors. Nixis Yamauchi also had an interception, his second in as many weeks.
“We just hope we can shut out the other team,” Nihoa said. “Defense is a focal point.”