KEA‘AU — Honoka‘a HS’ football team notched its second straight victory, defeating Pahoa HS 35-6 on the road Thursday night at the Kea‘au HS football field.
Suffering from injuries, roster shrinkage and quarterback staffing issues, the Daggers’ defense made a couple of important stops — but their offense was struggled and lacked the ability to pass the ball, throwing interceptions on both of its two pass attempts.
During the game’s opening drive, Honoka‘a’s Tyson Keolanui-Leslie intercepted a pass and carried it roughly 40 yards to inside of Pahoa’s five-yard line. Elijah Kaupu-Alip scored on a short touchdown run, but the PAT kick missed — giving the Dragons a 6-0 lead.
The Daggers’ offensive woes continued, as they were stopped on fourth down at the edge of Honoka‘a’s red zone. Shortly after the Dragons got the ball back, Kaupu-Alip connected a 35-yard touchdown pass to Keaka Cagampang. This time, the kick was good — extending HHS’ lead to 13-0.
Pahoa went three-and-out on its next drive, but returned the favor by forcing the Dragons to punt after their subsequent offensive effort.
The Daggers couldn’t capitalize, going three-and-out again.
Honoka‘a notched one last touchdown before the end of the half, as Kaupu-Alip and Cagampang connected again — this time on a 25-yard pass. The kick missed again, taking the score to 19-0.
A light drizzle turned to heavy rain, as it typically does during nights at the Kea‘au football field.
Not long after the Dragons received the third quarter’s opening kickoff, Cagampang scored his third touchdown on the outing. Honoka‘a made its way to the red zone, then Cagampang scored on a 15-yard carry. Having had bad luck kicking during the first half, the Dragons went for the two-point conversion, which succeeded — as Kupa‘a Langan carried the ball in on a run to the outside. HHS led 27-0.
Hungry to put points on the board, Pahoa looked to change up its offensive strategy. The Daggers attempted a pass for their first play of the drive, but it was picked off by Langan.
After a couple plays brought the Dragons within the Pahoa five yard line, Kiakahi Lindsey scored a touchdown on a two-yard carry. Langan carried in another successful two-point conversion, bringing the score to 35-0 — and thus, a running clock was imposed.
As time was running out, the Daggers made a long drive to within the ten-yard line. On third down, Kukui Ahin-Ganir scored on a short run to the inside. The two-point failed — but escaping a shutout was all that mattered.
Honoka‘a nearly scored again during the final minute of play, but Pahoa’s Kai Chavez recovered a fumble — and the Daggers ran out the clock.
Both teams have just one outing remaining, each at their home sites.
The Dragons, now 6-3 will host Ka‘u HS on Friday, kicking off at 6 p.m.
Pahoa (2-7) will host Kohala HS that same night, once again at Kea‘au HS. The Cowboys will look to get their first win before the end of the season — after narrowly losing to the Daggers in September, 14-13.