Campbell, its new field a hit in win over Nanakuli
Sep. 9—The Campbell Sabers christened their sparkling new field with an overwhelming 42-0 victory over the Nanakuli Golden Hawks on Friday night at Campbell High School.
New field, familiar result.
The Campbell Sabers christened their sparkling new field with an overwhelming 42-0 victory over the Nanakuli Golden Hawks on Friday night at Campbell High School.
"It's amazing, " Sabers quarterback Jaron-Kaawe Sagapolutele said about the new field and fan atmosphere. "I'm so happy that the whole community could show up, and praise God that everyone played and balled out."
Campbell's new turf field is a huge step up from last year's field that didn't even have yard markers.
"We love our new field, and we have to take good care of it, " Campbell coach Darren Johnson said. "We take a lot of pride in this community. They're playing hard for their community. They're playing hard for themselves and for Campbell High School."
The Sabers improved to 4-1, and a perfect 4-0 against Hawaii opponents, this season.
Sagapolutele led the offense with 14-for-21 passes for 262 yards and two touchdowns. The only person that could find fault with his performance was Sagapolutele himself.
"Overall, we didn't play as well as we could. As a team, I think we could always improve, " Sagapolutele said. "Everything was open, we hit what we could, and we came out with the victory, so I'm just happy about that."
Zayden Alviar-Costa led the pass-catchers with 83 yards on two receptions and a touchdown, while Rusten Abang wasn't far behind with 82 yards on five catches. James Steffany-Fiame scored twice on the ground, with Caleb Dela Pena-Pihana scoring another. The Sabers defense added a touchdown of its own on Aisiah Paogofie's 35-yard pick-6.
"The defense did some good things. We expect that from them, and they're starting to play the football we expect, " Johnson said.
The Sabers scored on each of their first three drives. Sagapolutele completed three straight passes for 55 yards during the game's opening possession, setting up Dela Pena-Pihana's 9-yard touchdown run.
Sagapolutele was back at it on the next drive, which began with his 56-yard completion to Alviar-Costa. The drive ended with another Sagapolutele pass, a 21-yard touchdown strike to Rowen-Ray Bucao.
Campbell scored again before the offense had a chance to get back on the field. Paogofie picked off Nanakuli quarterback Kanoa Torres' pass and returned it 35 yards to the house. The Sabers offense matched that touchdown on their next drive, with Sagapolutele's second touchdown pass, a 27-yard dart to Alviar-Costa.
Campbell scored its fifth touchdown of the first half after Nanakuli lost yardage on a fake punt from its own 11-yard line, which set the Sabers up just 6 yards from pay dirt. They needed only two plays to reach it. Steffany-Fiame carried the ball twice, scoring on a 3-yard run.
On the flip side, Nanakuli couldn't get it going on offense. The first drive ended in a turnover on downs for the Golden Hawks, while the second ended with Campbell's pick-6. Nanakuli found more success on its third drive, which reached the Sabers 14-yard line after a 50-yard connection from Torres to Richard Federico. But the Golden Hawks' best chance at a touchdown was ended by Randon Nalu Cordeiro's interception for Campbell. The Golden Hawks punted on their next drive, then failed to complete the fake punt.
After the Sabers recovered an onside kick to start the third quarter, Sagapolutele led them on a short scoring drive that was capped by Steffany-Fiame's 3-yard run.
