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Transfers shine in Kahuku victory

kyle sakamoto, the honolulu star-advertiser
·5 min read

Oct. 29—Kahuku's Tulilele Tagovailoa-Amosa and Diezel Kamoku really came to play against their former school Saturday.

Kahuku's Tulilele Tagovailoa-Amosa and Diezel Kamoku really came to play against their former school Saturday.

Tagovailoa-Amosa completed 23 of 27 passes for 338 yards and four touchdowns, and Kamoku caught eight passes for 114 yards and one touchdown as No. 1 Kahuku beat No. 6 Kapolei 49-7 in an OIA Open Division semifinal game at Kahuku.

Tagovailoa-Amosa and Kamoku transferred from Kapolei to Kahuku this season.

"They had this game marked on their calendar, " Kahuku coach Sterling Carvalho said. "They wanted to show the reason why they came here was to play for a championship. Nothing was given to them, nothing was promised to them. They came in and they worked."

The Red Raiders scored touchdowns on all seven of their full possessions.

Tagovailoa-Amosa completed his first 13 passes for 203 yards. He finished the half 20-for-23 for 336 yards and four touchdowns.

"It was fun playing my old team, but this is my family right here, " Tagovailoa-Amosa said. "Great team win, everyone did their job and we just executed together."

Kahuku (10-1, 7-0 ) will play Mililani for the title next week. The finalists qualified for the First Hawaiian Bank /HHSAA Open Division State Football Championships, which start Nov. 17.

"We just want to make sure we're peaking at the right time, " Carvalho said. "We had three weeks off, so it was about time to get back to football."

Kapolei (8-3, 5-2 ) will play Campbell for third place next week for the league's final berth in the state tournament.

The Red Raiders have won 12 in a row against the Hurricanes, with the average margin of victory being 31 points. Kapolei's last victory over Kahuku was 14-7 on Oct. 26, 2007.

The Red Raiders scored touchdowns on their five first-half possessions Saturday.

Kahuku, ranked No. 8 in the MaxPreps Top 25 and No. 9 in the USA Today Super 25, averaged 11.6 yards on 30 plays before halftime.

The Red Raiders scored on their first possession on Tagovailoa-Amosa's 35-yard pass to Kaimana Carvalho with 7 :34 left in the first quarter. Manoa Kahalepuna made the PAT kick. Tagovailoa-Amosa was 5-for-5 for 65 yards on the drive.

Kahuku went up 15-0 on Tagovailoa-Amosa's 15-yard pass to Kamoku and Kaimana Carvalho's 2-point conversion run with 2 :27 to go in the quarter.

"Me and my guy Tuli, we've stayed together and been on the same page, " Kamoku said.

Tagovailoa-Amosa went 5-for-5 for 83 yards on the series.

The drive was set up by Madden Soliai's interception.

The Red Raiders took a 22-0 lead on Tagovailoa-Amosa's 25-yard pass to Carvalho with 9 :16 remaining before halftime.

Carvalho finished with six receptions for 109 yards.

Kahuku extended the lead to 28-0 on Va'aimalae Fonoti's 3-yard run with 5 :56 to go in the half.

The Red Raiders went up 35-0 on Tagovailoa-Amosa's 6-yard pass to Kache Kaio with 36 seconds left in the half.

"They were disciplined, " Carvalho said of this defense, which has allowed 21 points over its past four games. "They kept their keys and did what they had to do. I couldn't contain them 100 %, but we contained them for the most part."

NO. 1 KAHUKU 49, NO. 6 KAPOLEI 7 At Carleton E. Weimer Field Kapolei (8-3 ) 0 0 0 7—7 Kahuku (10-1 ) 15 20 7 7—49 KAH—Kaimana Carvalho 35 pass from Tulilele Tagovailoa-Amosa (Manoa Kahalepuna kick )

KAH—Diezel Kamoku 15 pass from Tagovailoa-Amosa (Carvalho run )

KAH—Carvalho 25 pass from Tagovailoa-Amosa (Manoa Kahalepuna kick )

KAH—Va'aimalae Fonoti 3 run (run failed )

KAH—Kache Kaio 6 pass from Tagovailoa-Amosa (Kahalepuna kick )

KAH—Tagovailoa-Amosa 20 run (Kahalepuna kick )

KAH—Sheadon Kanoa 16 run (Kahalepuna kick )

KAP—Zayne Pasion 25 pass from Liatama Amisone (Hurley Kennedy kick )

RUSHING—Kapolei : Amisone 11-85, Chase Camarillo 7-25, Reeno Teo 1-4, Vaimetua Kamakele 1-1, Kaina Kamohalii 1-(minus 1 ). Kahuku : Fonoti 7-55, Tagovailoa-Amosa 5-38, Kanoa 2-19, Damon Lauaki 3-11, Carvalho 1-10 PASSING—Kapolei : Amisone 9-26-1-96. Kahuku : Tagovailoa-Amosa 23-27-0-338.

RECEIVING—Kapolei : Kamohalii 3-29, Pasion 2-29, Izaea Lino 2-28, Camarillo 1-9, Tristen Inay 1-1. Kahuku : Kamoku 8-114, Carvalho 6-109, Fonoti 2-51, Kaio 4-47, Bryant Lauano 2-24, Tavian Hallums 1-(minus 7 ).

Junior Varsity—Kahuku 35, Kapolei 0 KAIMUKI 35, PEARL CITY 28 At Bino Neves Stadium Kaimuki (5-5 ) 6 8 21 0—35 Pearl City (8-1 ) 7 14 7 0—28 PC—Lennon Elder 19 pass from Trey Dacoscos (Kahai Chang kick )

KAIM—Iosefa Letuli 1 run (kick blocked )

PC—Javian Mizuno 15 pass from Dacoscos (Chang kick )

PC—Koalii Torres 14 pass from Dacoscos (Chang kick )

KAIM—Iosua Letuli 11 pass from Iosefa Letuli (Iosefa Letuli run )

KAIM—Iosefa Letuli 37 run (Iosefa Letuli run )

KAIM—Iosefa Letuli 4 run (run failed )

PC—Tobias Vazquez 20 pass from Dacoscos (Chang kick )

KAIM—Jeremiah White 67 run (Hinano Kahawai kick )

RUSHING—Kaimuki : Iosefa Letuli 31-281, White 11-105, Lukela Hicks 3-17, Iosua Letuli 2-11. Pearl City : Shaedyn Quemado 5-36, Dacoscos 4-15, Shaeden Talo 1-5, Bobby Best 2-4, Team 1-(minus 1 ).

PASSING—Kaimuki : Iosefa Letuli 4-11-0-32. Pearl City : Dacoscos 18-31-2-240.

RECEIVING—Kaimuki : Ezekiel Kuiee-Matias 2-14, Iosua Letuli 1-11, White 1-7. Pearl City : Keaton Tomas 3-56, Vazquez 2-38, Torres 3-36, Derek Kusano 3-28, Mizuno 2-20, Elder 1-19, Talo 2-18, Best 1-17, Quemado 1-8.