HondaReport.com - Football: Baldwin rallies to tie KS-O'ahu 14-all

Football: Baldwin rallies to tie KS-O'ahu 14-all

Here is the original, uncut version of the Baldwin-Kamehameha O'ahu game story. The shorter, edited story ran in Sunday's Honolulu-Star Bulletin. (Link not available.)

HONOLULU—Kalehua Moniz passed for 262 yards and Kaluka Maiava scored two touchdowns, including one with 1:59 to play, as Baldwin rallied for a 14-all tie with Kamehameha-O’ahu last night.

Maiava, a highly-recruited senior linebacker who is leaning toward USC, also anchored a stalwart defense that limited the host Warriors to 195 total yards.

“It feels good. The kids played hard,” Baldwin coach Chad Kauha’aha’a said. “We made a few mistakes. Hopefully, we get things cleared up for a good King Kekaulike team next weekend.”

Moniz, a junior, was often precise and elusive in Baldwin’s Run & Shoot attack. He completed 21 of 38 attempts with only one interception. He also ran for 51 yards in 10 attempts for the Bears, who also operate out of an Ace formation.

“It turned out pretty good, but I’m kind of disappointed,” Moniz said. Kamehameha’s defense was a bit of a surprise.

The Bears ran 32 times for 103 yards and finished with 365 total yards. “We have to capitalize in the red zone,” Kauha’aha’a said. His team missed two field-goal attempts.

“One thing we lack is a kicking game. We don’t have the kind of kicking game we’ve had in the past,” he said.

He also noted Kamehameha’s missing parts. “They’ve got some key guys out, and that was a huge difference,” Kauha’aha’a said.

The Warriors weren’t about to make excuses. “It’s the small things you have to do to have good things happen,” Kamehameha coach Kanani Souza told his team after the game. “It’s not about the guys that didn’t play. That’s too easy. We had every chance to win this game.”

Baldwin, the defending Maui Interscholastic League champion, broke a scoreless stalemate midway through the second quarter. Moniz picked up 18 yards on a quarterback keeper, and connected with Kahui Sevilla for 17 yards to set up Maiava’s first touchdown. Maiava’s burst from the 1 gave Baldwin a 7-0 lead with 6:15 left in the second quarter.

A near-capacity crowd at Kunuiakea Stadium came to life late in the half when Warrior defensive back Travis Uale picked off a Moniz pass near the sideline and returned the pigskin 39 yards for a score. Kenric Pai’s PAT kick tied the game at 7 with 1:26 remaining before intermission.

Kamehameha, using mostly Ace formations with speedy wideout Ikaika Hardie in motion, managed just 80 total yards in the first half. However, the Warrior offense woke up in the second half.

Brad Nakamura’s 50-yard coffin-corner punt pinned Baldwin at its own 2-yard line. After the Bears went three-and-out and committed a personal foul on the punt, Kamehameha took over at Baldwin’s 25-yard line.

On the ensuing play, Pono Kam connected with Aaron Nichols on a play-action strike. Nichols’ post-corner route and Kam’s agility in the pocket gave Kamehameha a 14-7 lead with 8:26 to go in the third quarter.

Baldwin then went three-and-out on four consecutive possessions. Facing fourth-and-2 at their own 48 with nine minutes to play, Kaha’aha’a decided to play it safe and punted. The Bear defense came through by forcing Kamehameha to punt, giving Baldwin first down at its 30-yard line with 7:08 remaining.

The Bears, operating nearly exclusively out of a shotgun set, drove 70 yards in 11 plays. Sevilla, who had dropped a big fourth-down pass near the goal line earlier, came through with a pair of key third-down receptions from Moniz.

Maiava bulldozed into the end zone from a yard out, and Sevilla’s extra-point kick tied the game at 14 with 1:59 left.

Baldwin senior Cody Nakamura, who had six receptions for 129 yards, boomed the kickoff through the end zone for a touchback. Kamehameha went to its shotgun for the first time and drove to its own 43-yard line after Kam snuck for a yard on fourth-and-1. However, Ikaika Alo-Kaonohi, Mat Auau and Maiava converged on Kam for a pair of stops, and time expired.