Ailing Nanakuli moves on past Pac-Five in state football

Nov. 13—Allen Mahoe III will do just about anything for his brothers in black and gold.

Allen Mahoe III will do just about anything for his brothers in black and gold.

Even scoring three touchdowns. The fleet-footed running back came up big with two offensive teammates ailing as Nanakuli routed Pac-Five 38-6 in the opening round of the First Hawaiian Bank /HHSAA Division II State Championship on Saturday night.

"We had a slow start. Historically, this season, we've always had slow starts. We really try to avoid it. It's really just getting the kids' engines going, " Nanakuli coach Kili Watson said. "We had a two-week break."

Pac-Five's defense, led by two-way standout Blade Kaululaau, kept the home team scoreless in the first quarter.

"Halftime adjustments, we had to take care of their (defensive ) ends. Their ends were doing a phenomenal job stretching out our tosses, kind of our go-to play. We made adjustments to counter those, " Watson said. "We had some mistakes and we've got to clean that up, but at this point in the season, the state tournament, you do anything to get a win. You're happy at the end of the night."

OIA champion Nanakuli (10-1 overall ) will travel to Maui to play MIL champion King Kekaulike next weekend in the semifinal round.

Mahoe did a full night's work on his three-TD night, even running in plays because quarterback Hansen Salausa-Kaawa was gimpy with a charlie horse.

"He still went out there and played. He's a dog, " Mahoe said. "We just thought it would be easier for us to run back and forth so he didn't have to run around and make it worse."

The home team was intent on controlling the line of scrimmage from start to finish. Deploying pre-snap motion pitch runs, double-handoff counter plays and the occasional pass, the Golden Hawks were patient against a rugged, gritty Pac-Five defensive front. The Nanakuli backfield of Mahoe, Nate Pele-Tukumoeatu and Christian Asinsin wound up combining for 238 yards and five TDs, led by Pele-Tukumoeatu's 135 yards on nine carries.

"Every game is different. We don't rotate our running backs. They rotate themselves, " Watson noted. "They do a great job of realizing who has the hot hand for the night and they'll just play the supporting cast for that guy. And we can play off who has the hot hand. If Allen has the hot hand, we can play off him with counters."

Nanakuli's offensive line stepped up by the second quarter.

"We got a little fire under them. We had a little talk with them after the first quarter and they started picking up and went to work, " Mahoe said.

Center Darryl Hoapili, one of the veterans in the trenches, helped keep everything locked down.

"We just had to deal with it, keep pushing and make adjustments. We ended up getting the dub, " the senior said.

The power and mobility of Nanakuli's front five are a rare combination. Screen passes, toss sweeps and blast plays.

"That's just from our O-line coaches. They push us every day to be the best every single day at practice. I give props to them. I give them all my respect, " Hoapili said. "I feel great that we get to move on, still get to put on the pads, still get to play. Move on to Monday. We're going to run on Monday, guarantee—220s, but that's from the mistakes, and that's good. Push us to be better."

Nanakuli finished with 14 penalties for 160 yards.

With Salausa-Kaawa unable to stay on the field due to an injury he suffered at practice, Nanakuli went to David Kalili, who moved from wide receiver to the pocket. The Golden Hawks drove to the Pac-Five 27-yard line, and on fourth-and-15, Kalili completed a screen pass that was stopped 3 yards short of a first down.

The Wolfpack gained momentum on the ensuing drive and had third-and-10 at the Nanakuli 24. The Hawks were flagged as offside, and on the next snap, a quick whistle for illegal procedure came with a flag on Nanakuli for unnecessary roughness.

That gave Pac-Five first down at the 15-yard line. After a holding call and a sack by Nanakuli's Lester Meyers III, the'Pack was in a deep hole, but Kaululaau gained 11 yards on a screen pass, and Nanakuli was flagged for pass interference on a deep pass in the end zone.

On fourth-and-4, Tamali 'i Namulauti-Auau brought a heavy rush on Pac-Five QB Koa Kaai, forcing an incomplete pass to end the series.

Salausa-Kaawa re-entered the game and guided Nanakuli on a 10-play, 92-yard march. He completed two passes to start the drive, and Mahoe finished it off with a 5-yard blast up the gut. The PAT kick was short and Nanakuli led 6-0 with 6 :46 to go in the first half.

Pac-Five had a golden opportunity when Kaululaau recovered a fumble by Pele-Tukumoeatu at the Golden Hawks' 46-yard line with 2 :37 left in the first half. The Wolfpack turned the ball over on downs as a fourth-down pass from Kaai to Dawson Coover fell incomplete near the goal line.

On third-and-15, Salausa-Kaawa connected with Richard Federico for a 44-yard gain to the Pac-Five 15-yard line with 1 :14 to go in the first half.

Two plays later, Mahoe scored his second TD on a 7-yard blast up the middle. Pele-Tukumoeatu scored on the 2-point attempt and Nanakuli led 14-0 with 42 seconds remaining in the first half.

The home team took command with the opening series of the second half, driving 60 yards in just four plays. Salausa-Kaawa connected with Mahoe on a quick pass for a 33-yard catch-and-run down the sideline, and Pele-Tukumoeatu scored easily on a 12-yard counter. After Asinsin ran for the 2-point conversion, Nanakuli led 22-0 with 9 :54 to go in the third quarter.

Mahoe added his third TD on a 3-yard run with 7 :59 left in the contest.

Pac-Five broke the shutout with a 5-yard TD run by Kaululaau with 3 :42 remaining.

Asinsin scored on a 4-yard TD to close out the scoring with 2 :13 left.