NO. 4 PUNAHOU BUFFANBLU (2-0)
Head coach: Kale Ane
2017 Buffanblu roster
VS.
JUNIPERO SERRA CAVALIERS (0-1)
Head coach: Scott Altenberg
2017 Cavaliers roster
Punahou 56, Serra 42
at Manchester Stadium
Punahou (3-0) 13 15 0 28 — 56
Serra (0-2) 14 7 14 7 — 42
S—John Jackson 19 pass from Blaze McKibbin (Antonio Gomez kick)
Pun—Tamatoa Falatea 63 pass from Stephen Barber (Tim Horn kick)
S—Kobe Smith 9 pass from McKibbin (Gomez kick)
Pun—Andrei Iosivas 79 pass from Barber (run failed)
Pun—Iosivas 34 pass from Barber (Horn kick)
Pun—Barber 1 run (Hunter Hosoda pass from Barber)
S—Bryan Addison 15 pass from McKibbin (Gomez kick)
S—Addison 26 pass from McKibbin (Gomez kick)
S—Taelenuu Tua’au 1 run (Gomez kick)
Pun—Iosivas 29 pass from Barber (Horn kick)
Pun—Kaulana Makaula 58 interception return (Horn kick)
S—Addison 13 pass from McKibbin (Gomez kick)
Pun—Sitiveni Kaufusi 19 run (Horn kick)
Pun—Barber 99 run (Horn kick)
RUSHING—Punahou: Barber 12-110, Kaufusi 9-69, Antonio Cortez Feria 2-6, Vincent Terrell 1-4, team 2-(minus 5). Serra: Kalen Thomas 14-105, Mason Bowen 16-87, McKibbin 2-12, Max Williams 1-7, Merlin Robertson 1-2, Tua’au 2-1, David Eure 3-(minus 3), Doug Brumfield 2-(minus 11), team 1-(minus 33). PASSING—Punahou: Barber 12-23-1-326. Serra: McKibbin 39-66-2-399, Brumfield 0-1-0-0. RECEIVING—Punahou: Iosivas 6-189, Koa Eldredge 3-44, Falatea 2-93, Terrell 1-0. Serra: Smith 12-145, Jackson 9-97, Addison 5-91, Williams 5-23, Eure 4-25, Lavon Bunkley 3-6, Bowen 1-12.
Barber with the snap from the 1 and he keeps it and BARBER. IS. GONE. 99-yard TD run with nine seconds left.
Williams with a 75-yard kick return. Amazing run but a flag comes flying out toward the end. Multiple flags on the field. The ball goes all the way back to the Serra 25. Three straight completions for McKibbin, who then runs for 9 yards to the 35. 38 seconds to go. Bowen picks up 5 to the 30 and McKibbin clocks it with 32 seconds to go. McKibbin forces one into coverage and IT’S PICKED OFF. ALAKA’I GILMAN PICKS IT OFF INSIDE THE 5. THAT SHOULD DO IT.
Punahou will start on its 25 with 3:56 to go. Kaufusi runs for 5 and then Barber over the middle to Falatea for 30 yards. Barber over 300 yards passing. Pass interference on Serra will put the ball at the Cavaliers 20. Now Serra jumps offsides. Kaufusi runs for 2. Low snap and Barber gets it and saves some yards but it’s still a loss of 1. Third-and-4 as Serra calls timeout to save time on the clock. Punahou with the jumbo set and a false start on Punahou. KILLER penalty. Kaufusi up the middle, TOUCHDOWN PUNAHOU. 19-yard TD run with 1:39 to go. 49-42 Buffanblu.
Addison with a 13-yard TD pass from McKibbin. 42-42, 4:05. Serra with 521 total yards of offense and has run 100 plays.
Addison with an incredible move to throw a defender off and then leap another for a 29-yard reception into Punahou territory. This has been an amazing high school football game.
PICK-SIX ALERT. Kaulana Makaula picks off the overthrow on third-and-9 and is GONE. 58-yard INT return for a TD. 42-35 Punahou, 7:18, Q4.
Serra starts at its own 5 after a poor kick return. What a job by Punahou to stay in this. All kinds of cramping issues on the Punahou sideline.
Sitiveni Kaufusi made his first appearance late in the third quarter and is making a difference at RB. Kaufusi with 37 yards on his first four carries. Third-and-14 and WHAT A CATCH. IOSIVAS OFF THE TIP IN THE END ZONE AS HE GOES TO THE GROUND. Touchdown Punahou. 35-35, 9:26. Iosivas 6 receptions, 189 yards, 3 TD.
Buffanblu finally move the chains in the second half on an 18-yard pass from Barber to Eldredge. End 3.
Wow Gomez misses a 21-yard field goal after another long Serra drive. Less than a minute left in the third quarter and Serra has run 82 plays. Punahou: 33
Koa Eldredge returns the kickoff out to the 40. Another three-and-out as Barber misses an open receiver on third down.
Max Williams with a 63-yard punt return to the Punahou 16. On his second try from the 1, Taelenuu Tua’au pounds it in for a TD. Serra back up 35-28, 6:23.
Tough three-and-out for Punahou, which has looked a step slow to start the second half.
Cavaliers with a couple of first downs and Trent Shiraki is down for Punahou. Hope that is cramps as well. It is hot out there. A 10-play, 80-yard drive ends with a 26-yard TD pass from McKibbin to Addison. Serra found a lot of big holes with the run game for the first time. 28-28, 9:25
Serra starts on its 20 to begin second half. Punahou’s Maninoa Tufono hurt on the kickoff. Hope it’s just cramps.
******
Punahou coach Kale Ane at half: “We’ve made some mental mistakes. We’ve made some errors on special teams — things that are correctable.”
HALFTIME BOX
at Manchester Stadium
Punahou (2-0) 13 15
Junipero Serra (0-1) 14 7
S—John Jackson 19 pass from Blaze McKibbin (Antonio Gomez kick)
Pun—Tamatoa Falatea 63 pass from Stephen Barber (Tim Horn kick)
S—Kobe Smith 9 pass from McKibbin (Gomez kick)
Pun—Andrei Iosivas 79 pass from Barber (run failed)
Pun—Iosivas 34 pass from Barber (Horn kick)
Pun—Barber 1 run (Hunter Hosoda pass from Barber)
S—Bryan Addison 15 pass from McKibbin (Gomez kick)
RUSHING—Punahou: Barber 7-20, Antonio Cortez Feria 1-4, Vincent Terrell 1-4, team 1-(minus 2). Serra: Mason Bowen 6-24, Kalen Thomas 3-22, Max Williams 1-7, McKibbin 1-3, Merlin Robertson 1-2, David Eure 2-0, Doug Brumfield 2-(minus 11), team 1-(minus 33). PASSING—Punahou: Barber 8-17-1-244. Serra: McKibbin 22-37-0-215, Brumfield 0-1-0-0. RECEIVING—Punahou: Iosivas 4-155, Koa Eldredge 2-26, Falatea 1-63, Terrell 1-0. Serra: Smith 8-102, Jackson 5-60, Williams 4-21, Eure 2-12, Lavon Bunkley 2-5, Addison 1-15.
Kobe Smith hauls in a 39-yard catch to the 30 and then PI on Punahou. Ball on the 15 with 12 seconds left. McKibbin to Bryan Addison for a 15-yard TD with eight seconds remaining. Huge drive at the end of the half for Serra.
Punahou forces another punt as the Buffanblu defense has played amazing in this second quarter. Punahou ball on its 44 with 1:27 to go. Will get another shot to score. Falatea with a drop on third down and Punahou will punt.
Barber 1-yard TD run. Barber to Hunter Hosoda for the 2-point conversion. 28-14, 2:44.
Punahou gets the stop on defense and then a bad snap on the punt ends up rolling all the way back to the Serra 1. A loss of 33 yards and Punahou gets it on the Serra 1.
Three-and-out for Punahou.
McKibbin back in at QB for Serra. Liufau drops the receiver inches short on third down. Great play by Liufau. Serra goes for it and gets the first down but then an offensive pass interference call kills a drive. Serra punts.
Punahou with great field position starting at the Serra 34. First play is a 34-yard TD strike over the middle from Barber to Iosivas. XP is good. 20-14, 8:31.
Sophomore Doug Brumfield in at QB for Serra. DB Marist Liufau has a sack wrapped up but Brumfield escapes. Liufau gets up and DROPS HIM. A third-down sack forces a punt deep in Serra territory.
Barber drives Punahou inside the Serra 30 and goes down the seam but the ball is tipped and picked off in the end zone by Macen Williams.
Cavaliers with a third-and-5 on their 19 to start the second quarter. Pass to Jackson is good but only for 3 yards as Punahou stops him short. Serra lines up to punt.
END 1.
BOOM! First play and Iosivas torches the DB and hauls in a 79-yard TD pass from Barber, who is 5-for-9 for 184 yards in the first quarter. Extra point is missed after they mess up the snap. 14-13, 1:01.
Jackson gets a beautiful ball over the middle from McKibbin and hauls in another pass for 23 yards near midfield. Cavaliers with a 12-play, 88-yard drive capped off by a 9-yard TD pass from McKibbin to Kobe Smith. 14-7 Serra, 1:14.
Barber goes deep in the first play and hits Andrei Iosivas for 36 yards into Serra territory. Another pass to Iosivas for 6 yards but then Serra tightens up and Punahou punts.
Punahou defense comes up big forcing three straight incomplete passes. Antonio Gomez makes a 32-yard field goal but Serra is called for a hold. Gomez tries a 42-yard field goal instead and it’s way off. No good.
Second special teams miscue for Punahou as the Buffanblu drop the punt and Serra’s Max Williams recovers at the Punahou 14.
Punahou gets the stop after giving up one first down. Serra QB McKibbin starts 4-for-4 but misses on next two throws.
On third-and-8, Barber goes down the middle to Tamatoa Falatea who hauls in a 63-yard TD pass. Perfect throw from Barber. 7-7, 8:58
A high snap results in a penalty and Serra takes over on the Punahou 34. Cavaliers need just three plays as QB Blaze McKibbin finds John Jackson for a 19-yard TD. 7-0, 9:39.
Punahou will receive. BUffanblu start on their 24. Punahou QB Stephen Barber with a swing pass to RB Vincent Terrell on third-and-1 and Terrell is stopped for no gain. Buffanblu punt.
Maninoa Tufono, Hale Motu’apuaka, Alama Uluave, Ola Aina are the captains for Punahou.
Teams have run out on the field. We are just about set to go.
*******
NOTES: The Cavaliers are ranked No. 55 by MaxPreps’ computer rankings. Punahou is ranked No. 152 in those same rankings. The Buffanblu have never defeated two mainland teams in the same season. Punahou beat Torrey Pines 23-7 last weekend at Aloha Stadium.
Kaufusi is definitely a huge difference maker for the Puns run game, and is by far the best RB they have. Just wondering why he didn’t play in the first half, according to the article.
Maybe the “MAINlanders” should start respecting Hawaii HIGHschool FOOTBALL .. 808ALLDAY
Ane said after the game Kaufusi was battling cramps and they tried to save him and use him late with a lead. Approximately 10 Buffanblu had to leave the game with cramps at some point — nearly all on defense.