GAME NIGHT 8/31: McKinley/Kaimuki

Kaimuki 22, McKinley 0, FINAL

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That’ll do it. A really ugly game, but Kaimuki moves to 3-0 overall and in OIA Division II.


QB Jordan Kanakanui gets McKinley into the red zone with his arm and his legs. McKinley gets up to the 1, then is turned back by the Bulldogs’ line. That was really too bad for the Tigers.

Pfeiffer-Kekoa is rewarded with a 7-yard strike from Fa’asau. 2XP is good, with Fa’asoa finding Quynton Brackens after a delay of game.

After a 3-yard shovel pass, Buchanan gives it right back, with a lob that’s taken down by the Bulldogs and returned to McKinley’s 7. Blade Pfeiffer-Kekoa with that interception.

Wow … Fa’asoa goes deep, and the ball richochets off his man’s helmet and into the hands of McKinley’s Leon Montgomery. Turnover. Although it sounded like on Spectrum replay that the ball hit the ground. Still … turnover is the officials’ decision.

Alex Buchanan is sacked, then on the next play lofts it over the middle where it is picked off by Kaimuki with 6 minutes left. Isaac Madali made an impressive one-handed haul-in on his feet.

Bulldogs lineman/punter Harry Lloyd has the long snap go over his head, but he calmly scoops it up, eludes a couple of tackles and punts it off from way back in his own territory and actually nets 3 yards on the punt.

Kaimuki is backed up but gets some good fortune when Fa’asoa’s pass goes through the hands of his intended receiver and into those of Elijah Lemalu, who goes 29 yards up to midfield. Bulldogs now in clock-killing mode with 8 minutes left.

McKinley draws a pass interference but still faces third and 4. Buchanan goes incomplete and McKinley punts it away.

Well Keanu Pimental absorbs an 11-yard sack on second down. Tigers pushed back into their own territory. Pimental is shaken up on the play, too. Just a ton of players going down in this game.

Big stop by the McKinley D, as they turn back Stephens for a loss of 1 on fourth and 2. Tigers take over at the Kaimuki 48. They’ll have to do something here if they want to entertain legit comeback thoughts.

Alex Buchanan rolls out and tosses it to the end zone! It looks like it had a chance but the D comes through and takes it away … or would have, if they weren’t out of bounds. Turnover on downs, Kaimuki turns back the threat.

Tigers continue to rotate QBs. Alexandria Buchanan back at the controls. But it’s the legs of Migguel Camacho, primarily, who’s got the Tigers with their first real scoring chance of the game here with 1:35 to play in the third. They’ve got a 4th and 8 and were linedup for a field goal but Kaimuki called timeout and now McKinley is going for it.

McKinley has its third quarterback of the game going. It’s Keanu Pimental. Thanks to some penalty-aided yardage, the Tigers have eked into Bulldog territory.

Bulldogs receive the ball to open the third quarter. They’ve advanced into Tiger territory but penalties are again and issue — right now they’re looking at second and 20. They get it on a Jonah Fa’asoa toss to Kaulana Kaluna Jr. From there, Kaimuki turns Jonah Stephens loose again. He scoots through for 7 then an 11-yard TD going to his left. 2-point conversion is good, as Fa’asoa throws a strike to Matthew Williams. 14-0 Kaimuki.

Kaimuki takes a knee to go into the half, mercifully.

McKinley punts it away, but at the other end of the field, star lineman Sama Paama gets into it with a McKinley player. Personal foul is called on Bulldogs. Order is restored, thankfully, but this game is DRAGGING.


Penalties are Kaimuki’s undoing this time, as they get backed all the way into their own half. A punt is fair caught at the McKinley 16 with under 2 minutes on the clock before half.

Tigers go three-and-out again and a short, pressured punt means Kaimuki takes over in Tiger territory.

Jonah Fa’asoa heaves it deep to Kaulana Kaluna Jr. for a 43-yard pickup, all the way to the McKinley 1. Next play, Jonah Stephens punches it in. Extra-point is no good, 6-0 Bulldogs.

Jordon Kanakanui comes in at QB for McKinley and promptly finds 6-foot-3 Leon Montgomery over the top for a huge 49 yard gain. However, Kanakanui tosses a pick on his next throw. Back to Kaimuki.

Fa’asoa takes a shot into double coverage in the end zone and it’s brought down by McKinley’s No. 10, who isn’t on our roster. I’ll effort to get his name. Ten takes the pick out to the 23. First pick of the season for Fa’asoa.

Running back Jonah Stephens goes 14 yards up the middle, following his blockers. He’s got Kaimuki with first and 10 from the Tigers’ 15 as the second quarter begins.

McKinley goes three-and-out again, with a couple of incomplete throws by Alexandria Buchanan in the face of pressure. A short punt and Kaimuki takes over at the McKinley 48.

Pham is helped into the passenger seat of a golf cart. That looked painful. Teams doing full warmups again before they can resume.

Players for both teams trying to stretch and stay active while trainers continue to work on Franklin Pham. He’s still on his back but he’s got his knees up. Per the Spectrum Sports crew — Felipe Ojastro and John Veneri — Pham took a pretty good hit on the play.

The player down for McKinley is No. 31, WR/DB Franklin Pham. He’s moving his extremities but he’s been down for a good 10 minutes now.

Kaimuki has a couple of lobbed balls to the end zone go incomplete (receiver Blade Pfeiffer-Kekoa has one in particular that he definitely wants back after a couple of nice grabs earlier in the drive). The Bulldogs then go for it on fourth and goal from the 14, and Jonah Fa’asoa’s pass sails incomplete. McKinley takes over on downs at the 14, but they have a player down. Might be serious with 1:50 to play in the first quarter.

Another clutch third-down throw by Fa’asoa, this time with a juggled ball out of a teammate’s hands into those of Alex Lemalu, to keep the chains moving. Bulldogs knocking on the red zone.

Tigers sack Kaimuki quarterback Jonah Fa’asoa for a loss of 9 on first down (Francis Leasiolagi with the honors), but the Bulldogs keep the chains moving with a clutch 15-yard throw on third and long by Fa’asoa. And McKinley coach Pat Silva apparently isn’t liking the way this is going so far because he just burned his second timeout of the half just five minutes into the game.

McKinley receives kickoff (no kickoff by Kaimuki lineman and Washington commit Sama Paama this time) and the Tigers are out of sorts with a couple of false starts. They go three and out.

McKinley and Kaimuki are set to do battle.

Lingering issues from Hurricane Lane weather-related power outages are affecting the Farrington press box. Looks like there may be no PA during this game.


Kaimuki JV shuts out McKinley JV, 44-0. Estimated varsity time is 7:50.

A rainbow blessed Skippa Diaz Stadium prior to Kaimuki’s game against McKinley. / Photo by Brian McInnis

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For Kaimuki’s roster, click here.
For McKinley’s roster, click here.

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