OIA Playoff Preview: Kailua vs. Kapolei

Triston Pebria leads Kapolei in rushing with 633 yards and eight touchdowns. (Krystle Marcellus / Star-Advertiser)
Triston Pebria leads Kapolei in rushing with 633 yards and eight touchdowns. (Krystle Marcellus / Star-Advertiser)

OIA Red Playoffs

The matchup: Kailua (2-6, 2-4 OIA Red East) vs. Kapolei (5-3, 3-3 OIA Red West)
Location/Time: Kapolei, 7:30 p.m., Friday
Head-to-head: Kapolei leads 3-1
Biggest margin of victory: Kapolei, 33-7, Aug. 19, 2005
Smallest margin of victory: Kapolei, 14-7, Oct. 21, 2007; Kailua, 27-20, Aug. 20, 2004.

Kapolei’s offensive leaders

Updated: Oct. 20
PASSINGGC-A-IYdsTD
Aizon Kahana1066-142-67897
Alton Julius55-15-01001
RUSHINGGAtt.YdsTD
Tristan Pebria914381612
Mana Reis9704125
Aizon Kahana10963832
RECEIVINGGRec.YdsTD
Mana Reis9282632
Daniel Magaoay68981
Ohai Bumanglang67981
Triston Pebria96630

Kailua’s offensive leaders

Updated: Oct. 12
PASSINGGC-A-IYdsTD
Noah Auld9128-273-91,41510
RUSHINGGAtt.YdsTD
William Kaiimai6432974
Noah Auld91201442
Tristan Futa734840
RECEIVINGGRec.YdsTD
Koolauloa Gaspar9384084
Matthew Bishop7253181
Matthew Gaspar6171211
Christian-Taylor Scheer5162531
Kaimanahila Lono7141360

Two drastically different offenses will go up against each other when run-oriented Kapolei hosts pass-happy Kailua in the opening round of the OIA Red Playoffs on Friday.

The Hurricanes, who are the fourth seed out of the West, lost their last two regular-season games to miss out on a bye. As a result, they take on the Surfriders, the fifth seed out of the East, who have lost their last two games by an average of 26.5 points.


Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez snapped a four-year drought with his first playoff win last year since a memorable upset of No. 1 Kahuku in the 2007 quarterfinals. The Hurricanes have built on that this season, highlighted by a 48-27 win over Leilehua, which is the most points Kapolei has scored in an OIA regular-season game since 2005.

The Hurricanes feature a running attack led by senior Triston Pebria, whose 81.8 rushing yards per game average was second in the OIA Red West. Three of the top nine leading rushers in the division are Hurricanes as Pebria (80 carries, 409 yards, 4 TD) finished fourth, Mana Reis (55, 286-5) seventh and quarterback Aizon Kahana (69-221-2) ninth.

Stop the run and you have a chance to beat Kapolei. In six OIA Red West games, Kahana completed just 45.5 percent of his passes, throwing for 340 yards and two touchdowns with four interceptions.


Kailua QB Noah Auld has thrown for 1,242 yards this season. (Bruce Asato / Star-Advertiser)
Kailua QB Noah Auld has thrown for 1,242 yards this season. (Bruce Asato / Star-Advertiser)

The opposite holds true for Kailua, whose quarterback, Noah Auld, threw for 1,016 yards, placing second in the OIA Red East.

Kailua’s big win came in its OIA opener, when it needed overtime to beat Castle. Since then, the Surfriders have lost four of five, getting outscored 199-97.

Kailua hasn’t held a team under 31 points in any of its last five games, which is trouble against a Kapolei squad that put up 48 against Leilehua and 27 against Waianae.


The Surfriders are 1-8 in their last nine playoff games and are 0-2 in the playoffs against Kapolei, which won 35-14 in 2006 and 14-7 in 2007.

The numbers suggest an easy win for Kapolei, but as Hernandez knows first hand, anything can happen in the playoffs.

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