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Warriors pile up points

Kamehameha Maui celebrates homecoming with 64-24 victory over King Kekaulike

Tiliti Adams of Kamehameha Schools Maui carries the ball in the first quarter of the Warriors’ win over King Kekaulike on Friday night. -- The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

PUKALANI — The Kamehameha School Maui football team enjoyed its homecoming night on Friday at Kanaiaupuni Stadium.

The Warriors beat Upcountry rival King Kekaulike 64-24 in front of a packed house. Kamehameha Maui improved to 4-3 in Maui Interscholastic League play, while King Kekaulike fell to 0-7.

The game took nearly 3 hours to complete and featured seven touchdown passes by Kamehameha Maui sophomore quarterback Tiliti Adams, who finished with 217 yards passing.

The first quarter took 51 minutes to play and featured six touchdowns, most of them of the quick-strike variety.

The first half took an hour and 36 minutes to play and ended with the Warriors ahead 49-10 after Adams tossed five scoring passes.

Kamehameha Maui’s C.J. Hamasaki (right) celebrates his first-quarter touchdown reception with teammates Shaston Fucal-Kanuha (62) and Dane Abarra on Friday. -- The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

Karsyn Pupunu hauled in a 23-yard scoring pass from Adams just over 2 1/2 minutes into the game to make it 7-0. Adams then connected with C.J. Hamasaki for a 28-yard touchdown pass with 6:47 left in the first quarter to make it 14-0.

Dane Abarra, who finished with 236 yards rushing on 14 carries, ripped off a 54-yard scoring run on the Warriors’ next possession to push the lead to 21-0.

Just 16 seconds later, Kamehameha’s Tristan Catan ran 6 yards to the end zone after a fumble by Na Alii on the kickoff.

Three plays later, King Kekaulike’s Trey Hunter ran 87 yards after nearly being caught for a sack to make it 28-7. Hunter finished with 198 yards on 28 carries.

Abarra rushed 56 yards on the next play from scrimmage and Makani Smith-Kemfort caught a 2-yard scoring pass from Adams with 59 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Warriors’ Cruz Braun pressures King Kekaulike quarterback Trey Hunter as he releases a pass in the first quarter. -- The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

After Hanalei Akina nailed a 26-yard field goal for Na Alii, Pupunu caught his second scoring pass — a 42-yard grab with 5:23 left in the second quarter — and Trystan Ah Yat hauled in a 13-yard touchdown catch with just under a minute to go in the quarter to activate the 35-point mercy-rule running clock to start the second half.

Na Alii’s Elijah Finau turned off the running clock on the first play of the third quarter when he recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown to close the gap to 49-17.

The Warriors reactivated the running clock on the next possession after a 4-yard TD pass from Adams to Smith-Kemfort with 8:49 to go in the third.

Hunter’s 14-yard run to the end zone with 1:09 left in the third quarter made it 56-24 to turn off the mercy-rule clock again.

The Warriors put the mercy-rule clock back on for the duration of the game when Adams hit Pupunu for the third time on a scoring pass, this time from 3 yards out with 10:01 to play.

Kamehameha Maui posted the highest scoring total of any MIL team this season while piling up 595 yards and 27 first downs.

King Kekaulike finished with 236 yards of offense.

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com

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King Kekaulike 7 3 14 0–24

KS Maui 35 14 7 8–64

First Quarter

KSM–Karsyn Pupunu 23 pass from Tiliti Adams (Sam Ostermiller kick), 9:25.

KSM–C.J. Hamasaki 28 pass from Adams (Ostermiller kick), 6:47.

KSM–Dane Abarra 54 run (Ostermiller kick), 3:05.

KSM–Tristan Catan 6 run (Ostermiller kick), 2:49.

KK–Trey Hunter 87 run (Peighton Akina kick), 1:42.

KSM–Makani Smith-Kemfort 2 pass from Adams (Ostermiller kick), 0:59.

Second Quarter

KK–Hanalei Akia 26 FG, 9:01.

KSM–Pupunu 42 pass from Adams (Ostermiller kick), 5:23.

KSM–Trystan Ah Yat 13 pass from Adams (Ostermiller kick), 0:57.

Third Quarter

KK–Elijah Finau 31 fumble return (P. Akina kick), 11:44.

KSM–Smith-Kemfort 4 pass from Adams (Ostermiller kick), 8:49.

KK–Hunter 14 run (P. Akina kick), 1:09.

Fourth Quarter

KSM–Pupunu 3 pass from Adams (Abarra pass from Catan), 10:01.

Junior varsity–Kamehameha Maui 42, King Kekaulike 7.

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MIL STANDINGS

SECOND ROUND

(Overall MIL record in parentheses)

DIVISION I

W L Pct PF PA

Maui High (4-2) 2 1 .667 75 73

Baldwin (2-5) 1 2 .333 71 112

DIVISION II

W L Pct PF PA

x-Lahainaluna (7-0) 4 0 1.000 168 10

KS Maui (4-3) 2 2 .500 137 139

King Kekaulike (0-7) 0 4 .000 67 184

x-clinched second-round championship

Friday’s Result

Kamehameha Maui 64, King Kekaulike 24

Today’s Game

Maui High vs. Baldwin at War Memorial Stadium, 7 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 26

Maui High at Kamehameha Maui, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 27

King Kekaulike at Lahainaluna, 7 p.m.

End of regular season

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