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Bears defeat Na Alii to enter win column

Akaka throws three touchdown passes in season debut

Baldwin High School’s Kaikea Silva catches a touchdown pass in front of King Kekaulike’s Caleb Crabtree during the first quarter of the Bears’ win over Na Alii on Saturday at War Memorial Stadium. -- The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

WAILUKU — It didn’t take long for Chayce Akaka to make his presence felt for the Baldwin High School football team.

The Maui News’ two-time Maui Interscholastic League Offensive Player of the Year made up for lost time Saturday at War Memorial Stadium, leading the Bears to a 57-7 victory over King Ke-kaulike in their regular-season opener.

Akaka, who threw three touchdown passes, had missed the Bears’ two nonleague games — losses to nationally ranked Saint Louis and Mission Viejo (Calif.) — due to academic difficulties.

“It felt good, big ups to the line for holding down their blocks and the receivers doing their assignments,” Akaka said. “It felt good being in the game, another football game. Being with the boys was good because a lot of them wanted to see me play. (Missing the first two games) was frustrating, a lot.”

The 57 points scored by the Bears were the most by a single team in an MIL game since Baldwin beat Kamehameha Maui 62-18 in 2012.

Baldwin’s Maluhia Plunkett returns a first-quarter punt as Na Alii’s Ben Mahoe closes in. -- The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

After Na Alii (0-2) held the ball for nearly five minutes on the first possession, Akaka ran for 25 yards on his first snap. Four plays later, Bishop Wickes scored from 3 yards out to start an onslaught for Baldwin.

Wickes finished with 187 yards on seven carries — his one run in the second half went for 46 yards.

“Bishop’s doing really well, he works hard at practice,” Akaka said. “We just have got to keep practicing hard, pushing each other.”

Akaka finished 5-for-5 passing for 119 yards, and ran six times for 52 yards. His only pass of the second half was a 17-yard touchdown to Kainalu Lacno to make the score 50-0 on the first possession of the third quarter.

“He’s been working hard the past two weeks,” Baldwin coach Pohai Lee said of Akaka. “He was anxious, you could tell he was raring to go, and, yeah, he played well tonight.”

Akaka

After Akaka was done for the night early in the third quarter, Isaiah Kusunoki hit Kili Madrid on a short pass over the middle on the next possession and Madrid outsprinted the defense for a 77-yard touchdown to push the lead to 57-0.

In the first half, the Bears got a 3-yard touchdown run by Aloalii Laga the second time they had the ball, capping a seven-play, 65-yard drive.

After a short punt, Akaka found Kaikea Silva on a 33-yard touchdown pass for a 22-0 lead with 44 seconds left in the first quarter.

Wickes broke free on a 74-yard touchdown run on Baldwin’s next offensive play, and Kapena Kamai caught an 11-yard scoring pass from Akaka to make it 37-0 with 3:43 left in the first half.

The Bears pushed the margin to 44-0 with 1:23 remaining in the half when Nainoa Keahi blocked a punt by Trey Hunter and Jack-Raven Mami­zuka returned the ball 28 yards for a score.

Baldwin’s Bishop Wickes is tackled by King Kekaulike’s Isaac Mataele (left) and Rilee Peters after picking up a first down Saturday. -- The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

King Kekaulike quarterback Trey Hunter ran 17 times for 67 yards and completed four of 19 passes for 77 yards. All of the completions went to Arik Mendoza.

Na Alii broke through for a 5-yard touchdown by Rilee Peters with 2:45 to play. It was King Kekaulike’s third touchdown since the start of 2016, a span of 10 games.

“For us, we’re just going to keep working, we’re just going to keep building our program,” King Kekaulike co-head coach Tyson Valle said. “That’s all we can do, take it one week at a time, one day at a time and just keep building.”

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com

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The Bears’ Nainoa Keahi pressures Na Alii quarterback Trey Hunter in the first quarter. -- The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

Baldwin 22 22 13 0–57

King Kekaulike 0 0 0 7– 7

First Quarter

B–Bishop Wickes 3 run (Chayce Akaka run), 5:55.

B–Aloalii Laga 3 run (Maluhia Plunkett kick), 1:23.

Peters runs during the first quarter. -- The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

B–Kaikea Silva 33 pass from Akaka (Plunkett kick), 0:44.

Second Quarter

B–Wickes 74 run (Plunkett kick), 8:05.

B–Kapena Kamai 11 pass from Akaka (Kili Madrid run), 3:43.

B–Jack-Raven Mamizuka 28 blocked punt return (Plunkett kick), 1:23.

Third Quarter

B–Kainalu Lacno 17 pass from Akaka (kick failed), 8:37.

B–Madrid 77 pass from Isaiah Kusunoki (Plunkett kick), 2:22.

Fourth Quarter

KK–Rilee Peters 5 run (Hanalei Akina kick), 2:45.

Junior varsity–Baldwin 34, King Kekaulike 3.

Friday’s Result

At War Memorial Stadium

LAHAINALUNA 32, MAUI HIGH 13

Lahainaluna 15 3 7 7–32

Maui High 0 7 0 6–13

First Quarter

LL–Joshua Tihada 10 run (Kaihulali Casco kick), 8:30.

LL–Tihada 8 run (Elijah Ragudo run), 1:14.

Second Quarter

LL–FG Pablo Rico 46, 5:10.

MH–Solomone Tongi 12 run (Kalia Kapisi kick), 1:04.

Third Quarter

LL–Tihada 3 run (Casco kick), 4:10.

Fourth Quarter

LL–Derez Perez 89 run (Casco kick), 9:42.

MH–Christian Lee 15 pass from Raymond Brex Delray (kick blocked), 4:40.

LL MH

First downs 16 16

Rushes-yards 52-347 46-286

Passing yards 0 32

Total offense 347 318

Return yards 42 30

Comp-Att-Int 0-3-0 5-11-0

Fumbles-lost 2-0 1-1

Penalties-yards 5-55 9-115

Punts-avg 2-28.5 3-42.7

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Lahainaluna, Perez 3-99, Ragudo 11-91, Tihada 13-77, Kamahao Acpal 10-31, Aliksa Pihda 6-24, Jesse Dudoit 3-9, Etuati Storer 1-7, Bailey Honda 1-6, Laakea Shim 1-3, Kiliona Keohuloa 2-0, Zeff Dudoit 1-0; Maui High, Nala Nakamoto 19-120, Kainalu Tancayo 11-74, Justin Pulido 8-52, Tongi 6-32, Raymond Brex Delray 1-4, Cameron Russell 1-4.

PASSING–Lahainaluna, Acpal 0-2-0-0, Storer 0-1-0-0; Maui High, Tancayo 3-8-0-14, Brex Delray 2-3-0-18.

RECEIVING–Maui High, Lee 2-16, Mitchell Hirose 1-9, Elijah Rodrigues 1-4, Trent Takara 1-3.

MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.

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MIL STANDINGS

DIVISION I

W L Pct PF PA

Baldwin 1 0 1.000 57 7

Maui High 0 2 .000 26 53

DIVISION II

W L Pct PF PA

Lahainaluna 2 0 1.000 77 13

KS Maui 1 0 1.000 21 13

King Kekaulike 0 2 .000 7 102

Friday’s Results

Lahainaluna 32, Maui High 13

Valley Center (Calif.) 34, Kamehameha Maui 0 (nonleague)

Saturday’s Result

Baldwin 57, King Kekaulike 7

Friday, Sept. 1

Baldwin vs. Lahainaluna at War Memorial Stadium, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 2

King Kekaulike at Kamehameha Maui, 7 p.m.

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