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Sabers cap resurgent season with 32-22 victory over Bears

By Robert Collias 6 min read

WAILUKU -- This one was a battle reminiscent of "The Big Game" of years past.

It didn't matter in the standings, but it clearly did to the combatants in the crosstown rivalry game between the Baldwin High School and Maui High football teams Saturday night at War Memorial Stadium.

The Sabers won 32-22 to finish a breakthrough 4-2 season under first-year head coach Robert Dougherty.

"We always want more, of course, but we're happy with what we're at now, where the program's at," Dougherty said.

The Sabers, who finished second in the MIL this season after going 0-8 in 2019, broke out in a cheer after drenching their coach with water following the game.

"That cheer right there is from my old coach in Boston, it's an old East Coast cheer that's been around for 100 years on the East Coast," Dougherty said. "It's 'All set, you bet, ready all, let's go. What do you say? OK.'

"He died of Lou Gehrig's Disease about 12 years ago, one of my favorite coaches, Dan Allen. He coached from a wheelchair and we carried out the tradition."

The Bears finished a 1-5 season under veteran coach Pohai Lee in a campaign that concluded with their two best overall games, although both in defeat. Saturday night was certainly an improvement from the 40-0 loss the Sabers hung on the Bears on Sept. 13.

Baldwin trailed 25-6 after Joe Cariaga connected with Zach Dando on a 23-yard touchdown with 7:54 left in the third quarter.

That's when Baldwin senior quarterback/nose guard B.A. Oto went to work -- he guided two straight touchdown drives that he finished with scoring passes and two-point conversions to pull the Bears within three.

The first comeback Baldwin drive was an eight-play, 74-yard drive that was culminated when Oto hit Kapio Madrid with a 12-yard scoring pass with 5:01 left in the third quarter. Oto was 5-for-6 passing on the drive for 68 yards.

Baldwin freshman Kahekili Eleneki caught a 31-yard touchdown pass from Oto with 9:49 to play, and Oto's second straight two-point conversion run made it 25-22. On that four-play, 64-yard drive, Oto was 3-for-3 passing for 61 yards and ran for 3 yards on the other play in the possession.

Maui High put the game out of reach when freshman Robert Young scored on a 19-yard run with 3:34 to play.

"We didn't get off to a fast start, I'm just glad the kids picked it up in the second half," Lee said. "You know, a little bit too late for us, but we just didn't make enough plays, those type of things, penalties hurt us. But, again, we fought to the end. It's not how you start, it's how you finish."

Dougherty said of the Bears: "They played really hard, they've improved, they played Lahainaluna tough, tough, and we knew that we were in for more of a challenge, that's for sure. So, hats off to them, they did a great job."

The Sabers took a 19-6 lead into the halftime break after a first half that featured several miscues by both teams.

The Bears took a 6-0 lead with 7:21 left in the first quarter when a punt snap sailed over the head of Dando and Baldwin's Isaac Kaalakea returned the miscue 33 yards for a touchdown.

The Sabers went ahead 7-6 after capping a six-play, 81-yard drive with a 51-yard TD pass from Cariaga, a sophomore, to Young with 2:15 left in the first quarter.

Early in the second quarter, Young scooped up a lateral and rumbled 31 yards to the end zone for a touchdown to make it 13-6.

After Sabers got the ball back, they needed just two plays to score, pushing the lead to 19-6 on a 43-yard fly sweep run by Dando to the end zone with 7:12 left in the first half.

Dando is one of several seniors on the Maui High roster. He is also a baseball standout and is determined to play one of the sports past high school. The Sabers' only losses this season were to unbeaten Lahainaluna.

"I see it as a great year -- I think we gave Lahaina a tough time, we gave them a tough time and we all played to our best and we all had so much fun this season," Dando said. "So, just to set our next year's team up for a winning season is the main thing for us."

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com.

Maui High 7 12 6 7--32

Baldwin 6 0 8 8--22

First Quarter

B--Isaac Kaalakea 32 fumble return (run failed), 7:21.

MH--Robert Young 51 pass from Joe Cariaga (Zach Dando kick), 2:15.

Second Quarter

MH--Robert Young 31 fumble return (pass field), 9:29.

MH--Dando 43 run (run failed), 7:12.

Third Quarter

MH--Dando 23 pass from Cariaga (kick failed), 7:54.

B--Kapio Madrid 12 pass from B.A. Oto (Oto run), 5:01.

Fourth Quarter

B--Kahekili Eleneki 31 pass from Oto (Oto run), 9:49.

MH--Young 19 run (Dando kick), 3:34.

MH B

First downs 24 14

Rushes-yards 39-180 15-67

Passing yards 246 168

Total offense 426 235

Return yards 114 124

Comp-Att-Int 17-27-0 13-32-3

Fumbles-lost 4-1 2-1

Penalties-yards 7-78 12-110

Punts-avg 4-19.3 4-52.5

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Maui High, Cariaga 14-83, Young 9-53, Dando 1-43, Coby Wakayama 5-24, Piercen Cajigal-Evans 2-7, Antonio Castro 1-2, Sione Afemui 2-0, Delton Pascua 1-0, Reegan Casio 1-(minus 4), Jonah Garaganza 1-(minus 4), team 2-(minus 24); Baldwin, Oto 8-46, Ezra Laga 5-14, Jonathan Bacos 2-7.

PASSING--Maui High, Cariaga 16-26-0--236, Young 1-1-0--10; Baldwin, Oto 12-26-2--168, Antone Sanches 1-6-1--0.

RECEIVING--Maui High, Dando 6-93, Brayden Albrecht 5-51, Garaganza 3-28, Young 2-70, Ethan Takara 1-4; Baldwin, Eleneki 4-64, Nathen Foster 3-43, Madrid 3-19, Joseph Randolph 2-21, Keoni Ihu-Rodrigues 1-21.

MISSED FIELD GOALS--Maui High, Dando 31 (WL), Dando 26 (WR), Young 39 (SH).

*****

Friday's Result

KAMEHAMEHA MAUI 21, KING KEKAULIKE 0

At Kanaiaupuni Stadium

King Kekaulike 0 0 0 0-- 0

Kamehameha Maui 14 10 7 0--31

First Quarter

KSM--Pookela Aiu 25 pass from Makana Kamaka-Brayce (Trenton Kiesel kick), 6:46.

KSM--Hoohenomauloa Stone-Han 56 pass from Kamaka-Brayce (Kiesel kick), 3:27.

Second Quarter

KSM--Kainoa Carpenter 35 pass from Kamaka-Brayce (Kiesel kick), 5:19.

KSM--FG Kiesel 33, 0:00.

Third Quarter

KSM--Aiu 11 run (Kiesel kick), 5:25.

KK KSM

First downs 12 16

Rushes-yards 43-179 26-114

Passing yards 33 201

Total offense 212 315

Return yards 72 45

Comp-Att-Int 1-5-2 10-16-1

Fumbles-lost 2-2 1-0

Penalties-yards 11-115 4-20

Punts-avg 3-34.3 1-49.0

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--King Kekaulike, Tysyn Estrella 17-69, Zavior Tampon 12-58, Kamakalei Stone 7-45, Kalelepono Wong 5-9, Austin Gomes 2-(minus 2); Kamehameha Maui, McKay Pali 8-67, Aiu 2-35, Kainoa Monkres 1-16, Duke Brown 2-11, Kevin Kahoohanohano 3-4, Xavier Shiffler 2-3, Tyler Sado 3-(minus 6), Kiesel 1-(minus 7), Kamaka-Brayce 4-(minus 9).

PASSING--King Kekaulike, Gomes 1-2-0--33, Wong 0-3-2--0; Kamehameha Maui, Kamaka-Brayce 9-12-0--194, Bransyn Hong 1-2-1--7, Aiu 0-2-0--0.

RECEIVING--King Kekaulike, Kingston Kapu 1-33; Kamehameha Maui, Carpenter 4-81, Aiu 3-31, Stone-Han 1-56, Kahoa Abreu 1-26, Keegan Gantala 1-7.

MISSED FIELD GOALS--Kamehameha Maui, Kiesel 35 (BL).

*****

Final MIL Standings

DIVISION I

W L Pct PF PA

x-Lahainaluna 6 0 1.000 198 63

Maui High 4 2 .667 151 98

Baldwin 1 5 .167 97 175

DIVISION II

W L Pct PF PA

x-KS Maui 4 2 .667 200 111

King Kekaulike 0 6 .000 34 233

x-clinched overall championship

Friday's Result

Kamehameha Maui 31, King Kekaulike 0

Saturday's Result

Maui High 32, Baldwin 22

End of regular season

Starting at /week.