Brady Kim (left) and Keo Lapera celebrates after Kim scored one of his three touchdowns against McKinley. | Michael Lasquero

Kaiser dominant in all three phases in season-opening 56-7 victory over McKinley

BY PAUL BRECHT | HSRN
PUBLISHED AUGUST 17, 2024

HAWAII KAI – The beasts from the East.

The Kaiser Cougars (1-0) opened their season with a dominant non-league victory on Friday night, beating the McKinley Tigers (0-1) behind a balanced effort from all three phases of the football, 56-7.

The Cougars forced multiple turnovers and jumped out to a three-touchdown lead by the end of the first quarter. By the conclusion of the first half, Kaiser had gone up by 49 riding the legs of sophomore running back Brady Kim – who had three touchdown runs in the opening half and two in the second quarter alone.

Kaiser running back Dillon Reis quickly got the hosts on the board as the senior took his second touch of the night 59 yards to the house to put Kaiser ahead 45 seconds into the game. The Cougars would add three more touchdowns before the Tigers were able to get on the board. McKinley’s do-it-all player Gregory Givens intercepted Kaiser quarterback BJ Rezentes and returned it 52 yards for a touchdown for the only score of the night for the visitors.

Issues on snaps continued into the second quarter for McKinley, setting up the Kaiser offense with excellent field position on multiple occasions. The Cougars took advantage four more times as Kim had rushes of 1 and 10 yards for scores, Rayne Sumida hauled in Rezentes’ second TD pass of the night and Aiden Leong punched in a 6-yard touchdown with 56 seconds left in the half to give Kaiser an enormous cushion at half, 56-7. 

McKinley’s offense struggled all night as the Tigers accounted for negative-81 yards of net yardage. Junior QB Iosua Sefo completed one of his two pass attempts for seven yards while not turning the ball over in quarterback platoon duties for McKinley.

Kaiser quarterback BJ Rezentes completed 12-of-15 passes for 97 yards while tossing two TDs and two interceptions in the season-opening win for the Cougars. Dillon Reis led the home squad in rushing with 79 yards and a touchdown in just five carries while HSRN’s “Player of the Game” Brady Kim scored on more than half his touches (3 TDs, 5 rush) and ran for 26 yards in the victory.

PHOTOS BY MICHAEL LASQUERO