Aiea makes loud statement in home-opener against Castle

‘AIEA – A-Town, A-plus performance.

‘Aiea Na Ali’i (1-1) bounced back from a season-opening road loss on Friday night, dominating the Castle Knights, 60-2. Senior ATH Trystin Lee “Hiki” Kim Choy-Keb-Ah-Lo helped Na Ali’i ambush Castle with 144 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns (three rushing, one receiving) over nine total touches on his way to Fun Factory “VIP of the Game” honors.

In just the second home contest on their home field since the COVID-19 pandemic, ‘Aiea got active early and often in all three phases. Kim Choy-Keb-Ah-Lo returned the game’s opening kickoff 35 yards and a personal foul penalty against Castle (0-2) nearly pushed Na Ali’i into Knights territory before the first offensive snap was taken.

‘Aiea junior RB Legend Byrd-Tauala carried his team on the first possession, tallying all 60 yards and putting Na Ali’i on the board with a 25-yard touchdown catch from freshman QB Caizel Jesus-Kapesi less than two minutes into the action.

Na Ali’i added two more touchdowns before the first quarter ended, seeing Kim Choy-Keb-Ah-Lo find paydirt on a nine-yard run and LB Ethan Toia jump Castle QB Noa Sebay’s pass for a 60-yard pick-six to extend the lead to 21-0 after 12 minutes of action.

Kim Choy-Keb-Ah-Lo added two more touchdowns in the second quarter with a 17-yard rushing score before taking a Jesus-Kapesi dump off throw 66 yards to the house for his lone receiving TD of the night.

‘Aiea freshman QB Caizel Jesus-Kapesi throws a pass while getting protection from his offensive line. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

The freshman QB tossed his third touchdown of the first half just over a minute later, finding Champ Colburn from five yards out before Royale Tavale-Petersen ended the half with ‘Aiea’s second interception for a score to make it a 49-0 lead at the break.

Kim Choy-Keb-Ah-Lo added his fourth TD of the game on a direct snap from three yards out in the opening minutes of the third quarter, extending Na Ali’i’s lead above the half-century mark as he found Andreas Adams for the two-point conversion. Kicker Dominic Okada drilled a 35-yard field goal to cap ‘Aiea’s scoring for the evening at 60 points with under two minutes left in the third frame.

Castle’s defense continued to battle into the fourth quarter, finally breaking through to get the Knights on the board with 7:16 left to play as an errant snap skipped by Kim Choy-Keb-Ah-Lo for a safety.

Sophomore QB Draven Kalawa, who entered to relieve Noa Sebay for Castle in the second half, ended the night with some boom-or-bust plays as he went 5-of-15 passing for 83 yards to lead the team. The 5-foot-9 signal caller also tossed an interception, one of four total turnovers by the Knights throughout the night.

Senior RB Kauanahe Kalahiki-Gohier led the ground attack for Castle, totaling 41 yards on seven carries. Senior WR Ha’a Felipe paced all Knights receivers with 48 yards on two catches, including an acrobatic juggling snag from Kalawa.

Freshman QB Caizel Jesus-Kapesi turned in a strong performance in his second varsity start, completing 14-of-20 passing attempts for a game-high 145 yards and three touchdowns while getting intercepted once. Legend Byrd-Tauala paced the rushing attack with 86 yards on just eight carries while adding 25 yards and a score as a pass catcher for ‘Aiea.

Castle will wrap up a challenging non-league preseason schedule next Saturday when they host another OIA Division I opponent in Nanakuli. ‘Aiea will face their final non-league test when they welcome in ILH foe ‘Iolani at 6:30 p.m. on the same Saturday, August 23.