Kalaheo holds off Pearl City in heated matchup of OIA D2 contenders

PEARL CITY – Mustangs move fast.

Behind another big night of production on the ground and an opportunistic defense, the Kalaheo varsity football team got some regular season revenge against the Pearl City Chargers with a 37-28 victory on Saturday night.

In a rematch of the 2025 OIA Division II semifinals, the Mustangs (4-0, 3-0 league) leaned on a rushing attack that racked up 230 of the offense’s 263 total yards and four of the team’s five total touchdowns.

Air Force RB commit Marquez Mellor, who entered the weekend with nearly 700 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground across three games, paced Kalaheo with 21 carries for 71 yards and two scores.

Kalaheo QB Loch Moorman tallied 20 yards passing and a touchdown through the air across his three completions on the night. The senior also added 47 yards rushing in the victory.

Pearl City (4-1, 2-1 league) started out hot, forcing two early punts before getting on the board first with a 24-yard TD strike between QB Jayden Delos Santos and WR Maiaku Lii with 3:21 left in the opening quarter.

Kalaheo answered back moments into the second frame with Moorman’s lone touchdown pass of the night, hitting WR Drew Taylor on a 16-yard scoring connection to knot the game between Division II contenders up at 7-7.

The Mustangs promptly forced a three-and-out following the score and Mellor broke free two plays later for a 20-yard rumble to the endzone to put the visitors in front for the first time with 9:23 left in the first half.

Things went from bad to worse for Pearl City on the next drive, getting nothing offensively as the Kalaheo defense forced another fourth down deep in Chargers territory. The ensuing snap sailed over the punter’s head and out of the back of the endzone for a safety, extending the lead to nine for the Mustangs.

The teams traded turnovers (fumble by Moorman, interception by Delos Santos) before Kalaheo pulled out some trickery to set up a 27-yard TD run for Storm Kane, taking a 23-7 lead with 2:40 remaining before halftime.

Kalaheo’s Storm Kane breaks through the defense. | Photo Credit: Riley Guillermo, HSRN

With the help of a couple of personal foul penalties against the Mustangs, Pearl City pushed down the field quickly with a two-minute drill offense and brought the game back within one possession as WR Kaze Teixeira hauled in the first of his two TD receptions with 20 seconds left in the half.

Kalaheo took control back as the third quarter trickled down with the help of the team’s second interception of the night, seeing Nalu Mendiola pick off QB Brydan Gaoiran and return the ball back inside the Pearl City 10-yard line.

The Mustangs capitalized three plays later as Mellor mashed his way into the endzone for the second time, putting the visitors up 30-15 with under five minutes to play in the third.

Pearl City punched back again, needing just over three minutes to march down the field before Alohi Gaspar capped off the drive with a six-yard TD run to make it a 30-22 deficit.

Pearl City RB Alohi Gaspar trickles around the edge. | Photo Credit: Riley Guillermo, HSRN

The Kalaheo running game took over in the fourth, gashing a tired Pearl City defense for multiple runs of 10+ yards before ATH Zayne Farley finished off another scoring drive with a 14-yard sprint to the endzone that made it a two-possession game again with 6:11 left to play.

Pearl City made it interesting with Teixeira’s second TD catch of the game with 3:14 remaining, but a failed two-point conversion kept it a two-score game before Kalaheo’s ground game closed out the road win.

QB Jayden Delos Santos ended the night completing 18-of-24 passes for Pearl City, racking up 155 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in the loss. Chargers RB Cole Reason finished with 10 carries for 35 yards while WR Maiaku Lii led the WR room with five receptions for 39 yards and a score.

Kalaheo will look to keep cruising next weekend when they visit Waialua (2-3, 1-2 league) while Pearl City hopes to bounce back when they host Kaiser (3-1, 2-1 league) on September 25.