Kalaheo crushes Castle to complete historic regular season run

KANEOHE – The Mustangs keep marching.

Behind another big night on the ground from Air Force RB commit Marquez Mellor and QB Loch Moorman’s career-best showing, the Kalaheo varsity football team completed the first unbeaten regular season in program history on Friday night with a 62-21 road win over the Castle Knights.

Mellor rumbled for 135 yards and a touchdown across 19 carries in the victory for Kalaheo, bringing his season totals to 1,119 yards rushing and 19 scores on the ground through eight regular season games.

Moorman posted a career-high 236 yards passing while accounting for four total touchdowns (2 pass, 2 rush) on the way to the win. The senior quarterback also added 42 more yards with his legs, two yards shy of his career high on the ground.

“I was just doing this for the boys,” Moorman said after the best performance of his high school career. “Big thanks to my line for blocking for me, letting me get the ball out of my hand, letting me run for the touchdowns. Thanks to coach for all the good play calls. It was all thanks to them.”

Moorman and the Mustangs kicked things off with a bang, recovering an onside kick on the opening play of the game. The visitors wasted little time capitalizing, powering down the field for the night’s opening score as Mellor muscled his way into the end zone from nine yards out.

Castle (4-6, 4-3 league) answered back on the ensuing drive, capitalizing on a pair of Kalaheo penalties and eventually converting on 4th-and-goal as senior WR Dyson Yap-Tolentino made a circus catch through coverage to help tie the game up, 7-7, with just over three minutes remaining in the opening quarter.

Kalaheo (8-0, 7-0 league) punched right back with the first of Moorman’s two rushing touchdowns on the night just before the first quarter closed out. It was the first time since the season opener at Hawaii Prep that the athletic senior QB found paydirt with his legs.

Fellow senior Zayne Farley finished off the Mustangs’ third drive of the night with another rushing score a few minutes later, pushing the visitors in front by 14 with just over four minutes left in the first half.

Castle showed off some urgency before the opening half wrapped up, driving the field at a perfect pace to drain the rest of the clock down before junior QB Draven Kalawa connected with senior WR Braden Domingo on a three-yard score to send the Knights into halftime trailing by seven.

When play resumed, Kalaheo took the offense off cruise control and cranked up the pressure as the Mustang passing attack came alive. After taking a couple deep shots at the start of the third, Moorman found WR Storm Kane on a 10-yard touchdown pass to make it 28-14 in favor of Kalaheo less than 90 seconds after halftime.

Farley and Moorman each added a second rushing touchdown to their ledgers as the third quarter wound down and fourth quarter opened up, extending the Mustangs lead to 28 after just eight seconds elapsed in the final frame.

Castle found some positivity with a quick answer following the third of Moorman’s four scores, as Kalawa connected with Noa Sebay for a 29-yard touchdown with 10:45 left to play.

Kalaheo finished strong though, scoring the final three touchdowns of the night as Moorman and Kane combined for another score before back-to-back pick-sixes from Mason Jardine and Zayne Farley put a bow on the 62-21 victory for the Mustangs.

QB Draven Kalawa ended the night completing 31-of-51 pass attempts for 295 yards, three touchdowns and an interception in the loss for Castle. Senior WR Braden Domingo went over triple digits in the receiving department for the fifth time this year, catching 11 passes for 140 yards and a score.

Kalaheo locked up the top spot in the OIA Division II ranks and will face Castle again in two weeks in the opening round of the league playoffs.

“They’re a tough team,” Mustangs HC Jaymason Lee said of the Knights. “I’m a proud Castle alum [and] us Castle guys, we don’t go down without a fight, so I knew they were going to come out firing … We’re going to see each other again so we’re both going to prepare, I know Coach Vince [Nihipali] and his staff are going to do a great job getting them ready for the playoffs and we’ve got to do the same.”