Bears defeat new jv football Warriors in first outing
Photo by Holly Honda
Freshman Warrior quarterback Karsyn Pupunu jukes around Anstin Butan of the Bears in Kamehameha Maui’s first junior varsity football game in two years at Kana’iaupuni Stadium, Saturday, August 27.
The Baldwin Bears’ junior varsity football team won, 21-7, against the Kamehameha Maui Warriors, in Kamehameha’s first game of the season on home turf, Saturday, August 27.
In the first half, the Baldwin Bears scored their first touchdown when quarterback Taelen-John Bates carried the ball into the end zone.
Shortly after, wide receiver Logan Kahula-Yamada received a short pass and ran for about 30 yards for a touchdown. Both extra point kicks were good, and the score was 14-0, with the Bears on top at the beginning of the second quarter.
Near the end of the half, the Bears drove down to the Warriors’ 33 yd.-line, but the Warrior defense sprang to life. With 1:37 left in the second quarter, Teva Pimentel and Michael Kalalau got to Bates when he tried to keep the ball and pushed Baldwin back four yards, where they eventually turned the ball over on downs.
The Warriors made little progress on their next possession and eventually punted, handing the ball back to Baldwin about midfield.
With 19 seconds on the clock, the Bears tried for the long pass three times in a row. The first two were incomplete, and the receiver on the third was brought down quickly after the time ran out on the half. Izak Morton, on the first and third play, and Steven Gushiken covered the receivers for the Warrior defense.
Warrior Lanakila Choda-Kowalski (#28) chases down Baldwin’s Justin Rivera (#14).
In the second half, the Warriors found their rhythm. Several passes to freshman Makani Smith-Kemfort put Kamehameha Maui into the red zone. Then, freshman Karysn Pupunu passed to sophomore Trystan Ah Yat, who ran and dove into the end zone, making the score 14-7 with the Bears still in the lead.
The Bears offense controlled most of the fourth quarter; however, they had a touchdown that was called back for a block in the back violation, and on the next play, the Warriors’ Gushiken intercepted in the end zone.
Kamehameha Maui was unable to capitalize on the turnover, and towards the end of the fourth quarter, the Bears clinched the 21-7 win with another touchdown run by sophomore Jules Marinas.
This is the first time that Kamehameha Maui has fielded a junior varsity football team in two years, so many of the players were ready to get out there and get some playing time.
Samuel Ostermiller, freshman kicker, wide receiver, and defensive back said that “when I got on the field… I felt super hyped. I wasn’t nervous at all”.
Assistant coach Mark Vaught, said that he was extremely proud of the way the team performed. “We also got an opportunity to see a lot of mistakes we made, and we can correct them,” he said. “Going into practice we can address some of the mistakes we made.”
Coach Vaught said that he looks for forward to everyone “show[ing] up and giv[ing] 100%, always.”
Freshman Pupunu agreed that there are areas they need to work on as they return to the practice field this week.
See if their hard work pays off when the jv Warriors face their next opponents, the Maui High Sabres at War Memorial Stadium, Friday, Sept. 9, at 4:30 p.m.
