HONOKAA —On a night where points were hard to come by, Keaau needed every one to get its second win of the season against Honokaa on Friday night.
The Dragons (1-2, 2-2) scored a touchdown with 3:25 to go in the game, but Keaau (2-1, 2-1) shut down Honokaa’s two-point try to escape with a 13-12 victory.
Senior Cougar running back Noa DeMotta-Cobb scored the go-ahead touchdown, barrelling his way down the center of the field with no time left in the third quarter. He finished with 66 yards, including a key first down to run out the clock.
Honokaa had a hard time moving the ball for most of the night. Running back Kealakai Lindsey led the way with 44 yards. Quarterback Ocean Guerpo-Beamer scored on run late in the game, but was 3 of 15 passing for 18 yards and two interceptions.
Keaau made it look easy on its first drive of the night. A toss to Junior Santiago right, and then left, combined with a 15-yard penalty put the Cougars inside the red zone. Two unsuccessful runs backed Keaau up, but Caine Lunsford found Kaina Vierra on a short slant for the first points of the game.
The Cougars dodged a bullet when a 43-yard fumble return by Honokaa safety Micah Lorenzo was called back, but for the most part, they did just about all of the little things right in the first half. The defense held strong on two fourth down stands and didn’t give up the big play. On offense, the Cougars chipped away, picking up a 3rd and 22, and a 4th and 12 to keep extended drives alive.
Meanwhile, the Dragons were still trying to shake off the turnover bug they picked up last weekend at Kamehameha. A fumble, interception and muffed punt gave Keaau extra chances on offense. Near the end of the first half, Keaau had doubled up Honokaa in offensive plays run.
With the offense having limited opportunities, the Dragons turned to their defense for a spark.
For most of the first half, Keaau ran an effective, but very slow-developing toss play. Honokaa linebacker Paki Akau caught on. The junior linebacker jumped upfield — nearly catching the ball in the air — and took it back 95 yards to tie the game at 6-6.
Nothing came easy in the second half — especially first downs.
With two minutes remaining in the third quarter, Keaau converted the first of the half. On 3rd and inches, Lunsford dropped back and looked for junior wide receiver Jamell Thompson. Thompson snagged the ball with one hand, but got into a wrestling match with Honokaa corner Trent Tavares. After a brief debate, Keaau was awarded the first down.
However, the Honokaa defense came up with another huge play to stymie the Cougars. On a desperation heave by Lunsford as he was going down, Kolten Caravalho came up with an interception.
The momentum didn’t last long. Just a few plays later, Thompson snagged his second pick of the night to give the Cougars the ball back. DeMotta-Cobb did the rest, running 25 yards right up the gut to make it 12-6 as the scoreboard buzzer sounded in the background to signal the end of the third quarter.
Honokaa’s biggest offensive play of the night came on a reverse-pass down the sideline, which sparked the Dragons’ only touchdown drive. Guerpo-Beamer picked up two first downs with his legs, and finished the drive with a bruising TD run up the middle from three yards out. But the two-point pass failed, and after two winless seasons, Keaau came away with its second W of 2016.