KAHUKU — In a gutsy performance worthy of honor to its fallen teammate, the Castle High School football team fought hard but fell to defending state champion Kahuku last night, 34-15, in O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red Conference action.

The Eastern Division showdown was played just hours after the Knights learned that senior teammate Patrick Kapahu, a starting offensive/defensive lineman/punter, was taken off life support at The Queen's Medical Center. Kapahu never regained consciousness after suffering a severe head injury in a skateboarding accident late Wednesday night.

After spending most of Thursday morning at Queen's and learning that Kapahu's recovery was doubtful, Castle's players voted to play last night's scheduled game in his honor.

"It felt good to play, but it didn't feel the same without Pat," said Knights senior receiver Scott Keiter-Charles, who kicked a career-long 41-yard field goal to give Castle a brief 9-6 lead just before halftime. "Our team just has to stay strong."

Although the loss dropped the Knights (3-4 overall, 3-2 OIA Red East) out of a four-way tie for first place in the division, quarterback Bryson Ukauka said they did accomplish one of their goals.

"As long as we left it all out on the field, that's what we wanted to do," said Ukauka, who completed 15 of 23 passes for 159 yards and one touchdown despite a banged-up right knee. "We played our hardest until the game was done."

For a few moments late in the first half, it looked as if a higher power was helping Castle toward an upset bid over Kahuku, which is tied for No. 3 in The Advertiser's statewide Top 10 poll of coaches and media and improved to 5-2 overall and 4-1 in the Red East. The Knights tied it at 6-6 with 16 seconds remaining in the second quarter after Corey Paredes blocked a field goal attempt and returned the ball 75 yards for a touchdown.

The ball bounced perfectly into his waiting arms after being blocked.

Castle's two-point conversion run fell short, but the Knights recovered a Red Raiders fumble on the next play from scrimmage and Keiter-Charles immediately drilled his 41-yard field goal which split the uprights and easily cleared the crossbar.

"(Kapahu) helped me make that one, he was lifting it all the way," Keiter-Charles said. "He definitely was among us tonight."

However, on the ensuing kickoff, Kahuku's Gary Nagy fielded the squibber on his own 19, quickly reversed field and darted up the middle through a seam in coverage for an 81-yard touchdown run to help put the Red Raiders back up, 13-9, at the break.

"That really hurt us," Knights coach Nelson Maeda said. "It changed the momentum of the game."

Kahuku stretched the lead to 20-9 midway through the third quarter after a 16-yard TD run by quarterback Richard Torres, but Castle answered with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Ukauka to Paredes.

The Red Raiders' Shiloah Te'o then ran it in from 15 yards out on fourth-and-4 on the first play of the fourth quarter, and they sealed it with Kailiki Unga's 18-yard run with 2:40 remaining.

"We weren't sure how Castle would play tonight, but I kind of knew they would come out firing because they're great players and Nelson is such a great coach," Kahuku coach Reggie Torres said. "I give them so much credit, because they played so hard."

Maeda was equally impressed with his team.

"Under the circumstances, they did a great job battling Kahuku to the end," Maeda said. "I mean, adults have a hard time dealing with this kind of situation, and these are 16-, 17-year-old kids. But they fought hard. I'm proud of them."

A moment of silence for Kapahu was observed after the pre-game singing of the alma maters, and his brother, Jon, took Patrick's jersey and helmet out for the coin toss. The items remained on the Knights' bench draped in lei throughout the game.

"We knew he was with us," Ukauka said. "Win or lose, we just wanted to play our best for him.

"I think we did."

CASTLE (3-4, 3-2) 0 9 6 0—15

KAHUKU (5-2, 4-1) 6 7 7 14—34

Kah — Richard Torres 10 run (kick blocked)

Cas — Corey Paredes 75 blocked field goal return (run failed)

Cas — FG Scott Keiter-Charles 41

Kah — Gary Nagy 81 kickoff return (Kaika Sasaoka kick)

Kah — Torres 16 run (Sasaoka kick)

Cas — Paredes 14 pass from Bryson Ukauka (run failed)

Kah — Shiloah Te'o 15 run (Sasaoka kick)

Kah — Kaliki Unga 18 run (Sasaoka kick)

RUSHING — Cas: Damian Spotkaeff 9-31, Jesse Humalon 1-(minus-10), Andrew Fakatoa 2-5, Ukauka 7-(minus-23). Kah: Junior Mata'afa 8-78, Ian Fujinaga 1-1, Shiloah Te'o 3-17, Torres 6-57, Neal Lokotui 13-46, Blane Beatty 3-5, Ryan Kelly 2-7, Unga 9-92, Courtney Nozawa 1-0, Nalu Carvalho 1-(minus-5), Jordan Kapu 1-2.

PASSING — Cas: Ukauka 15-23-1—159. Kah: Torres 1-5-0—24.

RECEIVING — Cas: Keiter-Charles 5-79, Spotkaeff 2-22, Paredes 2-30, Sheldon Bastadas 1-14, Jesse Humalon 3-9, Bryson Kekahuna 1-4, Seth Estioko 1-1. Kah: Kapu 1-24.

JV score: Castle 18, Kahuku 2.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.