In front of a captive crowd of about 5,000 and one Southern California football coach, Punahou's defense rose to the occasion to help the third-ranked Buffanblu beat No. 4 Kamehameha, 28-6, last night in Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I football at Aloha Stadium.

The Buffanblu (4-1 overall, 1-1 ILH) held the Warriors (3-3, 0-2) to just 200 yards in offense, recorded five sacks and got interceptions from Nicholas Kido and Sean McFadden to even their league record after one round in the division.

"My boys came out to play," said Punahou senior linebacker Manti Te'o. "We played as one, as a team ...We came out here to play and that's what we did."

Running back Dalton Hilliard scored three touchdowns on short runs and Cayman Shutter tossed a 32-yard touchdown pass to Robert Toma to account for the Buffanblu scoring.

Attending the game was USC coach Pete Carroll, who was on the Punahou sidelines with Trojans' linebackers coach Ken Norton. They obviously were there to watch Te'o, considered the top high-school linebacker in the country by several recruiting organizations. NCAA rules prohibit him from commenting on particular recruits. Te'o listed USC as one of his five choices.

"I thought it was a great game," Carroll said. "A lot of throwing and catching. Both quarterbacks and receivers were making plays. It was really a fun game."

As for the talent here.

"I thought the skill players were very good," Carroll said. "I thought it was pretty much like we see in California. Very competitive."

The USC contingent apparently brought the best out of the Buffanblu, who took one on the chin two weeks ago in a 40-19 loss to Saint Louis. Shutter completed 19 of 37 passes for 229 yards. Hilliard had 58 yards rushing, but 74 more on seven receptions. Ironically, it was reserve Stabren Caires who led Punahou in rushing with 90 yards on just four carries, the bulk coming on a 59-yard run late in the game. Players couldn't help but think about doing well with the USC coaches on the sidelines.

"It was kind of funny coming back to the sidelines and seeing Coach Carroll on the sidelines," Shutter said.

While it might have been somewhat of a distraction to have a big-name college coach in the house, Shutter said it helps the other players get noticed.

"That's one thing Manti does is he helps everybody get exposure," Shutter said.

"Any time you have a world-renowned coach come in here, even though he's only looking at a couple people, everybody gets excited," Punahou coach Kale Ane said. "Both teams knew he was here."

As for the subject of Carroll's presence at the game.

"Generally, there was a lot of pressure," said Te'o, who led the team with 13 tackles despite battling bronchitis. "But I just had to stay focused on everything and just try to play my game."

Also having big games defensively for Punahou were defensive back Jeremy Ioane (seven tackles) and linebacker Geoffrey Miller (six tackles).

The Buffanblu defense contained Kamehameha running back Ryan Ho to just 33 yards, 20 coming at the half. With the Warriors having to play catchup, they passed more as the game went on.

Pono Haitsuka's 41-yard return of the opening kickoff to midfield set up the Warriors first and only score of the first half. On the eighth play, Edmund Kamano Jr. hit Maika Mataele for a 29-yard TD pass with 8:48 in the first quarter. The Warriors faked a kick, but the holder failed to reach the end zone to keep it 6-0.

But that was all the Punahou defense allowed in the half, holding the Warriors running game to 17 yards.Ho had just 20 yards on five carries.

The Buffanblu took the lead later in the first quarter when Hilliard scored on a four-yard run to cap a nine-play, 79-yard drive. Robert Izuta's PAT gave the Buffanblu a 7-6 lead with no time showing to end the first quarter.

Punahou took advantage of a six-yard punt by Kamehameha and started from the Buffanblu 37 in the second quarter. Six plays later, Shutter hit Toma in stride in the end zone for a 32-yard TD pass to make it 14-6 at the half.

KAMEHAMEHA (3-3, 0-2) 6 0 0 0— 6

PUNAHOU (4-1, 1-1) 7 7 14 0—28

Kam—Maika Mataele 29 pass from Edmund Kamano Jr. (run failed)

Pun—Dalton Hilliard 4 run (Robert Izuta kick)

Pun—Robert Toma 32 pass from Cayman Shutter (Izuta kick)

Pun—Hilliard 1 run (Izuta kick)

Pun—Hilliard 5 run (Izuta kick)

RUSHING—Kamehameha: Kamano 12-12, Ryan Ho 8-33, Brandon Dumlao 4-0, Kupono Park 3-2, Mataele 1-2, Kaluma Jones 1-3. Punahou: Manti Te'o 2-9, Shutter 5-(minus 8), Hilliard 11-58, Stabren Caires 4-90, Team 2-(minus 2).

PASSING—Kamehameha: Kamano 13-27-2—146, TC Campbell 1-3-0—2. Punahou: Kimo Makaula 3-5-0—44, Shutter 19-37-0—229.

RECEIVING—Kamehameha: Ho 4-10, Mataele 2-65 , Pi'i Minns 3-28, Pono Ryder 1-31, Liko Oliveira 1-5, Pono Haitsuka 1-6, Rylee Urasaki 1-1, Aleks Akiyama 1-2. Punahou: Hilliard 7-74, Toma 7-82, Mark Silverstein 4-77, Galen Arakawa 1-6, Makaula 2-38, Caires 1-6.

PAC-FIVE 28, WORD OF LIFE 6

Quarterback PJ Minaya passed for 291 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Wolfpack (3-4, 2-2) to an ILH Division II victory over the Firebrands (2-5, 0-4) yesterday at Aloha Stadium.

PAC-FIVE (3-4, 2-2) 0 7 7 14—28

WORD OF LIFE (2-5, 0-4) 0 0 0 6— 6

Pac—Darin Kamealoha 20 pass from PJ Minaya (Brendan Sagucio kick)

Pac—Kamealoha 63 pass from Minaya (Sagucio kick)

Pac—London Amorin 25 pass from Minaya (Sagucio kick)

WOL—Max Mower 9 run (run failed)

Pac—Lawson Kurosu 18 pass from Minaya (Sagucio kick)

RUSHING—Pac-Five: Minaya 9-(minus 51), Chalson Baitlon 3-3, Kamealoha 1-0, Landon Burkhart 2-5, Team 1-(minus 1). Word of Life: Jacob DeKneef 14-28, Gabe Miller 14-50, Max Mower 10-48, Paul Christian Morales 5-16, Vega McKenzie 1-0, Ryan Alvarado 8-(minus 4), Kendall Ching 6-24, Kaulana Naki 2-7, Jared Stephenson 1-6.

PASSING—Pac-Five: Minaya 19-24-0—291. Word of Life: DeKneef 1-5-1—2.

RECEIVING—Pac-Five: London Amorin 5-104, Kamealoha 8-114, Jordan Doi 3-42, Dylan Gomez 1-12, Armando Cayabyab 1-1, Kurosu 1-18. Word of Life: Michael Pang 1-2.