Midget, pee wee and jr. pee wee teams too tough for neighbor-island visitors By JASON GALLIC TGI Sports Editor HANAPEPE — If local fans of Pop Warner football would of known how Kaua’i teams were going to stack up against
Midget, pee wee and jr. pee wee teams too tough for neighbor-island
visitors
By JASON GALLIC
TGI Sports Editor
HANAPEPE — If
local fans of Pop Warner football would of known how Kaua’i teams were going to
stack up against the state, they might have dragged their brooms to Hanapepe
Stadium Saturday afternoon.
Playing host to the Hawai’i State
Championships, the Kaua’i junior pee wee, pee wee and midget teams pulled off a
gridiron sweep, collecting titles in all three divisions.
The junior pee
wee and midget games were quite closely contested, while the Kekaha Seahawks
cruised to the crown in the pee wee ranks.
Midgets
Hanapepe Broncos
20
Kaneohe Knights 12
Defense and timely offense led Hanapepe to the
victory over the champions of the Oahu Pop Warner League.
It looked, after
the first quarter, as though the Broncos were going to pull away to an easy
win.
Just five minutes into the contest, Hanapepe’s Chauncey Banasihan
busted free for a 10-yard touchdown run to score the first six. The extra point
failed, however, leaving the Broncos up 6-0. Then, as the quarter came to a
close, Hanapepe quarterback John-Vincent Palacio found receiver Po’o Chang Wo
on a short pass in the flat. Wo did the rest, weaving around Knights’ defenders
on his way to a 22-yard score. Kamikani Woolsey connected on the extra point
for the 14-0 Broncos’ advantage.
The second quarter was a different
story.
Kaneohe’s Brandon Shimomura found the end zone from seven yards out
early in the quarter to give the Knights six. The point-after attempt sailed
wide.
Minutes later, the Knights were again on the attack. Antone Kuauhi
took a pitch from quarterback Ernesto Lopez, and carried three Hanapepe
defenders into the end zone for the score. The point-after was blocked by the
Broncos’ Kaylen Rita.
Both offenses stagnated in the third quarter, but
Hanapepe, in particular, had trouble getting anything going. As a result,
Kaneohe regularly took possession deep in Broncos’ territory.
That’s when
the Hanapepe defense stepped up. Both Bully Emayo and Shawn Yadao made
drive-stopping interceptions in the fourth quarter, assuring that the Knights
would not reach the end zone.
With less than 90 seconds remaining,
Banasihan scored from three yards out on a powerful second effort to secure the
win.
Junior Pee Wee
Lihu’e Jaguars 14
Wailuku Rainbows 6
With
two touchdowns, including the game winner with less than 90 seconds remaining,
Pono Perez continued to make a name for himself.
In the second quarter,
Perez scored from nine yards out to put Lihu’e ahead 6-0.
The third quarter
was scoreless. In the fourth, Wailuku got on the board when Gannon Pacubas
fought for two yards and a score. The extra point failed, leaving the score
6-6.
As time wound off the clock, Wailuku found itself backed up against
its own end zone. The Rainbows turned the ball over, however, setting up
Perez’s game-winning one-yard dive. Kainoa Lemke added the extra point.
Pee
Wee
Kekaha Seahawks 20
Waikoloa Vikings 0
This one never was in
doubt.
After a scoreless first quarter, Chad Barba got his team on the
board with a two-yard touchdown run at the 9:47 mark of the second. The extra
point failed to leave the score 6-0.
Still in the second, Mervin Pasion
managed to break free for a 17-yard score. Kenny Estes added the point after,
and the Seahawks took a 14-0 advantage.
Drew Uyeno added an insurance
score in the third quarter when he intercepted a pass and ran 30 yards for the
TD.
