High school Football: Memories made at Kapa‘a, Kwansei battle

KAPA‘A n Kapa‘a High School athletic director Greg Gonsalves felt that Wednesday’s controlled scrimmage with the Warriors and the Fighters of Kwansei High School from Osaka, Japan was a good thing.

Paul Hurley, one of the coaches on the Kapa‘a team agreed following the two-hour scrimmage.

“They’ll remember this for the rest of their lives,” Gonsalves said as he watched the second half of the contest wind down at the Ron Martin complex.

“We give them a couple of hours of play, feed them spaghetti, but this is something they’ll have forever,” he said.

Although no one could be sure, the trips with Kwansei started with Kaua‘i High School, but the Red Raiders opted on this trip, giving Kapa‘a the opportunity to play the Japanese high school team.

Kaua‘i will be hosting the San Clemente junior varsity and varsity squads on Friday at Vidinha Stadium.

Head football coach Wes Kaui was concerned about injuries going into the scrimmage. Both teams have games coming up on Saturday as Kapa‘a will be travelling to Maui to take on MIL Div. II champion Lahainaluna in a day game while the Fighters of Kwansei travel to Kona where they will meet up with Hawai‘i Prep, a victim of the Waimea Menehune last weekend here at Hanapepe.

The Warriors suffered two casualties in their win over Waialua last Friday, and Kaui said they will probably not see action against the Lunas, giving them three weeks to heal before the Warriors enter the KIF arena.

Kaui also noted that since he is hosting two of the Fighters at his home, he discovered that the Kwansei Gakuin is a championship team from Japan, the Fighters reigning over a 60-team league.

Included in the ranks of the Fighters, Kaui pointed out that their quarterback, Yusuke Kano, finished last year as the top QB in Japan while wide receiver Kaoru Ota earned top WR accolades.

Game format for the controlled scrimmage was designed to minimize injuries to both teams and called for Kwansei to receive and play 20 offensive plays before a short water break.

That would be followed by the Warriors executing 20 offensive plays. Second half play had no kickoff, but followed the same format.

Kano demonstrated his passing ability by connecting with several of his ends and receivers, finally striking paydirt on a hit to Keisuke Tokui for the TD, and following it up with a strike to Ota in the pocket for the PAT.

Kapa‘a answered on a Kalima Leong 20-yard hit to Ward Mikami for a TD, but Leong’s PAT fake attempt to hit Mikami for the PAT came up empty.

Katsutoshi Asaumi, the Fighters’ backup QB, took over in the second half and on a series of long passes, hit Teruhiko Inage in the end zone on a 50-yard play. The PAT kick by Yoshiki Kimura banged harmlessly off the bar for the 14-6 bulge.

Asaumi continued his aerial barrage, and a long bomb to Tokui landed the pigskin on the Warriors’ 10-yard line. The series came up empty as Kapa‘a’s Tyson Hawelu intercepted Asaumi in the end zone.

However, under the game format, Kwansei continued their drive with Satoshi Kawahara striking paydirt on a 10-yard scamper, Kimura’s kick soaring above the uprights for the 21-6 margin.

Kwansei struck again in their 20-play series with Kawahara bulling a yard for the score and Kimura upping the ante with his PAT boot, 28-6.

Alternating signal callers, Kapa‘a closed the books with their final score that came on another Mikami snag from Leong with the PAT boot coming up short, 28-12.

For the Warriors, it was an opportunity to play against one of the finest high school teams in Japan, but it also proved costly as Makana Workman suffered a knee injury.

While here, JTB coordinator Kei Shiba said the Kwansei boys are being hosted by local families through the efforts of Puna Dawson.

They leave Kaua‘i Friday for Kona where they will spend three nights before ending up for two nights on O‘ahu where the Fighters’ itinerary will have them visiting with the University of Hawai‘i Warriors practice as well as the St. Louis Crusaders practice.