HANAPEPE — A pretty-good sized crowd at Hanapepe Stadium witnessed a bigger than normal Menehune squad at their annual blue and white spring football game on Friday night. “It went alright; we have lots of things to improve on, but
HANAPEPE — A pretty-good sized crowd at Hanapepe Stadium witnessed a bigger than normal Menehune squad at their annual blue and white spring football game on Friday night.
“It went alright; we have lots of things to improve on, but we might have a little more depth this season and I’m very impressed with our junior varsity squad,” Waimea head coach Liko Perreira said.
Menehune athletic director Jon Kobayashi and his crew made the night festive with lucky number drawings, which included a trip to Las Vegas.
“Coach Jon and his staff did a great job and not only with the lucky number drawing, but with the cooking of the food as well,” Perreira said.
Waimea assistant coaches Teddy Arroyo, Billy DeCosta, Billy Rodrigues, Jarvin Peralta, Bob Saligumba, and Mason Moriguchi manned the sidelines for the blue and white squads.
The junior varsity team, along with a sprinkle of varsity players, took to the field in the first quarter. Then the varsity squad battled the rest of the way in the remaining three eight-minute periods.
The familiar voice of John Moniz filled Hanapepe Stadium air with the pubic address announcing duties.
But one name and number seemed to dominate the varsity scrimmage throughout the night.
“Kenny’s (Estes) going to be one of our running threats and he’ll also be our strong safety,” Perreira said.
Last season as a junior, Estes, who led Waimea past the defending KIF champion Red Raider squad, went down with a collar bone injury, which slowed down the Menehune in their quest to bring back the title to the westside.
“We also got a few other good backs in Daniel Lizama and Oni Smith; plus we have some kids who didn’t play last year, but came out this season in Bryson Andaya, Ian Amake, Matthew Dela Cruz, and Dustin Rita,” Perreira said.
The Menehune head man also mentioned to look out for stand-out lineman John Henriques, who should anchor both the defensive and offensive lines.
But probably the best thing about this year’s Menehune squad is the fact that more kids than usual turned out for the “Big Blue Machine.”
“I think we got a lot more younger guys coming out and coach DeCosta did a lot of recruiting during the summer and other coaches also went out earlier in the year to recruit,” Perreira said.
It’s been two long years since the KIF title mirrored blue and white, but Perreira and his staff have some keys that should get them back to the promised land.
“We have to control the ball and limit both Kapa‘a’s and Kaua‘i’s time on the field; special teams and defense are also big keys for us, but our offensive line has to do well too,” Perreira said.
Kaua‘i held its annual red and white game at Vidinha Stadium on Friday and Kapa‘a will not be having a spring contest this year.
