• Pigskin to da max!
Pigskin to da max!
By Duane Shimogawa Jr. – The Garden Island
Instead of pidgin’ to the max, this weekend was pigskin to the max, meaning that if there’s a signal that football season has arrived, then let this past weekend be the glaring light. Or if you need another reminder, just look to the right of this column.
Friday night started the football feast off with two KIF pre-season contests, one at Vidinha between Kaua‘i High School and West Hills and one at Hanapepe Stadium featuring Waimea High School and Valley Center.
Both games ended decidedly in the favor of the teams from the Golden State, but the Aloha State teams showed signs of life towards the end of the competitions. If the Red Raiders and Menehune counted only the second haf of both of their contests, then the games would be much closer.
For example, Kaua‘i was only outscored by a point in the second half against West Hills (14-13). Against Valley Center, Waimea was only down by a touchdown in the second half (14-7). Of course, the two California squads put in their second or third string players in the during the second half, but it was still a good sign for the two Kaua‘i teams on Friday night, who both put up fights all the way till the end.
Kaua‘i’s Brendan Young and Micah “Da Machine” Alayvilla, who were both on last year’s undefeated KIF champion JV squad, scored the only TD’s for the Red Raiders.
Meanwhile in Hanapepe, Alan-Michael Gaspar managed to erase the goose egg from the scoreboard for Waimea. Gaspar’s 2-yard pass to Regal Carveiro erupted a less-than-jubilant Menehune crowd.
On Saturday, the Kapa‘a Warriors officially ended the KIF preseason schedule against Bonita Vista. Early Saturday morning, the aspiring KIF football players and cheerleaders of the Kaua‘i Pop Warner Football League kicked off its season at Hanapepe Stadium, with its annual Jamboree.
This year is very special for the KPWFL because this season is dedicated to the late Glen Gaspar, a longtime coach in the Hanapepe organization and Leon Gonsalves, former league commissioner and Koloa coach.
Both of these gentlemen have given countless hours of service to the KPWFL and why do they do it? Well it’s simple; they love to give back to the community and they especially love our youths that look up to them and enjoy the benefits from their many efforts. I do have to mention that I wasn’t supposed to say anything about Gonsalves being honored. It was supposed to be a secret, but in Friday’s sports section, I leaked the information (sorry Paul)!
Nonetheless, both Gaspar and Gonsalves, surprised or not, are both worthy of the distinction that they garnered on Saturday.
Speaking of surprised, for one half, the University of Hawai‘i football team surprised me by staying within the 20 point mark against USC, the two-time defending national champions, who could probably beat the San Francisco 49ers, were favored by 35-plus points in the game.
I was expecting a score of 52-10 at the half, but when the scoreboard read, 21-3, I had to look twice.
However, as expected, the Trojans exploded in the second half and easily covered the spread. The schedule for UH doesn’t get any easier, as they travel to East Lansing to battle the Michigan St. Spartans, who are looking for revenge, after the Warriors (with Timmy Chang and Chad Owens) nipped them late last season.
Thursday signals the start of the NFL season, which will officially fill up the football plate!
