The Midget division is shaping up to be very competitive, said the stadium announcer, Sunday. Following a 32-6 Lihu’e defeat at the hands of the Koloa Raiders, Sunday, Lihu’e, Koloa, and Hanapepe all share 3-1 standings. That sets up a
The Midget division is shaping up to be very competitive, said the stadium announcer, Sunday.
Following a 32-6 Lihu’e defeat at the hands of the Koloa Raiders, Sunday, Lihu’e, Koloa, and Hanapepe all share 3-1 standings. That sets up a three-way tie for the lead.
“Everyone did what they had to do,” Paul Pancho, the commissioner for the Kaua’i Pop Warner Association said following the Sunday encounter between the Raiders and Patriots.
The first step involved the Hanapepe Colts midget team exploding in the third quarter, Saturday night against the Kekaha Chargers for a 32-14 victory.
The second step involved the Koloa Raiders wrapping up their victory over Lihu’e, Sunday as the Raider defense contained the normally explosive Patriots, a key play coming in the final quarter as Patriot QB Rysan Sakamoto was shut down at the Koloa 1-yard line forcing the ball into Raider possession to run out the clock on the victory.
The Chargers, by virtue of their loss Saturday, retain sole possession of second place with Kapa’a and Northshore rounding out the standings in the Midget program.
The leaders will be in action this coming Saturday, Oct. 8 in Vidinha Stadium as the Hanapepe Colts take on the Koloa Raiders in a 10 a.m. contest. Lihu’e, the third leader, will match up with Kapa’a in a 6:15 p.m. contest.
There will be no Sunday games this weekend as the cheer squads converge at the Clem Gomes Gym in Waimea for their annual competition.
Kaua’i island cheer coordinator Jane Garma said at stake is a berth for the National Cheer Competition in Orlando, Florida for the Pee Wee squad. But, Garma added, she thinks that all of the division winners are making plans to attend the national competition once the dust settles, Sunday.
The first phase involves competition between the JPW and Pee Wee squads starting at 9:30 a.m. followed by the Midget squads’ competition starting at 12:30 p.m.
Hanapepe QB Jenzen Cacal hit Puki Delos Reyes for 15 yards, Saturday night, as the Colts broke an 8-8 halftime deadlock enroute to their win over Kekaha.
The point-after boot by Delos Reyes upped the ante 16-8 at the 3:56 mark.
Cacal pulled the Colts to the 8-all deadlock with an 8-yard keeper play, Delos Reyes booting the PAT.
Earlier, with 31 ticks remaining in the first quarter, Kekaha’s Max Agor pushed for an 11-yard score.
Hanapepe had another opportunity to break the stalemate before the half, but a strong goal line defensive stand by the Chargers held the Colts to the 1-yard stripe before losing the ball on downs.
Thirty-one seconds remained in the third quarter as Cacal engineered another Colt TD on a 49-yard aerial to Robert Head, Delos Reyes’ kick ending the quarter with a 24-8 Hanapepe bulge.
Cole Parongao opened the final period on a 6-yard paydirt plunge with Delos Reyes again kicking the PAT for the 32-6 reading.
However, Kekaha was not done as Charger quarterback Michael Acoba saved a broken play with a sizeable pickup, and capped the drive on a double reverse for 35 yards with 2:16 remaining.
Kalani Fernandez’s point-after kick attempt slapped the left goalpost for the 32-14 final reading.
Koloa Raiders opened the Sunday action as Hilton Delima-Kamai returned the opening kickoff 85 yards to paydirt as the Raiders racked up three scores in the first quarter.
The second Koloa score came on a Patriot turnover as Randy Lau plucked a Patriot pass and returned it 67 yards for the score at the 4:15 mark.
Loren Duarte, the workhorse in Koloa’s loss to Kekaha, crossed the plane on a 1-yard charge with 35 seconds remaining in the quarter. Three successful point-after boots by Trent Allianic accounted for the 24-0 lead.
Paleku Yasay answered for the Patriots in the third quarter on a 19-yard breakout, but the point-after kick failed for the 24-6 reading at the 5:18 mark.
The Lihu’e drive to paydirt was plagued with three back-to-back false start penalties, but redeemed on a long pass play that had a Koloa facemask penalty attached to it. That set up Yasay’s gallop to the rightside.
Delima-Kamai answered for Koloa with just four seconds showing in the third quarter on a 7-yard charge with Allianic’s foot nailing down the 32-6 win.
