The Waimea Menehune opened up their 2009 campaign with an up-and-down performance against a Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy team that seemed to get stronger as the game progressed. In the end, HPA came away with the 14-6 victory, Friday night at
The Waimea Menehune opened up their 2009 campaign with an up-and-down performance against a Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy team that seemed to get stronger as the game progressed. In the end, HPA came away with the 14-6 victory, Friday night at Hanapepe Stadium.
There were plenty of positives on the night for Waimea, which started off strong and had the running game clicking for much of the night, thanks to Ikaika Rapacon, the team’s workhorse running back. Rapacon was the key to Waimea’s sustained drives and scored the offense’s lone touchdown on an 8-yard scamper to cap a 16-play drive in the first quarter. The powerful back tallied 104 rushing yards on the night.
That sort of sustained offensive attack answered some early questions about what type of team the Menehune would be this season. Quarterback James Dupree looked comfortable moving the team down the field with a short passing attack, using many of his options and utilizing routes out of the backfield. Alex Palacio and Dylan Ishihara were frequently targeted wide receivers.
Defensively, the Menehune front seven looked stingy in the early going, sniffing out a number of HPA run plays in the backfield. On its second defensive series, linebacker Gavin Jardin put a big hit on the HPA ball carrier and jarred the ball loose. It was scooped up by linebacker Sandy Aviguetero at the HPA 26-yard line.
The offense moved to the 8-yard line, where coach Keali‘i Aguiar elected to go for it on a 4th and 3. Rapacon got the handoff and plowed ahead, but was stopped a yard short of the first down.
HPA then took over on its own 6-yard line and marched downfield with a 15-play drive. They reached the Waimea 11-yard line and faced a 4th and 9. The offense rushed to the line, trying to catch the Waimea defense off guard, and running back Keoni Colson ran it left off-tackle for the tying score. The extra point gave the Ka Makani a 7-6 lead.
Colson did most of the work for HPA throughout the night, with the team using a mostly traditional one-back set.
In the second half, Waimea’s backup quarterback Jenzen Cacal came in to lead the offense. His first pass attempt was not what the Menehune had counted on, when the Ka Makina defensive back stepped in front of the bullet pass and ended up with a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown. The extra point made it 14-6.
Cacal threw another pick in the third quarter, on a ball that was deflected by a reaching defensive lineman.
Defensively for Waimea, linebacker Micah Matsushima was a standout, coming up with big hits and a number of tackles for loss. Jardin was also a ballhawk and flying around the field. Defensive lineman Kainoa Barino created solid push and found himself making stops in the backfield throughout the night.
“I thought we started the game off working hard, but we sort of fizzled at the end,” said Coach Aguiar after the contest. “We started making some bad decisions.”
The first-year head coach expressed his congratulations to the HPA team.
“I can’t take anything away from HPA,” he said. “They’re tough and the coaches had them ready to play. They executed well and we didn’t do that.”
Waimea will next take on Maui High School at 7 p.m. on Aug. 29 on Maui.
