HANAPEPE — Cy Corona got beat, but he more than made up for it. After getting burned on a passing play, Corona caught up to the Kapa‘a receiver and forced a fumble that helped Waimea beat the Warriors, 21-14, Saturday
HANAPEPE — Cy Corona got beat, but he more than made up for it.
After getting burned on a passing play, Corona caught up to the Kapa‘a receiver and forced a fumble that helped Waimea beat the Warriors, 21-14, Saturday night at Hanapepe Stadium.
After a quiet first three quarters, Warrior quarterback John Das put his team on his shoulders in the fourth quarter. Following a 30-yard touchdown pass from Elika Emayo to Jonathan Tangalin that put the Menehune up 21-7, Das took over.
Das led the Warriors down field, and with the ball on the Menehune 40 yard line, he went deep to receiver Reese Hicks-Whetsel.
Hicks-Whetsel had separated from Corona, and when he caught the ball there was nothing between him and 6 points. But as Hicks-Whetsel closed in on the endzone, Corona put on the jets.
Corona caught Hicks-Whetsel right before the endzone, dove, and punched the ball out. The ball bounced to the back of the endzone for a touchback and the Menehune took over possession on their own 20-yard line.
“He got burnt but he trusted in his speed and made that play all on his own,” Waimea head coach Keali‘i Aguiar said. “That play was all Cy Corona.”
Corona caught up to play without Hicks-Whetsel letting up. Kapa‘a head coach Keli‘i Morgado said his receiver was pushing towards the endzone and fell victim to a great play.
“That was a good heads up play by the defense,” Morgado said. “It was a textbook play.”
The play temporarily stalled Das, but the Warrior junior couldn’t be cooled in the second half.
The Warriors forced a Menehune punt and Das led the Warriors on a scoring drive where he had a 16 yard run, 10 and 12-yard pass completions and capped it with a 10-yard touchdown run to bring the game within a score at 14-21.
“I don’t know how you stop that guy,” Aguiar said of Das. “He’s the Hawai‘ian version of Michael Vick. You have to try to corral him but it’s hard.”
Midway through the fourth quarter the Warriors forced another Menehune punt and once again Das led Kapa‘a to the redzone. On third-and-two with the ball on the seven yard line and 1:30 left in the game, Das pushed through the Waimea line and found himself heading toward the endzone. But just as Das was about to cross the plain, the Waimea defense finally stopped him.
The Menehune swarmed the quarterback, and as he was brought down the ball squirted out, went through the endzone, and once again was called a touchback for the Menehune.
“I’ve never seen two touchbacks like that before,” Morgado said. “Unfortunately I had to see it tonight.”
Waimea took over and let the clock run out to win the game.
The Menehune took the lead early in the game with a textbook Waimea score: a 5-yard run up the gut by Devan Banasihan Kenney.
Waimea stuck to its ground attack throughout the game, but the success on the turf opened up the sky. The Menehune only attempted six passes in the game, but they completed five of them. The Menehune air-attack was best highlighted by a 71-yard touchdown pass by Niko Delos Reyes to Tangalin midway through the second quarter to put the Menehune up 14-0. It was Tangalin’s second touchdown reception of the game.
“We firmly believe the run sets up the pass,” Aguiar said. “We give it to the offensive line to let us pound the rock. Then we give it up to our quarterbacks and receivers for throwing and catching the ball.”
Das added a 26-yard touchdown pass to Kaikea Sonoda in the third quarter to bring the game within a score.
Das finished with 158 yards through the air and 48 on the ground.
A scary moment happened in the fourth quarter at the tail end of the Das fumble that led to the touchback. Kapa‘a center Austyn Pagtolingan drove his neck into the ground at the end of the play and stayed on the turf for over 10 minutes. Pagtolingan was put onto a stretcher and taken to the hospital.
Morgado said Pagtolingan was moving his arms and legs and was taken to the hospital only for precautionary measures.
With the win, the Menehune improved to 3-1 in the KIF season. The loss dropped the Warriors to 1-1.
In JV action, the Warriors beat the Menehune 48-0.
• Tyson Alger, sports writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or by emailing talger@ thegardenisland.com. Follow him on twitter.com/tysonalger.
