LIHU‘E — Saturday’s game at Vidinha Stadium between the Kapa‘a Warriors and the Kaua‘i High School Red Raiders would determine who would grab first place, at least for the time being. The game proved to be a battle — especially
LIHU‘E — Saturday’s game at Vidinha Stadium between the Kapa‘a Warriors and the Kaua‘i High School Red Raiders would determine who would grab first place, at least for the time being. The game proved to be a battle — especially defensively, through the first half of play. The Red Raiders would find ways to move the ball pretty consistently throughout the game and its defense played outstanding, pitching a 16-0 shutout win over the Warriors.
Kaua‘i opened the game on an impressive 16-play, 67-yard drive, which culminated in a Grant Basquez 30-yard field goal leaving the Red Raiders with the early 3-0 lead. The drive took approximately nine minutes off of the clock in the first quarter. Time of possession would be a factor that heavily favored Kaua‘i in the game as the Red Raiders had the ball for more than 31 minutes to the Warriors 17 minutes.
Kapa‘a had a chance to tie the game early in the second quarter as the team was going to attempt a field goal, however a mishandled handled snap would not allow kicker Jonathan Paleka to get a kick off, which would allow the Red Raiders to take over on downs. The missed opportunity plus solid defensive play from the sides would leave the score at 3-0 through one half of play.
The Red Raiders would eventually strike again on a 5-play, 80-yard drive with the bulk of the work being down by a 33-yard touchdown run by running back Waika Alapai. Kaua‘i would miss the extra point leaving the score 9-0 in favor of the Red Raiders.
Alapai would finish with an impressive clip of six carries for 86-yards and a touchdown, Alapai also contributed on the defensive side of the ball with 2 tackles including a sack.
The Warriors were on the other end of the rushing spectrum, never establishing the ability to move the ball on the ground.
“Offensively we need to find our run game again,” said Kapa‘a Head Coach Keli‘i Morgado. “Our pass game was OK but not as sharp as we need to be.”
The stifled running game was not due to lack of trying as the Warriors would have an almost 50-50 run to pass ratio on the night, however the Red Raider defense caused havoc in the backfield, which is what limited the Warrior rushing game.
“We have been focusing on defense,” said Kaua‘i Head Coach Cory Aguano. “The kids stepped up, they started believing in themselves, and they had to believe in themselves to come into this game.”
Quarterback Fresno Masaniai finished with 139-yard passing on 10 of 19 attempts, but also threw 2 interceptions on the night. His big play target down the field often was wide receiver Reece Hickse-Whetsel who finished with four receptions for 82 yards.
On the other side, Red Raider quarterback Trey Aguano ended the night with 108-yards through the air on 11 of 15 attempts, and he also contributed to the Kaua‘i rushing attack finishing with 40-yards on the ground.
The Red Raiders would finish with 225-yards of total team rushing on the night, including two touchdowns.
“The offensive line gets the most criticism from me,” Aguano said. “They played outstanding tonight, they get the most yells from me every day but they proved it today, so I have to give them props for that.”
The Red Raider offense would put the cherry on top of its night late in the fourth quarter with a 7-yard touchdown run from running back Reggie McFadden, Basquez converted the extra point and would leave the score 16-0, which is how it ended.
McFadden finished with 38-yards on the ground and the touchdown.
The Kapa‘a defense played well for the majority of the night not giving up many big plays, and kept the Warriors in the game throughout.
“We improved against the run compared to the Waimea game,” Morgado said. “Overall our defense played pretty good. Their offense just out played our defense”
Kaua‘i will enter its bye week with a 3-1 record and a grasp on first place, the Red Raiders did lose another player to injury as Enoka Baclayon went down with a broken collarbone.
“It’s huge (getting the win going into the bye),” Aguano said. “We lost another defensive lineman today, but these kids have been stepping up and filling in nicely, unfortunately it’s part of the game.”
Kapa‘a falls to 1-2 on the year as they prepare to take on the Waimea Menehune (1-2) Saturday at Vidinha Stadium at 3 p.m.
“We need to create a sense of urgency,” Morgado said. “We are in pretty much must win situations from here on out if we want to win a championship”
Morgado would go on to pose a question to his players and staff after the game.
“I asked our players and coaches after the game how are you going to respond to this?,” Morgado said. “It is not the time to panic, we need to approach this differently.”
In junior varsity action, the Kapa‘a Warriors went on to beat the Kaua‘i Red Raiders in dramatic fashion off of a 33-yard field goal from Caleb Neuman with six seconds left, which left the score 25-24 in Favor of the Warriors.
Quarterback Shain Davis had a nice game for the Warriors both on the ground and in the air, which included a pair of touchdown runs including one late in the fourth quarter, which would put the Warriors down 24-22.
Kapa‘a would go on to recover an onside attempt, which would eventually set up the Neuman field goal.
Kaua‘i got solid play from Lankila Wilson who contributed with a 30-yard touchdown run. On defense Shaedon Tallano returned a fumble for a touchdown, which gave the Red Raiders a lead mid-way through the game.
Both Kapa‘a and Kaua‘i will face off again Saturday at noon at Vidinha Stadium.
• Rick Killeen, sports writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or sports@thegardenisland.com.
