LIHUE — The Warriors delivered for the home fans on the school’s homecoming. Kapaa High School’s varsity football team defeated Waimea, 68-0, Friday evening at Vidinha Stadium. “I think we played well tonight. A lot better than we did the
LIHUE — The Warriors delivered for the home fans on the school’s homecoming.
Kapaa High School’s varsity football team defeated Waimea, 68-0, Friday evening at Vidinha Stadium.
“I think we played well tonight. A lot better than we did the other week,” said Kapaa head coach Philip Rapozo. “Still have things to work on, believe it or not. That’s football. But very, very happy with the outcome.”
Kapaa (4-0, 2-0 KIF) scored early and often, starting the first quarter with a 8-yard touchdown run by senior running back Kekoa Kaluahine-Cacal. The drive was set up by an interception by senior defensive back Davey Joel. The Warriors led 38-0 at halftime.
Warriors junior quarterback Kurt Napoleon opened the third quarter with two consecutive passes to junior receiver Kaohu Gutierrez-Kelly, the latter being a 30-yard touchdown toss.
Napoleon ended the night 9-20 with 220 yards passing and four touchdowns.
“Hard work. These kids worked really hard. Our coaches worked really hard,” Rapozo said. “We got these guys focused. We got them committed, which I was hoping for. Now, we’re on our way. If we keep this up, we’ll be fine.”
Mishaps on Waimea’s part — three fumbles, two interceptions, a blocked punt and a safety — led to 48 of Kapaa’s points.
“Chemistry. Everybody is trusting each other, having faith in each other and doing our assignments,” said Warriors senior linebacker Mosese Fifita about the defense’s performance. “Everybody knows what to do and everybody is doing pretty good.”
“It means a lot because it’s my last one,” he added about the win on homecoming night. “I’m happy for this team and happy for this win.”
Menehune head coach Jason Caldeira said he was let down, not so much because of the score, but because he expected more fervor from his team.
“Just extremely disappointed with the effort overall. I take full blame as the head coach. It starts with me,” Caldeira said. “It’s one of those things where you got to go back, watch the film and look for whatever bright spots there were and work on those. We got a lot of mistakes to clean up. Again, it starts with us coaches. We just got to come back and work harder.”
As for the turnovers, Caldeira said Kapaa made it happen because one of its coaches, defensive coordinator Mike Tresler, is “one of the best defensive minds in the state.”
“You can’t see it as something bad to go against him. It’s a blessing because a coach like that will make you work harder and make you a better coach,” he said. “They’re well-disciplined — they swarmed the ball, they play hard and they play as a unit. That’s where we want to be, and we can learn a lot from these guys.”
Kapaa will play at Vidinha Stadium Saturday afternoon against Kauai (0-4, 0-2 KIF). The junior varsity game will begin at 12 p.m. and the varsity will follow.
Waimea (3-2, 1-1 KIF) will next play on Saturday, Sept. 26 versus Kauai at Vidinha Stadium.
1st quarter
10:33 KAPAA Kekoa Kaluahine-Cacal 8-yard run, Clifton Oliver PAT no good, 6-0
05:33 KAPAA Leighton Moniz 27-yard reception from Kurt Napoleon, 2-point conversion good, 14-0
2nd quarter
08:01 KAPAA Trestin Alfiler fumble recovered in endzone, Clifton Oliver PAT good, 21-0
05:17 KAPAA Clifton Oliver 34-yard field goal, 24-0
01:36 KAPAA Justin DeForge 35-yard reception from Kurt Napoleon, Clifton Oliver PAT good, 31-0
01:11 KAPAA Justin DeForge 24-yard reception from Kurt Napoleon, Clifton Oliver PAT good, 38-0
3rd quarter
11:23 KAPAA Kaohu Gutierrez-Kelly 30-yard reception from Kurt Napoleon, Clifton Oliver PAT good, 45-0
09:35 KAPAA Kekoa Kaluahine-Cacal 5-yard run, Clifton Oliver PAT good, 52-0
06:48 KAPAA Nehemaia Kafoa 1-yard run, Clifton Oliver PAT good, 59-0
03:49 KAPAA safety, 61-0
01:40 KAPAA Gabe Keener 9-yard reception from Kurt Napoleon, Clifton Oliver PAT good, 68-0
STAT LEADERS
Kapaa
Passing: Kurt Napoleon, 9-20, 220 yards, 4 touchdowns
Rushing: 14 carries, 123 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 fumble
Receiving: Justin DeForge, 2 receptions, 59 yards, 2 touchdowns
Defense: Mosese Fifita: 4 tackles, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery
Waimea
Passing: Keaka Wisneski, 0-8, 3 interceptions
Rushing: Kailen Simao-Castillo, 11 carries, 19 yards
Receiving: Connor Donaher, 1 reception, 13 yards
Defense: Alika Ventura, 4 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 pass deflection
