Kapaa’s Napoleon, Texeira given POY honors
KAPAA — As voted for by the coaches, this year’s Kauai Interscholastic Federation football all-stars have been named.
The list of high school standouts were released late Tuesday afternoon. A majority of the list is comprised of players from this year’s KIF winner, Kapaa High School.
Sixteen Warriors were named on the list.
“It’s great. These kids deserve it,” Kapaa head coach Philip Rapozo said during Wednesday’s practice at the school. “Kids on the other teams also deserved to be all-stars. That’s just how the voting goes. Some guys get left out that deserve to be there. But I think the guys that are on it, they deserve to be there.”
Of the Warriors all-stars, two stood out most.
Senior quarterback Kurt Napoleon won Offensive Player of the Year. It is Napoleon’s second-consecutive year receiving the Offensive POY award.
Napoleon was not available during Wednesday’s practice.
“He helped the team in all aspects of the offense,” Rapozo said of Napoleon. “He did some punting. He threw for some touchdowns, ran for some touchdowns and caught some touchdowns.”
Warriors senior defensive lineman Kapena Texeira won Defensive Player of the Year.
Texeira said his season could have went better, but he’s happy the “hard work paid off.”
“It’s just a blessing. (We’re) out here work trying to work hard, and it (the award) came,” he said.
Rapozo said about Texeira: “Kapena, he’s had three really good years. But just this year, he was the best. In the past, he could have been the Defensive Player of the Year. Like last year, but he got beat out by a teammate who was really good, too. I’m glad he got his due.”
Rapozo also won Coach of the Year. It was his third-consecutive Coach of the Year award after his program won three straight KIF championships.
Waimea has four players on the all-star list.
“Well-deserved. I wish we could have got more guys on there,” said Waimea head coach Jason Caldeira. “I know we didn’t have the best record or anything like that, but I feel like we have a lot of all-star quality players on our team also. But it’s hard to choose between three teams. So, congratulations to all the players that made it.”
Menehune senior Cody Taniguchi was named twice on the list as both the offensive and defensive utility player. He played both running back and defensive back for Waimea.
“That’s awesome,” Taniguchi said. “I didn’t think that was possible, actually. One was good enough, but two is better. … It’s good because we practiced really hard this year. We feel accomplished.”
Caldeira said about Taniguchi: “I’m very glad he got the respect he deserved on both sides of the ball. I’m very proud of the way he performed this season. I’m just privileged to be a part of it, and I wish him the best of luck with his future. I hope he keeps it up and keeps making everybody proud.”
Kauai High has six players on the list this year.
Among them are two Red Raiders receivers: senior Jasper Jacinto and junior Jaykob Nakaahiki-Young.
“Well, they work hard,” said Kauai head coach Derek Borrero. “As I look at all of these guys, I think it’s deserved. They worked really hard and did everything we asked.”
Offensive linemen
Morris Unutoa, Kapaa, senior
Mikela Matayoshi, Kapaa, senior
Justin Fernandez, Waimea, senior
Robert Jon Garcia, Kapaa, junior
Taylor Barroga, Kauai, senior
Receivers
Gabriel Keener, Kapaa, senior
Jaykob Nakaahiki-Young, Kauai, junior
Makena Tabura, Kapaa, senior
Jasper Jacinto, Kauai, senior
Running back
Leighton Moniz, Kapaa, senior
Quarterback
Kurt Napoleon, Kapaa, senior
Kicker
Clifton Oliver, Kapaa, senior
Special teams
Izaya Valeria, Kapaa, senior
Offensive utility
Cody Taniguchi, Waimea, senior
Defensive linemen
Noah Simao-Raposas, Waimea, junior
Kapena Texeira, Kapaa, senior
Ikona Fernandez, Kapaa, senior
Franklin Passi, Kauai, senior
Linebackers
Jayson Hawthorne, Kapaa, senior
Mana Kupihea, Kapaa, senior
Waika Corr, Waimea, senior
Defensive backs
Dillon Apilado, Kapaa, senior
Edward Bernabe, Kapaa, senior
Christian Manera, Kauai, junior
Dusten Ramseyer-Burdett, Kapaa, junior
Punter
Kamuela Numazawa, Kauai, senior
Defensive utility
Cody Taniguchi, Waimea, senior
Offensive Player of the Year
Kurt Napoleon, Kapaa, senior
Defensive Player of the Year
Kapena Texeira, Kapaa, senior
Coach of the Year
Philip Rapozo, Kapaa