LIHUE — A huge fourth-
quarter offensive showing clinched the Red Raiders the regular season opener.
Kauai High School’s varsity football team defeated Waimea High School, 32-0, Friday night at Vidinha Stadium.
“Coming in tonight, I really didn’t know what to expect. With all this craziness with the storm threat last week and throwing our schedule back a week, it threw us for a loop,” said Kauai varsity head coach Jason Apilado. “Practices were challenging. I’ll be the first one to admit they were not the best practices just because we were thrown off our rhythm for a bit. The kids turned it around toward the end of the week.
“They knew what they had to do coming into tonight, and they knew what they were facing. For me, the biggest concern — being a Waimea alumni and knowing the style of play that Waimea does play — you cannot let down your guard. They’ll just keep pounding away. … At the end of the night, the kids pulled it together.”
Kauai (3-0, 1-0 KIF) totaled 268 rushing yards and had three rushing touchdowns.
Red Raiders senior running back Austin Paresa had the lion’s share of the work load, totaling 86 yards rushing on 14 carries and had one rushing touchdown. He also led the team in receiving with four catches for 67 yards.
Red Raiders senior rusher Bryceson Abigania amassed 61 yards rushing on 10 carries, and senior rusher Hoku Parbo had 58 yards rushing on five carries with one touchdown.
Kauai held just a 10-0 lead going into the fourth quarter.
In the final quarter, Paresa and Parbo each punched in a touchdown run in the red zone. Also, Red Raiders senior receiver Logan Noice hauled in a 26-yard touchdown reception from senior quarterback Tyler Oshima.
Oshima was 8-15 for 129 yards passing, one touchdown and one interception.
Kauai, though, was penalized 13 times in the game. In the final drive of the second quarter, Kauai was penalized three times consecutively.
Waimea was penalized just three times.
“It stalled drives. It put out of field position many times. It changes your way of thinking of what to do next, and you got to think on the fly,” Apilado said. “Point taken. We’re going to go back to the drawing board. A lot of holding calls were made. We have to work on fundamentals and our technique. Hopefully by next week, we’ll have a better showing and cut down on the yellow flags.”
Waimea (1-2, 0-1 KIF) had a tough time sustaining drives on offense.
Menehune junior rusher Kawelo Huddy ended the game with 29 yards rushing on 14 carries. His best run of the night was a 15-yard burst.
Defensively for Waimea, Menehune junior linebacker Cory Soares led the team with five tackles, one interception and one fumble recovery.
Waimea varsity head coach Jason Caldeira was not available for comment following the game.
Kauai High School also won the junior varsity game, 21-7.
Kauai will play Kapaa High School (1-1) on Friday at Vidinha Stadium. The JV game will begin 5 p.m. and the varsity will follow.
Waimea will next play on Sept. 14. The Menehune will host Kapaa at Hanapepe Stadium.
Scoring summary
1st quarter
01:17 KAUAI Tyler Oshima 1-yard run, Kaylee Alapai PAT good, 7-0 Kauai
2nd quarter
09:04 Kaylee Alapai 25-yard field goal, 10-0 Kauai
4th quarter
09:00 KAUAI Austin Paresa 1-yard run, Kaylee Alapai PAT good, 17-0 Kauai
05:36 KAUAI Logan Noice 26-yard reception from Tyler Oshima, 2-point conversion good, 25-0 Kauai
02:26 KAUAI Hoku Parbo 5-yard run, Kaylee Alapai PAT good, 32-0 Kauai
Stat leaders
Kauai
Passing: Tyler Oshima, 8-15, 129 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception
Rushing: Austin Paresa, 14 carries, 86 yards, 1 touchdown
Receiving: Austin Paresa, 4 reception, 67 yards
Defense: Bradshaw Soboloski, 4 tackles, 1 sack
Waimea
Passing: Lacin Montemayor, 3-10, 20 yards
Rushing: Kawelo Huddy, 14 carries, 29 yards
Receiving: Makoa Vanaman, 1 reception, 10 yards
Defense: Cory Soares, 5 tackles, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery
•••
Nick Celario, sports writer, can be reached at 245-0437 or ncelario@thegardenisland.com.
