HANAPEPE — Kapa‘a High School Principal Tommy John Cox was chatting with the Warrior football players during the halftime Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022, at their Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation football games contested at Hanapepe Stadium.
“If you get a pluck, I’ll get you lunch,” Cox said to senior Jayden Yamashita, who anchored the warmup and stretching line in the waning minutes of the break. “Any of the school lunches.”
“Me too?” Eli Keoho asked from the adjoining position on the stretching line.
“Nah, you’re too slow,” Cox said. “They’re going to take you down from behind.”
Two plays into the third quarter, Keoho rose to pluck a Waimea aerial. He broke a tackle and romped some 40 yards with the pigskin to give Kapa‘a its 24-6 win over Waimea High in a game where the crowd was teased with raindrops from the threatening clouds hanging over the Kalaheo plateau.
“This is something I’m going to have to live with for a long time,” Cox said as the Warrior trotted off the field with a huge smile.
Kapa‘a opened the gates to Hanapepe Stadium with a touchdown on its first possession, but not before getting second life on a fumble recovery.
Facing a fourth-and-one, the Warriors attempted to gain the new down before a field infraction forced them to punt. Waimea partially blocked the punt, but Kapa‘a recovered for renewed life that was hampered when the Warrior quarterback Kapono Na-O was sent off the field with an injury.
Evan Daligdig took the helm and connected with Canaan Coleman on a 47-yard scoring pass, the Kapa‘a receiver going down in the end zone and never getting up with 7:41 showing in the first quarter.
Waimea answered on the ensuing possession when Menehune quarterback Kameron Apilado recovered a fumble and returned the ball 24 yards for score with 5:22 remaining in the first period of play.
The defensive slugfest continued into the second period when the Warriors settled for a Christopher Rapozo field goal from the Waimea 6-yard line.
Driving to the Kapa‘a 17-yard line on the ensuing possession, Waimea attempted a field goal that went right of the uprights to settle for a 9-6 deficit with 7:44 showing before the break.
That was a lot of time for Kapa‘a to chew up the clock on the ground, with Kapono Na-O doing most of the footwork and capping the drive on a 1-yard dive into the end zone. Rapozo made the point-after kick for the 16-6 bulge at the break.
Following Keoho’s touchdown in the third quarter, Waimea launched its own threatening drive, only to have the effort stymied when Apilado lost the ball on the Kapa‘a 14-yard stripe.
Kapa‘a took its turn, and with the ball-carrying efforts of Waikahekili Makepa and Keanu Na-O, actually found the end zone on a Keanu Na-O 11-yard carry, only to have a holding field infraction call the ball back. That second effort came up short as time ran out.
Earlier, Kapa‘a’s junior varsity walked off with a 13-7 win on an intercepted pass that gave the JV Warriors its go-ahead in the second half.
KIF football takes the fall break and will return Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022, when Kapa‘a travels to Vidinha Stadium in Lihu‘e to face Kaua‘i High. The JV contest is scheduled to kick off at noon, followed by the varsity contest starting 30 minutes following the completion of the JV game.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
