HANAPEPE — A Waimea High touchdown in the third quarter prevented the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation football game on Saturday from being a 0-0 event at Hanapepe Stadium.
Menehune Haweo Akeo did it all, finishing the homecoming and senior night game with two pass interceptions, pulling in a scoring pass, and icing the score with the point-after touchdown boot with a little more than two minutes showing in the third frame.
Kaua‘i High had its share of takeaways when Austin Renaud picked off a Waimea pass in the Menehune’s first possession of the contest that played out before a strong Menehune home crowd to celebrate not only its football program, but the homecoming royalty and class representatives of Homecoming Queen Kayla Perdue.
The Menehune took possession inside the Kaua‘i midstripe before Renaud went up to pluck the Waimea airball and run 20 yards to pay dirt, only to have the score nullified on a blocking-behind-the-back infraction against the Raiders.
Kaua‘i High took control of the ball on the Menehune 25-yard line, and on the drive to the end zone, Akeo plucked a Racen Pegeder air ball, his first of two in the game, in the end zone to snuff the drive.
In the second quarter, Waimea was moving again after quarterback Kameron Apilado peeled off a 62-yard keeper on the Menehune’s second touch in the frame, only to have another blocking-behind-the-back foul nullify the effort. The callback to the Kaua‘i High 35-yard line ended when Kaua‘i High’s Isaiah Lacambra wrapped himself around an Apilado air ball inside the Kaua‘i High 20-yard stripe.
Two plays later, Akeo snagged his second interception deep in Menehune land before the clock ran out.
Coming off the break and facing a third-and-12, Waimea finally hit pay dirt when Apilado connected with Akeo on a 12-yard scoring pass following a Red Raider infraction that moved the pigskin to striking distance on the Kaua‘i High 11-yard line. Akeo’s PAT boot tripped the scoreboard to the 7-0 bulge that proved to be the final arithmetic following a scoreless fourth quarter.
Menehune senior Josiah Banasihan plucked another Pegeder air ball with 8:27 showing on the game clock, but Waimea was not able to capitalize as the fourth-down field-goal attempt from the Kaua‘i High 17-yard line went wide right.
The earlier 29-0 Waimea win in the junior varsity contest completed the Menehune sweep at its Homecoming and Senior Night games.
Waimea will make the trek on Saturday for the final KIF football game at the Bryan J. Baptiste Sports Complex stadium, where the Menehune will face Kapa‘a, which will celebrate its Senior Night.
Kickoff for the junior varsity game is scheduled for noon, with the varsity contest kicking off 30 minutes following the end 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.
