HONOKA‘A, Hawai‘i Island — The Waimea High School football will be making an appearance on the First Hawaiian Bank Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association Division II state championship football stage on Saturday at the Mililani High School field on O‘ahu, starting at 4 p.m.
The honor of fighting for the D-II state title came Saturday night when the Menehune, seeded No. 3 in the bracket, upset the No. 2 seed Honoka‘a Dragons, 17-0 at the Dragons’ home field on Hawai‘i Island.
“This was a hard-fought game,” said Waimea coach Kylie Linoz. “We lost people to injuries. Nothing serious. Most of the injured were cleared for the second half, but we kept them out so prevent further injuries.”
Kaili Arakaki stepped up to lead the Waimea victory by, according to scoringlive.com statistics, scoring two touchdowns while piling up 102 yards of the total 257 Waimea yards gained against Honoka‘a.
Aukai Emayo, who was outstanding against the D-II first round victory at home over Kaiser High School, combined with Robbie Correa for 106 yards early in the Dragons’ contest, where the Menehune defense held Honoka‘a to just 129 yards.
“We lost Aukai in our first drive,” Linoz said. “And then we lost Robbie and Easton Moniz on the defense. It’s good for us we had other people being able to step up to fill the holes.”
Emayo and Correa set the stage for Arakaki, who lit up the scoreboards with his first of two scores, a 14-yard carry midway through the opening quarter.
Menehune kicker Haweo Akeo graced that score with the first of two successful point-after-touchdown kicks. Akeo also contributed a 38-yard field goal in the third quarter toward the 17-0 shutout.
Arakaki’s second score came with 2:23 showing on the game clock when he broke out for a 41-yard touchdown run.
Rhaziah Tacub-Taniguchi led the Waimea defensive efforts with seven tackles, followed by Kila Apuna notching five stops. Mykah Brun grabbed two Honoka‘a passes, and Brennen Fernandez notched a quarterback sack among his four tackles.
Waimea will face D-II top-seeded King Kekaulike, which was a 20-0 winner over Nanakuli on Saturday night on Maui for the D-II state title.
“This is going to be another tough game,” Linoz said. “We play the same kind of ball.”
Earlier in the year, Waimea beat King Kekaulike, 21-10, in a preseason matchup.
Tickets for the Nov. 26 contest are available through gofan.co/hhsaa.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
