Derek Borrero knew there would be bumps in the road in his attempt to drive the Kaua‘i High School Red Raiders to another Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation championship. The first was when Borrero had to unify his team after the spring
Derek Borrero knew there would be bumps in the road in his attempt to drive the Kaua‘i High School Red Raiders to another Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation championship.
The first was when Borrero had to unify his team after the spring controversy. The former junior varsity coach was offered to take over a winning program at Kaua‘i High School after a long reign by Kelii Morgado, much to the dismay of players and parents.
But after a summer of practicing and team meetings, the Raiders were right on top of things and things were back to normal. Players were once again dedicated to the sport.
They breezed through a successful preseason against out of conference teams and came up with a huge win over Kapa‘a High School for their regular-season opener.
Then came the second bump: Waimea High School. The two schools have been battling for the championship for decades and, this year, it looked as though the Menehune had it out for the Raiders.
Looking to retain KIF dominance, the Menehune handed the Raiders its first KIF loss by winning their first matchup 16-14. The mood around the players was down.
“Everything was fine until we lost against Waimea,” Borrero said. “I heard whispers around the team of kids saying ‘I wish coach Morgado was back.’ I knew that was going to happen because these kids don’t know how to lose. But I understand that because they’re human.”
None of that bothered him at all.
“It’s normal,” he said. “I knew it was going to happen before it did. This same thing happened to me when I was a senior. We had won two championships, then we lost.”
Rather than sulk, the players opted for a reality check and confided in Borrero.
“They came to me and said ‘Coach, we don’t want to lose.’ Then I asked them, ‘You really don’t want to lose? Then here’s what we do. We have to do it this way.’ I laid it out for them,” he said.
The team embraced his plan and on its next two meetings against Waimea, got just what they wanted.
On Oct. 5, Kaua‘i got the win it needed to even the playing field when the Raiders beat Waimea 21-7.
Quarterback Andrew Renaud was 11-for-18 for 212 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Wide receiver Tyrus Ceria-Lux ran for an 87-yard touchdown and was 2-for-2 in extra points.
The championship game came on Waimea’s homecoming night, but Kaua‘i wanted that fifth title and did it with quarterback Trent Allianic. In his first start of the season, Allianic was the team’s leading rusher with 10 carries for 47 yards.
Kaua‘i won 14-10 and earned another berth for the First Hawaiian Bank Division II State Football Championship.
“The pressure, I put on myself,” Borrero said. “I really wanted a championship. It would’ve been a shame, having had these kids from the junior varsity level, a team that’s always known winning, and to not have that. We needed to show the community that with all their support they’ve given us throughout the season, that we’re all right. This is a good place to be and a good program to be a part of.”
Athletic director Ross Shimabukuro has noticed the players have a positive attitude now.
“I knew (Borrero) would do a good job,” Shimabukuro said. “He’s one of the most dedicated coaches I’ve ever seen.”
Although this is Borrero’s first season as the varsity head coach, he has experience at the state championship level.
“I’ve been a part of the state for several years as an assistant coach, and our assistants and JV coaches are considered varsity coaches. So what was easy for us is that, when we won the championship, we knew exactly what we had to do,” Borrero said.
The coaches immediately started gathering film on the other teams and began the post-season scheduling process.
The next obstacle for the third-ranked Raiders (5-1 KIF, 7-1 overall) will be when they host the Rough Riders of Roosevelt High School (6-3-1 O‘ahu Interscholastic Association) at 7 p.m. Saturday at Vidinha Stadium in the first round of the state tournament.
“Everybody keeps asking us if we can compete with Roosevelt. They’ve got an extremely tough running back and the quarterback rolls out and throws and, you know, we feel we can compete with Roosevelt,” he said.
“There’s this old school mentality that we’re just another Neighbor Island school, we’re just the Garden Island. And that’s what we’re real excited about. This is always a big show for us.”
The Raiders will have the home-field advantage. It’s something they’ve gotten accustomed to as they’ve hosted the first round of states for at least the past four years.
“What I’m loving is that everybody is embracing this. They’re willing to come in extra and watch more film. Nobody’s late. They’re willing to go the extra mile,” the coach said.
Saturday’s game will be broadcast live on television on OC 16 and on the radio on KQNG’s AM 570.
Last year, the Raiders were the runners-up to King Kekaulike. Both schools made history by being the first two Neighbor Island schools to reach a title game.
However, there is no pressure on the Raiders to finish that high again.
“For some players, that game still hurts,” Borrero said. “But this is kind of a slightly new era. I couldn’t be more excited about the group of guys I have going into this game.”
The state championship final will be played at Aloha Stadium on Nov. 30.
• Lanaly Cabalo, sports editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or lcabalo@kauaipubco.com.
