Waimea closes with a ‘W’

LIHUE — The Waimea football team closed its Kauai Interscholastic Federation with an explosive 55-38 win over Kapaa High School before a sparse daytime audience at Vidinha Stadium Saturday afternoon.

“We got started quick, lagged in the middle before starting up again,” Waimea coach Jason Caldeira told Anahola Joel Pahukula for his Kauai sports blog. “We got lazy in the middle, but rose up when things got tough. That’s the Waimea way.”

The Menehune defense fueled the presence of the blueshirts early when pass interceptions and a blocked punt triggered a 20-2 scoring result in the first quarter, the Warriors’ two points coming from the Waimea defense when Menehune William Kamaka-Riley snagged a punt in his own end zone after the kick went high and blown back by the wind during Kapaa’s first series from kickoff.

“These are very special boys,” Caldeira said following the victory that closed the door on its season. “They worked hard and accepted every challenge the coaches threw before them. We ended up with 25 solid players with maybe one or two missing a game. We told them how the season was going to be — never give up on each other. It was going to be hard work, and I am very honored to have been their coach.”

Kapaa, facing a 24-point deficit at the break, shook off the jitters and came back to trim the deficit to 17 at the final horn, outscoring the Menehune 28-21 by capitalizing on two-point PATs (points after touchdowns) to close the gap churned up by the Waimea defense in the opening stanza.

“We struggled out there,” Kapaa coach Philip Rapozo said. “During the half, we just told the boys to keep playing. We’ve scored 30 points in a half before — just keep working.”

Earlier in the day, the Kapaa junior varsity took a 54-16 win over the Waimea JV.

Kapaa closes its season Saturday when the Warriors meet Kauai High School at Vidinha Stadium. The junior varsity match kicks off at noon followed by the varsity game getting underway 30 minutes following the completion of the JV contest.

“We’re still looking for that ‘W,’” Rapozo said. “We go back and work some more. It would be a nice way to send off our seniors with a win.”

Kauai High School already claimed the KIF football title following its victory over Waimea earlier this month.

Jami Jimenez, Kauai High School track and field coach, said there will be a ceremony retiring the Kauai jersey No. 64 that was worn by the late Michael Julian, preceding the varsity kickoff Saturday.

SCORING SUMMARY

1st quarter

9:10: KAPAA safety, Waimea’s William Kamaka-Riley recovers a punt in his own end zone; Kapaa 2, Waimea 0.

9:00: WAIMEA 41-yard interception return for a touchdown by Kawelo Huddy of Warrior Kahanu Davis’ pass, PAT no good; Waimea 6, Kapaa 2.

8:06: WAIMEA, 37-yard return of blocked punt for a touchdown by Isahn Ulanday; Huddy PAT kick good; Waimea 13, Kapaa 2.

2:23: WAIMEA, 1-yard touchdown run, Avery Miguel; Huddy PAT kick good; Waimea 20, Kapaa 2.

2nd quarter

5:20: WAIMEA, Miguel touchdown run; Huddy PAT good; Waimea 27, Kapaa 2.

1:26: WAIMEA, Miguel, 16-yard TD run; Huddy PAT kick good; Waimea 34, Kapaa 2.

:59.8: KAPAA, Davis 34-yard TD run; Davis to Stetson Telles-Kelekoma PAT pass good; Waimea 34, Kapaa 10.

3rd quarter

4:45: KAPAA Ryno Banasihan 1-yard TD run; PAT no good; Waimea 34, Kapaa 16.

2:46: WAIMEA William Kamaka-Riley 67-yard TD run; Huddy PAT kick good; Waimea 41, Kapaa 16.

:46.1: KAPAA Kalena Harder 9-yard TD pass from Davis; Chyson Lagunes-Rapozo PAT kick good; Waimea 41, Kapaa 23.

4th quarter

7:23: WAIMEA Dylan Balaan 8-yard TD pass from Lacin Montemayor; Huddy PAT kick good; Waimea 48, Kapaa 23

6:32: KAPAA Banasihan 4-yard TD run; PAT pass Davis to Jai Alapai good; Waimea 48, Kapaa 31.

1:54: KAPAA Davis 20-yard TD run; Lagunes-Rapozo PAT kick good; Waimea 48, Kapaa 38.

1:38: WAIMEA Kamaka-Riley 50-yard TD run; Huddy PAT kick good; Waimea 55, Kapaa 38.