Last Saturday, Waiakea lost to Waimea 38-0 in a preseason game on Kauai, where the Menehune ruled on the Garden Isle gridiron for a long time. ADVERTISING Last Saturday, Waiakea lost to Waimea 38-0 in a preseason game on Kauai,
Last Saturday, Waiakea lost to Waimea 38-0 in a preseason game on Kauai, where the Menehune ruled on the Garden Isle gridiron for a long time.
The Menehune once captured 12 straight Kauai Interscholastic Federation championships, the last in 2003.
That year was Waimea’s last appearance at the HHSAA state tournament. Since then Kauai High and Kapaa have taken turns representing the three-school KIF at states.
The Menehune, once a model of consistency, has fallen on tough times, in part because no one could replicate the winning formula of former coach Jon Kobayashi, now Waimea’s athletic director.
Waiakea is in something of a similar boat, though its BIIF title reign was short-lived with an inaugural championship in 1994 and three consecutive ones that followed.
The Warriors shared the BIIF crown with Konawaena but represented the league at states in 2001; Waiakea beat the Wildcats in the regular season, even though both finished with 7-1 records.
The following season the Warriors finished in last place. It was Keaau’s second year in the league as a team on the rise. The Cougars reached the BIIF championship in 2005 and ’06.
Waiakea coach Moku Pita is trying to steer his Warriors in the right direction.
In team sports, there’s nothing more important than buy-in when players take a coach’s philosophy and make it their own — usually discipline and commitment, two traits that apply to everyday life as well.
When discipline and commitment show up at practice good things tend to happen, like the building of team chemistry.
On a recent day at Ken Yamase Memorial Stadium, the Warriors were finishing practice with gassers. One player was consistently last during the runs.
Then a good thing happened. About a half-dozen teammates started running next to him, offering words of encouragement all the way.
The Warriors flew to the Garden Isle and couldn’t score or stop the run. The Menehune racked up over 300 yards on the ground.
However, Waiakea had just 22 players suited up, the same number during a 41-0 loss to Kamehameha at week earlier at Yamase Stadium.
The Warriors finally have a roster of over 50 after players fulfilled practice-attendance requirements and came off academic probation.
“We’ll have a roster of 55 and 45 on the junior varsity,” Pita said. “Our depth will be good.”
Discipline and commitment also serve as valuable traits in the classroom to keep players on the field.
Maybe the scoring drought gets solved with Pita’s calabash cousin Kai Ako, who’s the offensive coordinator. Their dads grew up together on Oahu’s North Shore, and the two have known each other so long that they look like they could be related.
Ako, a 1994 Saint Louis graduate and slotback, will install his old coach Cal Lee’s run and shoot offense, which worked like a charm when Waiakea’s new OC was a part of three Prep Bowl championship teams.
“I love to pound the ball then pass off that,” Ako said. “The good thing about the offense is you don’t have to be the biggest, fastest or strongest. You have an opportunity to make plays the way the system is drawn up. Everybody has a chance to catch the ball.”
There are only four returning starters on offense: quarterback Makoa Andres, slotback Gehrig Octavio, and linemen Isaiah K-Aloha and Tristan Higashida.
“Gehrig can play anywhere,” Pita said. “He’s a good athlete and student. He’s really humble.”
Octavio’s main sport is baseball, and he has a half-dozen scholarship offers. He’s leaning toward Palomar College in San Marcos, Calif., which has a high rate of sending players to Division I programs.
But when it comes to football, Octavio doesn’t mind what position he plays whether it’s quarterback, slotback, or running back.
“I like having the ball in my hands and making plays,” he said. “Everybody is coming out and working hard. As long as everybody does their job, we should have a good year.
“We have good team chemistry. We have a lot of encouragement, but we still go hard on each other to make us better.”
With the routes and adjustments wideouts Kawaiola Anderson and Kingsly Kalili run, it will help to have an anchor on the line like K-Aloha, an All-BIIF honorable mention.
“He’s just strong. He has powerlifting records in the deadlift and bench,” Pita said of his 5-foot-10 junior. “He’ll play D-end, too. He’s somebody to look forward to.”
Sultan Jerome, Anthony Benevides, and Jian Pascual will also start on the line, providing holes for senior running back Omari Rincon, a transfer from Georgia.
Fafo Tevaseu and Dayson-John Keahi-Broad are returning starters on the line, Brandon Stewart and Chance Silva-Borero at linebacker, and Isaiah Pagay at corner.
Pita will count on Stewart to be a sparkplug on defense.
“He fills holes really quick,” Pita said. “He’s quiet but really tough and gets the defense going.”
Stewart went to the Gridiron Performance Academy camp on Oahu and hopes to find a college home.
He already has a future job picked out. He wants to be a police officer like his dad Rob Stewart and grandpa John Stewart.
“I feel real comfortable being around my teammates,” Stewart said. “It’s like another family.”
Chayson Stanton will also start on the D-line, PJ Matsuura and Austin Deperalta at linebacker, and Isaac Pauole and Sepp Steffany in the secondary.
For baseball, Octavio knows the feeling of being a BIIF champion. The Warriors won the league title in his freshman and junior years.
“I like how everybody picks each other up,” he said. “There’s something about this team that makes me feel good about this year.”
