KAILUA-KONA — Riding a tidal wave of early momentum, Konawaena dominated from start to finish in a 46-16 victory over Kealakehe at Waverider Stadium on Friday night in both teams’ BIIF openers.
KAILUA-KONA — Riding a tidal wave of early momentum, Konawaena dominated from start to finish in a 46-16 victory over Kealakehe at Waverider Stadium on Friday night in both teams’ BIIF openers.
Austin Ewing tossed for three first half scores and finished his night 19-31 for 308 yards and five touchdowns without playing in the fourth quarter. The Waveriders picked him off once.
Tyler Libarios was Ewing’s favorite target, catching five balls for 102 yards and three touchdowns.
Chauncey Mariani-Louis drew his first start at running back for Konawaena and shined early and often. The senior notched 118 yards rushing and three total touchdowns.
It was a rough night all around for the Waveriders, with the biggest play of the night coming on a 76-yard blocked field goal return by Keanu Alu at the end of the first half.
Jorden Himalaya and Anthony Trevino both saw time at QB for the Waveriders with limited effectiveness. Trevino tossed a TD and Raymond Skillern led Kealakehe in rushing with 52 yards.
Since 2013, the Wildcats — who have reeled off five BIIF D-II titles in six years — are 5-0 against their cross-town foe, having outscored the D-I Waveriders 186-68 in those games. The last time Kealakehe beat Konawaena was a 44-0 preseason romp in 2010.
Konawaena defensive end Paka Cacoulidis was a terror on the edge all night for the Wildcats, recording two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries to go with a slew of tackles and QB hurries.
The Wildcats’ senior pass-rusher led the charge early, ripping into the backfield on the Waveriders’ first drive, jarring the ball loose. Alex Muti picked it up and strolled into the end zone to make it 7-0 less than a minute into the game.
The Waveriders moved two yards and were three-and-out on their second drive, but the punt was blocked and picked up by Cacoulidis, who ran it down to Kealakehe’s 14-yard line. On his second pass of the game, Ewing found Mariani-Louis out of the backfield for a 11-yard touchdown to put the Wildcats up 14-0.
Ewing has a knack for creating something out of nothing, and showed it on his second touchdown toss of the night. Under pressure, the senior QB sprinted out to the right and pulled up to throw across his body to a waiting, wide-open Mariani-Louis around the line of scrimmage. He ran uncontested into the end zone for his second touchdown grab of the night.
After the early onslaught, Kealakehe rebounded with some big throws from Himalaya. But after completing a 36-yard pass, he was hit hard and forced to the sideline. The Waveriders brought in Trevino at QB, who was stopped on a pair of designed quarterback runs, but tossed a nice fade route to Kekoa Ilagan-LeBlanc on third down for the Waveriders’ first points of the night.
The Wildcats’ nearly flawless first half continued with more Ewing antics — his next feat a tip-toe pass along the sideline for 36 yards to keep a drive alive. Mariani-Louis did the rest, rumbling 35 yards on an inside handoff two plays later for his third touchdown of the night, stretching the lead to 26-6.
The Waveriders best highlight of the night came with all zeros on the clock at the end of the first half. After a roughing the passer penalty caused an untimed down, the Wildcats opted for a field goal. Kealakehe blocked it and the ball fell into the arms of Alu, who sprinted 76 yards to narrow the margin to 33-14 at the break.
The Wildcats picked up the offensive tempo in the second half and continued to roll, wearing down the Kealakehe defense with a torrid pace. Efficiently, Konawaena drove for two touchdowns, both ending in passes from Ewing to Libarios — the second a 44-yard catch and run by the senior pass-catcher.
Three consecutive short drives ending in turnovers didn’t help Kealakehe’s cause in the third quarter as the lead ballooned to 46-14 entering the fourth.
Both the Wildcats and Waveriders kept the game grounded the rest, with the only score being a Kealakehe safety late in the fourth quarter.
Konawaena 20 13 13 0 — 46
Kealakehe 0 14 0 2 — 16
First quarter
KONA — Alex Muti 7-yard fumble return (Harry Hill kick good)
KONA — Austin Ewing 11-yard pass to Chauncey Mariani-Louis (Hill kick good)
KONA —Ewing 10-yard pass to Mariani-Louis (Hill kick good)
Second quarter
KEAL — Anthony Trevino 15-yard pass to Kekoa Ilagan-LeBlanc (2-pt no good)
KONA — Mariani-Louis 35-yard run (2-pt no good)
KONA — Ewing 10-yard pass to Tyler Libarios (Hill kick good)
KEALA — Keanu Alu 76-yard fumble return (2-pt good)
Third quarter
KONA — Ewing 8-yard pass to Libarios (Hill kick good)
KONA — Ewing 44-yard pass to Libarios (Hill kick good)
Fourth quarter
KEAL — Safety