Editor’s note: This story has been modified.
KEAAU – Kealakehe’s previous game took place more than miles 2,500 away against a team no one here knows anything about. Its only game before that was so early last month that few could remember.
To an outsider, it was a fair question: Just what should be expected from the 2018 version of the Waveriders?
Teyler Frasier knew, and he’s an insider. The senior two-way player viewed Kealakehe’s 49-42 BIIF football victory against Kamehameha behind a 525-yard offensive explosion as more of an expectation than a surprise.
“I believe today was a statement,” Frasier said Friday night outside Paiea Stadium. “I knew we were capable of this.”
BIIF beware, because everyone else now knows as well.
“This is what we practiced,” said senior quarterback Jorden Himalaya, who was precise in the pocket and poised when flushed, accounting for 405 yards of offense.
With Himalaya at the controls of fast-paced, quick-strike attack, the Waveriders (2-1, 1-0 BIIF Division I) seemingly had a playmaker for every occasion in a cross-division matchup of contenders.
• Kainoa “Boo” Jones helped set the tone on the game’s first drive with a long run and a long catch, hauling in eight receptions, and he even pitched in at quarterback late;
• Frasier made the most of his four catches. Three off them went for at least 30 yards and two of them extended drives and were back-breakers as the Warriors tried (1-1, 1-1 BIIF Division II) tried to keep up;
• All Raymond Skillern did was score touchdowns. He took three of his five carries to the end zone, but he wasn’t merely a short-yardage back as his TDs covered 29, 8 and 14 yards;
• Kalani Piltz was reliable in the short passing game, with four catches and one TD;
• Of all the catch-and-runs on the night, the 52-yard TD effort by Koarii Atkinson-Sioloa might have been the most impressive.
“I think everybody is a playmaker on our team,” said Himalaya, who was 25 of 34 for 349 yards with three TDs and an interception. “Everybody is a weapon.”
All that offense was just enough to offset an electrifying performance by Kamehameha’s Kilohana Haasenritter, who carried the ball 21 times for 203 yards and three touchdowns.
On one second quarter drive, after a Izayah Chartrand-Penera interception, Haasenritter weaved his way to 88 yards on the ground, ripping off runs of 27, 36 and 24 yards – each seemingly more splendid than the last one – before easing in from the 1.
“He’a just a crazy athlete,” said Frasier, a cornerback on defense. “He’s amazing.”
Himalaya started one game under center last season but suffered a concussion, and he wasn’t in the mix much after that as the Waveriders watched Hilo win the BIIF Division I title for the fifth consecutive year.
“We put a lot of work in the offseason,” he said. “I just trusted my line and threw to the open guy.
“This is a new year and a new team.”
So, is Big Blue back?
Coach Sam Kekuaokalani, an assistant on powerful teams that helped Kealakehe forge a D-I dynasty until 2012, admitted the victory reminded him of the program’s glory years.
The offensive onslaught came one week after the Waveriders lost to Desert Hills of Utah 42-0.
Kekuaokalani said Kealakehe never did recover from the jet lag while in Utah, and the dry heat left his mouth dry, but if there ever has been a good loss, that was it.
“We learned a lot up there,” he said. “They weren’t necessary more talented individually, but as a team they were great.
“We learned we need to do a better job preparing and practicing.”
After returning from their five-day trip last Sunday, the Waveriders went right back to practice Monday.
“The kids, I think they saw what we were doing prior to going up, and while they were there, and it just gave the them the confidence to execute,” Kekuaokalani said.
Friday night’s game was unusual in that both coaches watched the game from the press box. Kekuaokalani wanted a better view, as did Kamehameha coach Dan Lyons, who was calling plays.
“In a shootout, every play made a difference, because no team is stopping the other,” Lyons said. “We didn’t tackle well and we’ll have to work on that. This game is tough if you can’t tackle.”
Each team made key mistakes in special teams.
Kamehameha’s Kolten Kaaihue took a kickoff return 98 yards for a touchdown to answer Kealakehe score on its opening possession. After the Warriors finally forced a punt trailing 14-13, they fumbled the return. The game’s first turnover set Kealakehe up at the Warriors’ 5, and Himalaya needed just one to play to turn it into six points, connecting with Piltz.
The teams traded touchdowns all night, except when Kealakehe got the ball to start the third quarter at the 1 after a return snafu. The Waveriders promptly marched 99 yards thanks to a key pass play from Himalaya to Frasier covering 49 yards on third-and-10 from their 5 and later a personal foul penalty extended the drive.
Making his first varsity start at quarterback, sophomore Koby Tabuyo-Kahele accounted for two touchdowns for the Warriors, including a 47-yard scoring toss to Noah Carvalho. Tabuyo-Kahele was 6 of 11 for 92 yards.
Austin Wilson’s 10-yard TD run made it a one-score game again with less than a minute left, but the Waveriders ended the game in victory formation.
“We needed to win some plays we didn’t win, but we were still within an onsides kick away,” Lyons said. ”We obviously have some things to fix, but the things we don’t have to fix are effort, or toughness or grit.”
The Warriors face a quick turnaround and will face Hilo on the road Thursday, while Kealakehe gets a long week off before hosting Honokaa on Saturday.
It’s no secret that last season was a trying one for Kekuaokalani due to various off-the-field incidents surrounding the program. Asked if the sour taste of 2017 made this one feel extra special, Kekuaokalani said, “I’m going to say I really did learn a lot from last year, and I’d like to leave it there.
“This year, it really is the kids. They have a different focus and a different perception. What they want to do, what they can do and what they are going to do.”