The beatdowns go on.
A BIIF football season defined by lopsided scores took a historic turn Saturday morning when Hilo rocked mistake-prone Waiakea 104-0 at Wong Stadium, setting a league record for largest blowout and tying a state mark.
Hilo (4-0, 3-0 BIIF Division I) also set a league record with 83 first-half points. The Vikings scored off 10 of 11 turnovers by the Warriors (0-4, 0-3), including three pick-sixes and two fumble returns for touchdown.
The Vikings’ 15-touchdown onslaught matches the Hawaii high school record for largest margin of victory, according to scoringlive.com. Kamehameha-Kapalama beat Honolulu Military Academy 104-0 in 1923,
Waiakea athletic director Tommy Correa said he couldn’t blame Hilo for letting the score get out of hand considering all of the Warriors’ giveaways.
“Waiakea wants to make sure fans know that Hilo did not try to run up the score in any way, shape or form,” Correa said in an text to the Tribune-Herald.
After Stan Mwarey took an interception back for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to vault Hilo into triple digits, some on the Vikings’ sideline took pictures of a scoreboard that had to be reset and read 4-0 because there was only space for two digits.
Vikings coach Kaeo Drummondo didn’t take the score as lightly.
“I don’t feel good about (it),” he said. “It’s unfortunate, honestly, I feel for those guys, I really do.
“Our intention is never to run up the score, but I can’t tell our players to stop playing because they are going to get injured.”
Drummondo said he considered various scenarios from keeping his team’s total down, but he thought the backups, who work hard in practice, deserved game reps.
Starting quarterback Kyan Miyasato exited in the second quarter after accounting for four touchdowns, and the Vikings didn’t use second-stringer Kaimi Tiogangco, one the team’s best playmakers, instead inserting freshman Ricky Mamone, who ran for a touchdown.
“We put in our backups, we’re not deepest team,” Drummondo said. “We expect them to execute the best they can, compete so they are not getting injured and that’s all we really are asking of them.
“It wouldn’t really make sense, because we don’t practice it, to tell somebody in the open field to slide.”
While the final score was an eye-opener, a blowout was expected considering the teams’ pedigrees, and with Waiakea experiencing major ball-security issues the perfect storm was set in motion toward an epic romp. The 35-point mercy rule – a running second half clock went into effect for the second half – at least made the final two quarters go by quickly.
Hilo, the six-time BIIF D-I champion looks at the top of its game and has experienced difference-makers at every position and is averaging more than 66 points a game while allowing just 31 points so far.
The Warriors have one of their more inexperienced teams in recent memory.
Waiakea, which has been outscored 251-20 in four games, struggled mightily with the center-quarterback exchange in the shotgun formation. When the issue didn’t lead to turnovers, the Warriors lost large chunks of yardage, finishing with negative 36 yards. Besides losing two fumbles for touchdowns, Waiakea put two balls on the ground inside its 5.
“Hilo has an awesome team,” Waiakea coach Neil Azevedo said, “but they didn’t run up the score, we let them score with all the turnovers.”
The passionate Azevedo was incredulous when asked if the Warriors ever considered not coming out for the second-half kickoff.
“I believe in our players and we’ll continue fighting,” he said. “We get what we get at Waiakea. I know our boys aren’t going to jump ship. They are going to fight until the end. Our day will come.”
Kilohana Haasenritter scored three touchdowns, including a run set up by Elijah Apao’s punt return to the 5.
If there was a play that was emblematic of the day, it came in the third quarter as Hilo lost a fumble that Waiakea looked to recover before handing the ball right back to the Vikings.
A play later, Fiki Aguiar, the reigning BIIF D-I offensive player of the year, took an option pitch from Mamone and scored to make it 97-0.
That was as much as the scoreboard could take.
“It’s kind of difficult to comprehend,” Drummondo said. “Our focus is not the scoreboard, out focus is communication, discipline and focus.”
Waiakea 0 0 0 0 – 0
Hilo 41 42 14 7 –104
First quarter
Hilo – Kaimi Tiogangco 17 pass from Kyan Miyasato (run failed)
Hilo – Kilohana Haasenritter 3 run (Keanu Keolanui kick)
Hilo – Keola Balga 27 interception return (Keolanui kick)
Hilo – Guyson Ogata 7 pass from Miyasato (Keolanui kick)
Hilo – Kilohana Haasenritter 5 run (Keolanui kick)
Hilo – Kyan Miyasato 3 run (Keolanui kick)
Second quarter
Hilo – Haasenritter 13 pass from Miyasato (Keolanui kick)
Hilo – Shesly Martinez 1 run (Keolanui kick)
Hilo – Layne Deperalta 10 fumble return (Keolanui kick)
Hilo – Kainalu Lewis recovers fumble in end zone (Keolanui kick)
Hilo – Ricky Mamone 6 run (Keolanui kick)
Hilo – Kapana Kanae-Kane 27 interception return (Keolanui kick)
Third quarter
Hilo – Don Moody 1 run (Keolanui kick)
Hilo – Fiki Aguiar 38 run (Aguiar kick)
Fourth quarter
Hilo – Stan Mwarey 44 interception return (Aguiar kick)
Editor’s note: This story was modified to clairfy that the mercy rule went in effect in the second half.