After two straight seasons on the precipice of a BIIF DII title, the Kamehameha Schools – Hawai‘i football team is hungrier than ever.
Last season, the Warriors went 1-2 against BIIF champion Honokaa — and in 2021, they went 0-2 against Hawai‘i Prep, who won that year’s title.
For third-year head coach Kealoha Wengler, this season could be the one when it all finally comes around.
“We’ve been just one game shy, one touchdown, one fieldgoal,” he said. “It’s gonna take a lot of heart from these guys. We’re really gonna have to dig in and push hard in practice. They’ve been doing that, they’ve been pushing hard. It’s gonna take a bit more sacrifice from some of these guys.”
The key this year will be fielding a killer offense.
Defense has rarely been an issue for KSH — as the team notched seven regular-season shutouts last year — but during last year’s BIIF championship game against the Dragons, the Warriors’ offense couldn’t quite keep up, and KSH lost 19-9.
This year, the Warriors brought back offensive coordinator Maui Ramos — who coached at KSH for a decade before leaving to coach at Hilo HS for a few seasons.
Ramos has been working to get the Warriors’ young offensive line up to speed with their skill players, who are more experienced.
“We’re just throwing (the offensive line) in the fire,” Ramos said. “We’re trying to get as much live reps against other schools as we can.”
In order to do so, the Warriors have been practicing against DI schools.
During the past week, KSH took part in a combined practice with Hilo and Waiakea, scrimmaged Konawaena HS and for their first preseason game on Saturday, the Warriors will play away at Kealakehe HS.
“We’re sophomore heavy,” coach Ramos said. “We gotta get those guys up to speed. If we can match the physicality of the upper-echelon teams and play assignment football, I see us making a good run for sure.”
One of those sophomores is coach Ramos’ son, Jacob James Ramos — a second-year varsity slot receiver and defensive back.
“We never had a good culture last year, like of hard work,” he said. “At a lot of our practices, our teammates were showing up super late.”
But this year is much different due to some much-needed discipline and accountability, he said.
“Everybody’s usually here early. Honestly, it was just that we started getting more consequences for our actions.”
A critical part of that transformation was this year’s coaching staff.
“The coaching staff is really beefed up this year,” Wengler said. “They’ve been really comitted throughout the summer, we’ve been getting a really good turnout from our coaches — quality instruction and maximizing every minute of practice.”
At the helm of this year’s offense will be quarterback Adam Perry, a senior who is stepping into his first starting role.
“It’s good, it’s a lot of pressure, but I’m ready,” he said. “Gotta be ready.”
Perry’s work ethic has been especially impressive to coach Wengler.
“At the end of last season, he put in a lot of time,” Wengler said. “Building himself up, reading the coach on his off days — building his arm strength, his reads. He knew what he had to do in the offseason, he comitted, he sacrificed. I’m excited about him.”
The Warriors’ defense is a well-oiled and hardened machine that they are itching to let loose on the competiton. Nearly all of their starting defenders are returners, many with two to three years of varsity under their belts.
“We like to come at you fast,” fourth-year defensive coordinator Lyndon Turner said. “We like to bring stunt and blitzes from different angles and keep the offensive guys guessing where we’re coming from.”
Two of KSH’s most formidable defenders are junior linebacker and runningback Xander Hoopai and senior linebacker Amar Payne.
“Last season I had a pretty good season,” Hoopai said. “I’d like to keep it up, maintain it. Get my craft up — get more yards, more touchdowns and more sacks.”
The competition in DII is expected to be fierce this year.
“Honokaa’s tough, they’re returning a lot of their players,” Wengler said. “They plash smash-mouth, run-the-ball football. We’re expecting nothing different from them, we expect them to come out and just play really hard. HPA’s always been a competitor, so we’re paying good attention to them too. We know that Pahoa (HS) has a good turnout this year, they’ve got some good athletes and they’re expecting to really good this year.”
KSH will kick off its regular season on Friday, Aug. 18 – hosting Kohala HS. For their second divison outing, the Warriors will play away at Honokaa the following week.
