KEA‘AU — Kea‘au High School’s football team defeated Waiakea High 42-0 on Thursday night for its second straight win.
The Cougars are now 2-1 overall and 2-0 in BIIF DI play.
“The kids put in work,” Kea‘au head coach David Murray said. “They understand the plan in hand and know that all we can do is just gradually put in that work and grow.”
Kea‘au got off to an explosive start. Less than three minutes into the first quarter, freshman Charleston Salazar notched a 30-yard touchdown rush, breaking multiple tackles along the way. The kick was no good.
The Cougars quickly retook possession as Hayden Trimble recovered a fumble by Waiakea around the 30-yard line. Less than 30 seconds later, quarterback Diego Pettypool connected with Josiah Nihoa for a 25-yard touchdown pass. The pair connected again for a successful two-point conversion attempt, boosting Kea‘au’s lead to 14-0.
The Warriors were unable to get momentum going during their next possession as the Cougars’ defense hammered them. Dane Bannister made a tackle for a five-yard loss, and John Carroll and Chanstin Uahinui-Vagai combined for another TFL.
Kea‘au got the ball back again and capitalized. Pettypool and Nihoa connected for another touchdown pass, this time 35 yards. Pettypool dove past the goal line for another good two-pointer, upping Kea‘au’s lead to 22-0.
Waiakea was again unable to make headway on offense, but its defense began to show more bright spots than it did during its season opener last week.
Haiden Kay made a tackle-for-loss — and shortly after that, the Warriors stopped the Cougars on fourth down.
Kea‘au quickly snatched back the momentum as Jazaiah Pahinui-Willets intercepted a pass shortly before the end of the quarter.
The Warriors, however, were able to stop Kea‘au’s offense again — and Tricksan Pasion returned a punt 40 yards.
After the start of the second quarter, Waiakea’s offense was stopped again.
Pettypool threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Dycein Velasco-Kahele, then scrambled across the goal line for the two-point PAT. Kea‘au led 30-0.
After another fruitless offensive effort for Waiakea, the Cougars boosted their lead again.
Pettypool scrambled 30 yards for a touchdown, but the following two-point attempt was fumbled. Kea‘au’s lead increased to 36-0.
During their next possession, the Warriors got the ball moving and pushed into the redzone. However, they fumbled at the 12-yard line and Bannister recovered it.
Shortly after, Pettypool completed another long TD pass — 45 yards to Khaelan Nakapaahu. This was the last score of the game, as the PAT kick attempt was no good.
As the second half began a running clock was imposed, Kea‘au put in its non-starters and rain started to fall.
The Cougars’ younger quarterback, Elson Kalawe III, played the entire half.
Waiakea also worked in some of its second and third-stringers — including Gabriella Tuson, a sophomore girl, who contributed to multiple tackles.
Now 0-2, the Warriors are focused on developing their players, many of whom have not played high school football before.
So far, the little improvements carry the most importance.
“I think we played with a little bit more heart and we played together,” WHS head coach Junior Toa said. “When we do that, we give ourselves a chance to compete. We didn’t see too much of it in the first half, but there were sparks of it. We saw a lot more of it in the second half.”
At 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 2, Waiakea will host Kealakehe HS — which is also 0-2 in BIIF DI play.
“We just wanna be ready,” Toa said. “Go back to the drawing board on Monday and just do our work. We don’t wanna overlook anybody or underestimate anybody. We wanna make sure that we’re playing together and playing with heart, all trying to achieve the same goal. There were times when we were out there, and it didn’t look like we had the same goals in mind.”
At 5 p.m. on Friday, Kea‘au will travel across the South Hilo district line to Wong Stadium to face Hilo HS.