WAIMEA — In its first home game of the season, Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy’s football team defeated Pahoa HS 33-0 on Saturday afternoon.
The Daggers were plagued by penalties and injuries, and struggled to stop HPA’s running back Alaka‘i Aipia — who averaged nearly 10 yards per carry.
Despite a 50-yard kickoff return by Dwight Enriquez at the start of the game, Pahoa’s offense couldn’t make any headway.
On the other hand, HPA’s offense made quick work of a full-field drive.
After a long punt and three straight penalties backed Ka Makani’s offense up to the goal line, it rapidly depleted the distance — boosted by a 40-yard rush by Aipia. Quarterback Hayden Kalama connected a short pass to Kela Livingston for the first touchdown, which was followed by a successful PAT kick.
HPA opened the second quarter with another TD, rushed in 20 yards by Aipia. A good kick gave Ka Makani a 14-0 lead.
Pahoa nearly drove for a touchdown, but a fumble and a tackle for a loss helped HPA make a fourth-down stop at the one-yard line.
However, the Daggers got revenge during the following drive — stopping Ka Makani on fourth at the twelve.
With less than 30 seconds left in the half, HPA’s Greyson Shin recovered a fumble — but time ran out before it could be capitalized upon.
After receiving the third quarter kickoff, Ka Makani lengthened its lead even more. Aipia scored his second touchdown on a 15-yard carry. The kick was good, so HPA led 21-0.
Hungry to finally score, the Daggers tried to get some momentum going — but HPA’s Kekai Haines intercepted a pass shortly after they got possession of the ball.
At the end of a short drive, Kela Livingston rushed ten yards into the end zone. The kick bounced off the goal post for a 27-0 HPA lead.
Pahoa’s team became frustrated as Ka Makani’s defense continued to pummel its offense. Anaken Ramirez made a tackle for a loss, then Michael House made back-to-back TFL’s.
“We were faced with a lot of adversity,” Pahoa head coach Kai Ako said. “The valuable lesson is to stick together. There was a moment out there when (Pahoa players) were kind of getting on each other. I called a time out to slow it down, bring it back together and tell them to remember our principles and why we’re out here.”
After HPA got the ball back, Kalama rushed across the goal line for the outing’s final touchdown. The kick was missed again.
Shortly before the end of the quarter, Enriquez notched a 60-yard kickoff return
The fourth quarter was slow, grueling and fruitless for both competitors. Repeated flags on both sides dragged the quarter on long, and multiple players suffered injuries.
This outing was Pahoa’s first test against a higher-caliber BIIF DII team this season, and Ako said that it provided much-needed insight into his team’s strengths and weaknesses.
“When you play a team like HPA that’s really well-coached and has really good athletes, you almost feel like you’re not doing enough,” he said. “If you look at our effort, and see that they all tried their best — that’s what I wanna see when I look at the film.
“We’re a young team, we’re still learning. This crosswind was no friend of our young quarterback, so we tried to keep the ball on the ground and see what we could do.”
Now 1-1, the Daggers will have a short week of practice before facing another challenging opponent on Thursday — Kamehameha Schools – Hawai‘i.
“(Playing against HPA) I think we got to see some better athletes than Ka‘u had,” Ako said. “We’re going up against good guys from here on out, and Kamehameha has a load of athletes — really good team, well-coached. We gotta figure out how to slow down their heavy defensive attack.”
Now also 1-1, HPA will travel Saturday to face Ka‘u HS, which Pahoa defeated 26-6 during its season opener.
