KEA‘AU — The Kamehameha Schools – Hawai‘i football team has been an unstoppable force this season, and Friday night was further proof of that.
The Warriors routed Honoka‘a HS 42-0 — their second straight 40-plus point home shutout — breaking away from a slow start and scoring 14 points during the second quarter, then 21 during the third.
“It felt great, the team all played together like we’ve been practicing,” head coach Kealoha Wengler said. “I wanna give a shoutout to our coaches. They put in the extra time studying our opponents and creating the plays that would counter what we’d see. It took a lot of time and effort invested, and it paid off.”
This was a huge victory for the Warriors, who are now 7-0. If KSH can again beat every other DII team, it will become the de facto BIIF DII champion. It was also a massive outing for KSH quarterback Adam Perry — who threw for 263 yards The loss was crushing for the Dragons, who — having now lost to KSH twice this season — no longer have a shot at defending the BIIF DII title.
The first quarter did not indicate that the game would become a blowout.
Both teams suffered three-and-outs on their opening drives. The Dragons attempted a field goal, but missed — and soon after made a fourth-and goal stop. During Honoka‘a’s next drive, KSH’s.Paliku Nachor intercepted a pass. A deja vu occurred, as the Warriors were stopped on fourth and goal again.
With less than three minutes left in the second quarter, KSH began to make some headway on offense.
“Honoka‘a is a tough, tough team,” Wengler said. “We earned every yard we got. It was a battle from the beginning. I think it came down to that field position advantage, and we got big breaks, some deep passes — and from there, things started to open up.
“We started to see that they were crowing the box with seven in there. We felt like we could get our pass-pro going, and get the ball deeper down the field. We started to see where they were giving up people, and opening up places for us to exploit.”
After Javan Feary returned a punt for 40 yards, Perry connected a 25-yard pass to Shiloh Santos in the redzone. After a couple of plays on the ground, Ethan Bowden completed a short carry for the outing’s first touchdown. Lucas Kay Wong made the PAT kick — his first of six successful extra-point attempts on the outing — and KSH led 7-0.
The touchdown put KSH’s momentum in motion.
Just a couple of plays into Honoka‘a’s next drive, Xander Hoopai picked off a pass. With just over a minute left on the clock, Perry connected a 56-yard touchdown pass to Kekainalu Fuerte. After another good PAT kick, the Warriors were up 14-0.
The Dragons made a strong effort to respond before the half — and came the closer to scoring than they would throughout the rest of the game — getting stopped inside the ten-yard line as the final seconds left the clock.
Halftime did not slow the Warriors’ momentum, as they scored within 30 seconds of receiving the kickoff. Perry connected a 32-yard touchdown pass to Feary for a 21-point lead.
Honoka‘a was stopped on fourth down during their next offensive effort. Soon after, HHS’ Josiah Napoleon-Umeda intercepted a pass, but fumbled it, and Feary recovered it.
Perry and Fuerte again linked up for a long touchdown pass — 48-yards — for a 28-0 lead.
During the following drive, the Dragons’ offense went three-and-out. There were multiple flags during the punt, causing the play to be repeated twice. The snap went high, and KSH’s Jacobjames Ramos recovered the ball at the Honoka‘a three-yard line. Perry then scored a touchdown on a three-yard keeper. With KSH leading 35-0, a running clock was imposed.
The Warriors’ final touchdown came early in the fourth quarter when Perry connected a 14-yard pass to Bowden.
Fuerte led in receiving yards with 104 on just two receptions — scoring touchdowns on both. Andrew Boshard trailed with 69 yards. Bowden rushed for 59 yards and a touchdown on 20 attempts (2.95 yp/c).
Kaikane Kanekoa led Honoka‘a with 49 yards on one reception, thrown by Elijah Kaupu-Alip.
The Warriors totaled 361 yards on offense, allowing Honoka‘a’s offense 190.
KSH’s next outing will be on the morning of Saturday (Sept. 30) at Kohala HS. The Warriors defeated Kohala 48-7 during their home opener in August.
The Dragons (4-2) will face their next-biggest game of the season that same day, on the road at Hawaii Prep (4-2). Honoka‘a edged HPA 13-12 during the pair’s season opener in August.
The results of this game could determine which team will come away with the No.2 standing in BIIF DII.
Correction
In a weekend BIIF football preview released in the Tribune-Herald on Thursday, it was stated that Honoka‘a could still make it to the BIIF championship if it lost to KSH on Friday. This was incorrect.