KEAAU — For the first time since 2011, Kea‘au High School’s football team defeated Hilo High, dominating the Vikings 28-3 to win homecoming on Thursday.
With this victory, the Cougars have won the season series against Hilo and secured the No. 2 standing in BIIF DI. The Vikings defeated Kea‘au 29-22 at the start of September, but Thursday’s 25-point win outweighs that loss.
This was Kea‘au’s third straight win, second straight home win and fifth win on the season (5-2 BIIF, 5-3 ovr.). The victory broke Hilo’s 12 year straight, 15-0 reign over the Cougars.
“I’m feeling on top of the world,” first-year Kea‘au head coach David Murray said. “Props to the man upstairs for putting us in this position. He delivered everybody, and they focused up and did what they had to do.”
After analyzing their September loss to Hilo, the Cougars hatched a game plan — eliminate the Vikings’ deep pass and break through their defense on the ground — and it worked exceptionally well.
Hilo’s most crucial touchdowns during the pair’s last faceoff were deep passes and a pick-six. This time, Kea‘au threw the ball conservatively and leaned on the inside run on offense — while running an airtight coverage on defense.
The Cougars’ coverage gave the Vikings’ receivers little room to breathe, and — combined with immense pressure from Kea‘au’s defensive line — often left Hilo’s quarterback with no options but to scramble or throw the ball out of bounds.
“We made sure that we did our homework, we had a lot of film time,” Murray said. “We really stressed the technique and being able to diagnose what they were doing.”
The game began with both teams punting on their opening drives.
The Cougars scored first, capping off a prolonged drive powered by elusive runningback Charleston Salazar. Once in the redzone, quarterback Diego Pettypool carried the ball 15 yards for a touchdown. Hilo’s Nahulu Chartrand-Barco blocked the kick, and Kea‘au led 6-0.
Hilo was unable to score on its next drive, but got the ball back after an interception by Exodus Francisco. As the second quarter began, the Vikings were creeping up on the redzone. Hilo attempted multiple endzone passes, but Kea‘au’s coverage was too strong and they all went incomplete.
On fourth and long near the 20-yard line, the Vikings went for the field goal. Nahiku Anderson made the kick, which nearly missed before bouncing in off of the right goalpost. Hilo’s deficit shrunk to 6-3.
Kea‘au ate up much of the clock on their next drive, which saw the Cougars have mixed success in the air — but ultimately make several third down conversions as Salazar and the offensive line consistently gained yardage on the inside run.
After eventually getting the line of scrimmage to within the five yard line, Pettypool connected a quick pass to Josiah Nihoa for a touchdown. The two-point conversion succeeded as Pettypool passed to Sean Randall — increasing Kea‘au’s lead to 14-3 with less than three minutes left in the half.
Hilo’s subsequent drive was chaotic, with multiple penalties against both sides. With one minute left, Hilo faced a third and long on Kea‘au’s 27-yard line. Chanstin Uahinui-Vagai got a sack and forced a fumble, which teammate Shaydin Meek-Canon-Ching recovered and returned more than 20 yards.
Now back in possession and at midfield, the Cougars scored within their first sets of downs — as Pettypool threw a 50-yard pass to Randall, who caught it in the endzone. The two-point failed, but the Cougars still led by three scores (20-3) with less than a minute left in the half.
Kea‘au’s defense handled business, forcing a three-and-out before the clock stopped.
“It’s always good having momentum going into the half, especially at home,” Murray said. “Hilo’s a tough team, scrappy. They got a good culture at Hilo. I was just happy that the boys responded well.”
During the Vikings and Cougars’ last bout, Hilo tied the score just before the end of the first half and outscored Kea‘au 15-8 during the second half of the game. With this in mind, the Cougars kept up the pressure on defense and managed the clock on offense — forcing another three-and-out after Hilo took the opening kick, then eating up most of the third quarter with a sustained, mostly on-the-ground drive.
Hilo forced a turnover on downs just outside of their redzone as the fourth quarter began, but was still behind by 17 points. Kea‘au then forced another punt.
The Vikings’ defense went into overdrive to stop the Cougars’ next offensive effort — and it nearly worked, but Kea‘au converted on two separate fourth downs. A pass from Pettypool to Randall put Kea‘au on the nine yard line, then Salazar carried the ball 12 yards to score. Pettypool ran in the two-point conversion, trucking a defender at the goal line.
Hilo kept fighting and echoed Kea‘au’s last drive — converting on multiple third and fourth downs to get inside the Cougars’ redzone. An air of chaos descended — as a fight, multiple penalties and two injuries jolted the flow of the game. With less than a minute left, the Vikings faced a fourth and long around the 19-yard line. They looked to pass, but Uahnui-Vagai broke through the line and made a game-concluding sack — as possession turned over and the Cougars kneeled.
While a euphoric occasion for the Cougars, it was a heartbreaking one for the Vikings (3-3). However, with two games left, the loss provided Hilo with important lessons to bear in mind moving forward.
“(Kea‘au) came to play tonight,” Hilo head coach John Flores said. “We just came out flat. We started flat, and we couldn’t get it going. Hats off to them, they were the better team tonight, and it’s back to the drawing board for us.
“One thing that I want everyone to know is that we have a young team. I set out three goals for this team this year — make them a brotherhood again, compete and have an identity. We’ve accomplished those goals and we fought ‘til the end, but we just couldn’t get it going. You win some, you learn some. I hate losing more than I love winning.”
Hilo’s two remaining showings will be on the road. On Friday (0ct. 13) they will play away at Kealakehe HS (1-6). The Vikings will then end their season across town on Saturday, Oct. 21 against Waiakea HS (0-6).
“We wanna finish the season strong,” Flores said. “Come offseason, we’ll hit it hard — come back next year and hopefully get ‘em back.
“For our seniors, for most of them it’s probably the last times they’re gonna play football. For me, it’s gonna be bittersweet. My son’s a senior, so I’m just gonna enjoy watching him get out and play.”
Kea‘au’s final outing will be 6 p.m. Friday (Oct. 13) at home against Konawaena (6-0 BIIF, 7-1 ovr.).
Though the Wildcats crushed the Cougars 64-0 in September, the win against Hilo has renewed Kea‘au’s players’ confidence — and with little on the line, the Cougars will look to go all out and take their best shot at the defending DI state champs.