KEALAKEKUA — Konawaena football played one of its best games of the season during Thursday night’s rout of local rival Kealakehe at Julian R. Yates Field.
The Wildcats blasted the Waveriders 71-0 thanks to strong play on opposite ends of the field. Kona was missing a handful of starters — such as receiver Malu Tan and safety Kaiea Thomas — but the team’s depth and overall talent was too much for the visitors to handle. It was the green and white’s fifth consecutive win.
“We had a short week and had some guys out, so I’m proud of them,” coach Brad Uemoto said postgame. “Our other guys stepped up big and brought us energy.”
The Wildcats’ scoring onslaught began immediately, especially in the 50-point opening half. Sophomore quarterback Keenan Alani got things going with a 30-yard laser to star receiver Austin Takaki for the first points of the night. On the very next drive, Kona running back Hercules Nahale punched the ball inside for a 1-yard rushing touchdown.
After linebackers Wyatt Wehrsig and Funaki James-Fainga sacked Kealakehe quarterback Lawai’a Nahakuela inside the ‘Riders’ own end zone to secure the safety, Alani connected with Takaki again on a quick screen pass — in which Takaki took the ball another 30 yards afrer the catch to reach the end zone.
Right after Alani threw another touchdown pass to Max Taetuna-Fautanu to open the second quarter, Wildcats defensive back Armenio Blanco secured a pick six — running the intercepted ball 32 yards to the end zone.
A few short minutes later, Blanco sealed another pick six to take it 31 yards to the house. The senior also had another interception in the second half. Uemoto praised Blanco’s play, noting that the coaching staff challenged him to play out of position in the last few games.
“He’s such a cerebral player; he takes on a new position and he executes,” he said. “Always in the right place at the right time. We’re lucky to have him.”
Once Nahale scored another rushing touchdown to go up seven scores at halftime, a running clock took place in the second half. Kona still managed to squeeze in a few more touchdowns, though — as Takaki returned a punt 34 yards for a touchdown to open the third, Kainalu Villanueva scored on a 5-yard rush and Timoteo Casuga-Llanes scored the last touchdown of the night with a 5-yard run down the middle. The team then secured another safety to close the game.
It was the second game in which the Wildcats scored at least 70 points and the third straight week of scoring 45 or more. The green and white are now averaging over 43 points per game.
To tally everything out, Alani finished with 172 passing yards and three touchdowns — adding to his All-BIIF campaign of 28 touchdowns and two interceptions on the season.
Alani’s top targets were Takaki with 136 receiving yards and two touchdowns and Taetuna-Fautanu with 30 yards and a touchdown. Nahale was the top member of the backfield with 76 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
Defensively, it was Kona’s fifth shutout of 2024, adding to its season average of allowing just under seven points per game. The unit posted 8.5 sacks — led by linebacker Elias Malapit and lineman Hiwa Sata-Ellis with 1.5 each.
“We have a great defense, and they fought hard tonight,” Uemoto added. “They deserve moments like this, so I’m happy for their performance.”
Although the Wildcats breezed to victory, Uemoto explained that each game is an new opportunity for his group to practice execution — noting that consistency in that regard is key for success later in the season.
“We talk about it during pregame all the time, about how we want to compete against ourselves,” he said. “As long as we execute the way we want to execute, then the opponent shouldn’t matter. That’s what we did tonight, and we’ll try to do that going forward with our next opponent.
“We’re going to continue to execute our game plan no matter who we face, and that’s the mindset we have every week.”
Kona (6-2 overall, 6-0 BIIF) has just two games remaining in the regular season — Waiakea on Friday night and Kea‘au on October 25. Both outings will be at home. The green and white comfortably sit in first place in the BIIF Division I standings.