Fans who showed up late to Wong Stadium on Friday night missed Hilo’s biggest play of the night.
Fans who showed up late and blinked missed five big plays by Kamehameha-Kapalama.
It’s all downhill from here for the Vikings after absorbing a 41-0 loss to the Warriors, capping a preseason in which the BIIF Division I champion failed to score against a pair of ILH powerhouses.
Sophomore quarterback Thomas Yam accounted for four scores and Kumoku Noa hauled in three touchdowns for the Warriors (3-0), who found the end zone five times in the first 11-plus minutes of the game.
The night started off promising enough for Hilo (0-2) when Kahale Huddleston took back the opening kickoff 76 yards to set the Vikings up in the red zone. Hilo went backwards on three plays and Kalei Tolentino-Perry’s 42-yards field goal was short.
Yam wasted little time getting Kamehameha on the board, connecting with Jaykob Cabunoc on a 48-yard touchdown.
Yam finished 8 of 9 for 158 yards and three touchdown passes in limited time, and late in the first quarter he took a keeper 60 yards for a score.
Hilo quarterback Ka’ale Tioganco threw two interceptions, the first of which was returned 30 yards for a score, staking the Warriors to a 13-0 lead.
A botched punt snap set Kamehameha up at the 6, and after a penalty Yam found Noa on 15-yard score. On the Warriors next drive, Noa got behind the defense for a scoring play that covered 52 yards.
Kamehameha played three quarterbacks. In the second quarter, Justice Young threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Noa.
Hilo’s best drive of the game came in the second half when Tioganco completed five passes in a row, including a 25-yard reception by Keaho Kaawa, to get the Vikings into Kamehameha territory. But after a 14-yard scamper by Tioganco, the junior was sacked to end the drive. The Warriors finished with five sacks.
Malu Lapilio had a sack for Hilo.
With the clock running the entire second half, the Vikings only had one other possession, which was enough time to hand the ball off to senior Ciera Kelli, a member of the Lady Vikings basketball team.
The heavy lifting against the ILH finished, Hilo turns its attention to its BIIF title defense. The Vikings open against on Aug. 29 at Hawaii Prep.
