KAILUA-KONA — How was the West won? Quickly and handily.
KAILUA-KONA — How was the West won? Quickly and handily.
In front of one of the largest crowds in recent memory at Julian R. Yates Field, Konawaena (3-1 BIIF, 4-1) routed Kealakehe 44-20 on Friday night.
The Wildcats have won the last four contests against their westside rival, outscoring the Waveriders 140-52 in those games.
Konawaena junior quarterback Austin Ewing continued his strong play, racking up 245 yards and four touchdowns. Kaanoi Rivera-Kelekolio caught two of those scores and finished with 54 yards receiving.
The Wildcats have reeled off three wins in a row since dropping their opener to Hilo on Aug. 27. Ewing has tossed 13 touchdowns and no interceptions in those games.
Kealakehe got its first win of the season last weekend against Kamehameha, but fall to 1-3 in league play at the midway mark and will need a late run to lock up a playoff spot.
Quarterback Anthony Trevino led the offensive effort for the Waveriders, connecting on 11 of 27 passes for 161 yards and a score. He added 32 yards on the ground.
Konawaena didn’t need a ton of help putting up points in the first half, but got some thanks to a Kealakehe fumble around midfield in the first quarter. It took the Wildcats just one minute to post the first score of the night — a 15-yard pass from Ewing to Rivera-Kelekolio.
The quick strike was a theme of the first half for the Wildcats. Almost all of the team’s scoring drive were two minutes or less while they piled up 246 yards of offense in the first two quarters.
Kealakehe, on the other hand, did the opposite. For the Waveriders’ lone first half score, the team embarked on a 15-plus-play drive that went 80 yards. Trevino found Travis Grace for the touchdown, but the extra point was missed.
Konawaena responded with 21 unanswered points before the half. Ewing hit on 14 of 18 passes before the break for 217 yards. He could have added another touchdown to the box score, but his receiver fumbled at the 1-yard line and Kamakana Ching recovered it in the end zone.
Out of the half, the Wildcats went backwards on their first drive, but quickly got back on track as Ewing connected with Rivera-Kelekolio to wrap up a four-play, 78-yard scoring drive. Again, it took the Wildcats just over a minute to find pay dirt.
Kealakehe got its offense moving late in the third quarter, but Seau Amor put an end to that, picking off Trevino and taking it back 75 yards for a score.
The Waveriders showed some signs of life late. Travis Grace connected with Swope Conn for a touchdown, and then the Waveriders flipped a Wildcat fumble at the 1-yard line into another score. However, it was the story of too little too late for the Waveriders, especially with a running clock.