Hilo High senior quarterback Kyan Miyasato said it feels like his high school career has gone by “like a flash,” and the fireworks could resume as early as Friday night.
After a late 6 p.m. junior varsity kickoff at Wong Stadium, the Vikings make their season debut in a nonleague contest against the busiest BIIF football team to date, Kamehameha, which will play its third and final tuneup before heading to its Division II schedule.
Last season, Miyasato was a the trigger man of a three-headed monster at receiver, and though all the talent out wide was a good problem to have, there were a lot of hands to feed.
“Kalae Akui wasn’t getting any touches, and he was getting mad at me,” Miyasato said. “I told him, ‘Hey, I’m just making my reads.”’
Akui graduated, but Hilo is even more loaded with playmakers this season. Kilohana Haasenritter’s transfer from Kamehameha and the emergence of Kaimi Tiogangco bolster all-BIIF returnees Fiki Aguiar and Guyson Ogata.
Miyasato will try to spread the wealth, but he won’t force the ball and worry about keeping tabs on who’s getting catches and who’s not.
“I just make my reads, honestly,” Miyasato said. “If you’re open I’ll throw it to you, but I’m not going to throw a 50-50 ball.
“If Guyson is open three plays in a row, I’m going to throw it to him three plays in row.”
Considering the abundance of talent – when is the last time a team returned two BIIF reigning Offensive Players of the Year? (Aguiar and Haasenritter) – Miyasato knows it will only be natural for fingers to be pointed his way if the offense should ever struggle to move the ball.
“I have a mindset where I don’t care what people think about us,” Miyasato said. “I just do what I’m told and get the win.”
It’s been somewhat of a star-crossed first three seasons for Miyasato.
He helped Hilo’s offense stay afloat during his freshman season when starter Ka’ale Tiogangco sustained two injuries, but he struggled to stay eligible as a sophomore, missing out on the program’s first HHSAA championship.
If he knew then what he knows now, Miyasato would change a lot.
“I wished I was more serious when I was a freshman and sophomore,” he said. “More mature, I was a beach boy.”
But he wouldn’t change who he is, saying, “If it wasn’t for football, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.”
Miyasato capably guided Hilo to its sixth consecutive BIIF Division I title as a junior, but he and the Vikings were beat up in their HHSAA repeat bid, losing to Waipahu.
That’s why his senior season is all about chasing the ring.
“What makes us want to win is our coach (Kaeo Drummondo), to be honest,” he said. “He is one of the best coaches in the state. There are days on this island nobody else is practicing, but we’re out here to get better with the mindset of ring-chasing.
“The ring, I just want that state championship.”
Neither of the Warriors’ first two games, both at home, have been competitive. They lost to Iolani 47-10 and are coming off a 56-6 romp against Waiakea.
Kamehameha will have a pair of key players eligible for the first time this season, potential No. 1 quarterback Koby Tabuyo-Kahele and receiver/defensive back Izayah Chartrand-Penera. Both could make their debuts after reaching the mandatory practice time.