If Hilo High coach Chris Todd had it over again, the Vikings wouldn’t have had a fake punt contribute to their only BIIF loss of the past four years.
Todd hadn’t called for a fake, but with Hilo protecting a seven-point lead midway through the fourth quarter of the Oct. 22 season-opener at Konawaena, Vikings coaches saw that the Wildcats’ punt return team wasn’t aligned properly. With the gunner initially unguarded, coaches yelled for the punter to pass. His fourth-down throw looked to be on target, but the ball dropped harmlessly to the ground.
Konawaena went on to force overtime and won 24-21, snapping the Viks’ 23-game BIIF winning streak in what was only one of two Division I contests all season to be decided by one possession.
And, as it turns out, after the two teams lapped the rest of the D-I field, Todd and the Vikings will get a do-over. Hilo (4-1) goes for its eighth consecutive league title at 7 p.m. Friday when it pays another visit to Kealakekua to face the Wildcats (5-0).
Both programs proved their stability in the first contest, Todd said, but he expects the play to be much crisper all the way around in the rematch.
“You could tell with the mistakes that were being made on both sides that each team hadn’t played in two years,” Todd said. “There was no film, we were not familiar with each others’ personnel.
“We both kind of came into the game blind.”
One player who was quick to take off the blindfolds this season was Wildcats’ sophomore quarterback Keoki Alani, who threw three touchdown passes in the first meeting. Seamlessly operating the no-huddle offense, Todd said Alani makes it looks like he’s a quarterback well beyond his years.
“When we talk about the no-huddle, we like to talk about Keoki and how he conducts the team,” Konawaena coach Brad Uemoto said. “He’s done a really good job, and a lot of our success on offense has been the result of how he’s been able to conduct things for us.”
In its other four games, Konawaena outscored its competition 210-38, with Alani tossing 15 more touchdowns.
“I thought one of his better games was his the first game against Hilo,” Uemoto said. “He’s obviously had some struggles, but he’s stayed pretty even throughout the season, and honestly that’s been very good for us.”
Hilo hits the road in the BIIF title game for the first time since 2015, when it went to Kailua-Kona and avenged a loss earlier that season against Kealakehe.
Games at Kealakekua, however, are a different animal, even for the Vikings. Since 2013, Hilo is 2-3 at Konawaena, and a whopping 61-1 in all other BIIF contests.
“We pride on playing more against ourselves and worrying about our own execution,” Uemoto said.
Konawaena seeks its first D-I title since moving up a level before the 2019 season and first overall since 2017, when it completed a three-peat in D-II. No matter the division, the Wildcats are in a BIIF title game for the 10th season in a row.
Hilo is coming off a 47-0 win against Kealakehe in the semifinals in which Hilo junior quarterback Kimo Ibanez Jr. threw for five touchdowns passes.
“Both teams have reasons coming out of that (first) game and the (regular) season to feel they’re the best team,” Todd said. “I feel our boys feel like they’re well-prepared. I think the same will be true for Konawaena.
“Now it’s just a matter of which team can execute its game plan.”
Division II semifinals
Ka’u (1-4) at Hawaii Prep (5-0), 2 p.m. Saturday: Ka Makani won the first meeting 51-0 on Nov. 6 in Waimea.
The Trojans earned the fourth seed in the playoffs by virtue of a 26-13 home win last weekend against Pahoa in which Adadiyah Ellis-Reyes threw two touchdown passes to Kealiikoa Reyes-Nalu and a third to Micah Espejo. Jonah Beck also ran for a 52-yard touchdown. Donivan Lynch accounted for two scores for the Daggers.
Honokaa (3-2) at Kamehameha (4-1), 6 p.m. Saturday: The Dragons have won three in a row since a 13-8 loss at Kamehameha in which they failed to score an offensive touchdown.