KEALAKEKUA – The Wildcats knew it wasn’t going to be pretty.
On a rainy, muddy Friday night at Julian Yates Field, the Hilo and Konawaena squads that came into the BIIF Division I championship averaging a combined 83 points per game struggled mightily to get their offenses going. Through three quarters, the defenses and the weather proved to have the upper hand, as the Wildcats held a narrow one-point lead.
“The ball’s wet; it was muddy,” said Konawaena’s head coach Brad Uemoto after his team’s 13-12 victory. “But at the end of the day, we all had the same conditions.”
When the rain finally let up late, however, the offenses were ready to capitalize.
It was the Vikings who struck first, taking their first lead since the second quarter via a 10-yard touchdown pass from Kimo Ibanez Jr. to Damien Kai. After a failed two-point attempt, Hilo’s lead stood at 12-7 as Konawaena took the field with just over eight minutes left on the clock.
With 77 yards standing between them and their end zone, the Wildcat offense needed to put together their best drive of the night.
“We just told ourselves that we have to score now, or that could be the end of our game,” said Wildcat quarterback Keoki Alani.
Though the typically potent Konawaena passing game had struggled most of the night, Alani & Co. picked the perfect time to get in rhythm. Three times on the drive, Alani connected with receivers to convert on third down – first to Isaac Clement deep in their own territory, then twice to Kamaehu Makanui – to put Konawaena in scoring position for the first time in the second half.
Once in the red zone, Uemoto dialed up Konawaena’s go-to red-zone play call. Alani rolled to his right, and saw his favorite target one-on-one against Hilo’s Holi Ah Choy; a perfect strike from Alani went over Ah Choy and into the hands of Makanui in the back of the end zone to put the Wildcats back in front 13-12.
“It’s our go-to play on the goal line,” said Uemoto. “… Keoki just made a great throw, got the defender down low. Kama made a great catch as usual; he’s caught big balls all year for us.
“Our word has always been persevere. I told these guys that there’s going to be moments where things aren’t going to go our way; we have to persevere. That was a true display of perseverance for these kids. They battled through.”
With more than four minutes remaining, Hilo had plenty of time for a response. A steady dose of Koa Akui and Xiah Kanae on the ground soon had the Vikings within range for a field goal. Hilo kicker Tre Nelson-Langacker stepped onto the field with 2:49 to go, already having hit a pair of field goals earlier in the night.
This time, though, Nelson-Langacker’s 47-yard attempt was tipped and fell well short, failing to even reach the end zone. With 2:45 to play and Hilo out of timeouts, Konawaena needed just one first down to seal the title.
On third and six, Kawelu Kaiawe delivered. The Wildcats’ lead back found a crease – something that Hilo rarely allowed to happen throughout the night – and slipped past the first-down marker, lifting Konawaena to victory.
“The kid’s been tough as nails all year; he’s been our horse,” Uemoto said of Kaiawe. “He closed it out for us tonight. Although he didn’t have the yards or the running lanes he usually sees, he made the biggest run of the year for sure.”
Though Alani and Makanui connected the game-winning score, they were both quick to credit their teammates for putting them in position to make such a big play.
“It’s all Kawelu,” said Makanui. “That dude put the team on his back the first three quarters. He carried everybody through this game; he brought all the energy.”
“I give credit to my line,” added Alani. “They allowed one sack in all our games we played this season.”
Friday’s victory gives Konawaena their first BIIF Championship since 2017, and their first since moving up to Division I in 2019. The Wildcats snapped Hilo’s streak of seven consecutive league titles.
“It’s amazing,” said Uemoto. “To be Division I champions, for us to be a small school that took the leap a few years ago to play with the big boys, it’s something big for our school.
“One thing we kept hush was, throughout the 80s, we had an 11-year streak of BIIF titles. Alumni come up to me all the time and say, ‘Hey coach, Hilo’s on that verge. You’ve got to stop them.’ Some of it goes out to them too, just to keep that streak alive. That’s really who we play for: alumni, our community, everybody that cares about us and most importantly, these kids. Just proud of everybody.”
Konawaena now advances to the HHSAA Division I semifinals, which will be played Friday, Dec. 17 at Farrington High School on Oahu.
Konawaena 0 7 0 6 – 13
Hilo 3 0 3 6 – 12
First quarter
Hilo – Nelson-Langacker 31-yard field goal
Second quarter
Konawaena – Alani 1-yard run (Satta-Ellis kick)
Third quarter
Hilo – Nelson-Langacker 38-yard field goal
Fourth quarter
Hilo – Ibanez Jr. 10-yard pass to Kai (2-pt failed)
Konawaena – Alani 10-yard pass to Makanui (2-pt failed)