HONOKA‘A — In a nail-biter matchup that took the defending BIIF Division II champions to the brink, Hawaii Prep football lost its season opener 13-12 to Honoka‘a on Friday night on the road. Ka Makani starts the year 0-1, but took away a lot of positives from both sides of the ball.
“It was a great game — our kids fought,” HPA Head Coach Lincoln Kalama said postgame. “Little mistakes here and there, but we’ll clean some stuff up.”
Ka Makani’s offense was led by running back Aipia Alaka‘i, who received a majority of the workload throughout the game — tallying an efficient 148 yards on 29 carries. The junior’s consistent big gains on the outside kept HPA’s offense on the field more often than not, giving Ka Makani long drives and taking away offensive possessions from the Dragons. Sophomore quarterback Hayden Kalama managed the offense well, finding quick screen passes to keep the chains moving.
“Our running game is very important,” Lincoln Kalama said. “We rely on guys like Aipia so much.”
HPA’s defense began the game strong, forcing multiple three-and-outs stalling the Dragons’ offense early in their possessions. Senior linebacker Michael House picked off Honoka‘a quarterback Elijah Kaupu-Alip at midfield late in the first quarter to return it for a touchdown, getting HPA on the board first.
HPA’s defense held steady until late in the first half, where Kaupu-Alip completed two big gains to Tyson Keolanui-Leslie and Gavin Silva to put Honoka‘a deep in Ka Makani’s territory. Kaupu-Alip then found Keaka Cagampang in the right corner of the end zone to even the score at 6-6 right before halftime.
The Dragons continued the second half with how they finished the first — scoring immediately on the opening drive with a short screen pass to Keolanui-Leslie, who took it another 60 yards for a touchdown.
The Dragons’ run game began to open up, too, with Kaupu-Alip and Keolanui-Leslie finding the gaps consistently and breaking numerous tackles. Ka Makani matched Honoka‘a’s run game with big gains from Alaka‘i — who ran it in for the HPA’s second score of the night. Ka Makani failed to convert the two-point attempt to take the lead. HPA was short a kicker due to injury, which forced Ka Makani to go for two.
Nonetheless, Lincoln Kalama was confident in his players’ ability to convert, and still will be going forward.
“That was a play that we drew up in practice…the ball just came out a little bit too early.”
HPA couldn’t reach red-zone territory for the remainder of the fourth quarter — despite some impressive throws from Hayden Kalama — and Honoka‘a held on for the win.
Although Ka Makani fell short, Lincoln Kalama was impressed with how his group fought, especially since they were unable to watch the Dragons play previously due to the fires.
He expects them to turn the page quickly.
“They shouldn’t put their heads down,” Lincoln Kalama explained. “They played a heck of a game and we didn’t see any film on them. We had to make adjustments during the game, which made them a little bit more confused.
“We just have to get our focus back.”
HPA will play its home opener against Pahoa in Week 2 at 3 p.m. Saturday.
