On Saturday afternoon, Kea‘au High School’s football team defeated homestanding Waiakea HS 53-0.
This was a long-awaited win for the Cougars, who hadn’t won a game in nearly a month — their most recent win being their first victory against the Warriors, Aug. 24.
Kea‘au fell 29-22 to Hilo at the start of this month, then to Konawaena one week later, then had a bye last week.
Following Saturday’s rout, Kea‘au moved to 3-2 in BIIF play and 3-3 overall while Waiakea fell to 0-5.
Kea‘au quarterback Diego Pettypool had a part in all but two of the outing’s touchdowns — notching five touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown.
Depite the blowout score, Waiakea held Kea‘au to just six points in the first quarter — which saw an astounding number of turnovers. The Cougars scored on the opening drive when Pettypool connected a 22-yard pass to Josiah Nihoa. The two-point conversion failed, giving KHS a 6-0 lead.
The Warriors managed to reach the redzone, but Kea‘au’s Kaeldon Wassman intercepted a pass.
Waiakea quickly returned the favor as Rylan Boromeo notched an interception. The Warriors couldn’t capitalize, and suffered a turnover on downs after a failed fake field goal. WHS got the ball back again when defensive tackle Kaimi Santos got an interception at the Kea‘au seven-yard line.
The turnovers just kept coming, as Kea‘au’s Treyston Carvalho-Leopoldino picked off a pass and ran it all the way to Waiakea’s 35-yard line.
The second quarter began, and became fruitful for Kea‘au — as the Cougars scored 34 points.
Pettypool connected with Katin Kaluhia-Yamaguchi for an 11-yard touchdown pass. The two-point was good, Pettypool threw to Dycein Velasco-Kahele.
High school football games tend to be decided by momentum — and Waiakea’s momentum began to fade as Kea‘au’s flourished.
A couple minutes later after stopping Waiakea’s offense, Kea‘au scored again. Pettypool ran in an 18-yard keeper for a touchdown, and the Cougars led 20-0.
Another two minutes later, Kaluhia-Yamaguchi notched a pick-six — and Pettypool connected with Nihoa for a successful two-pointer and a 28-0 lead.
The Cougars scored twice more before the end of the quarter. Around the 2:20 mark, Pettypool connected a 40-yard touchdown pass to Sean Randall. John Carroll made the PAT kick for a 35-0 lead.
12 game seconds later, Kea‘au linebacker Dane Bannister intercepted a pass and returned it 19 yards for a touchdown. The kick went wide, boosting KHS’ lead to 41 before halftime.
The third quarter began with a running clock. Waiakea’s kickoff return was fumbled, and Kaluhia-Yamaguchi was there to recover it. However, the Warriors made a fourth down stop to regain possession. The high didn’t last long, as Kaluhia-Yamaguchi got his third interception.
Pettypool and Randall connected again for a 30-yard touchdown pass. The kick went straight into a lineman’s back, and the Cougars’ lead increased to 47-0.
Things remained quiet until partway into the quarter when Kea‘au scored its final touchdown — a 27-yard pass from Pettypool to Randall. Waiakea’s Dylan Baltazar-Nakamoto swatted away the two-point conversion pass attempt.
The Cougars will end their season with a three-game homestead, starting 5 p.m. Friday against Kealakehe HS.
Also on Friday, Waiakea will cross the isle to play against Konawaena.
