Waimea dominates Hilo, proves opponents will need ‘A’ game to contend HANAPEPE – Preseason sports come with a tradition: rarely is a full compliment of weaponry displayed. That’s veiled until the regular season, when games ‘count.’ That practice makes the
Waimea dominates Hilo, proves opponents will need ‘A’ game to contend
HANAPEPE – Preseason sports come with a tradition: rarely is a full compliment of weaponry displayed. That’s veiled until the regular season, when games ‘count.’
That practice makes the potential at Waimea downright bottomless.
The Menehunes stomped visiting Hilo 45-0 Saturday night at Hanapepe Stadium, sending a message to the Kaua’i Interscholastic Federation and to the state. The Vikings are the Big Island Interscholastic Federation defending champions – and projected to be better this year than last.
“We’re very happy with the team’s performance,” Waimea head coach Jon Kobayashi said. “There are a lot of things for us still to work on. But we were happy. There were a lot of bright spots on defense.”
All the Menehunes did was hold Hilo’s offense to 90 total yards, 40 of which came in the final minute of the game. All-BIIF running back Hayden Stevens managed just 45 yards on 14 carries before being helped off the field in the third quarter with an injury.
Despite his evident power, Stevens was able to clear the Menehunes’ defensive line/linebackers just once. He picked up 12 yards on the play.
Otherwise, the Vikings had no answers for Waimea’s defensive speed. Linebackers Gary Mata and Jordon Dizon, along with linemen Ikaika Cabral, Mark Ruiz, Jesse Cabatan and others punished Hilo all night.
The crushing Menehunes defense held Hilo to three first downs, all of which came in the second half. The Vikings failed to complete a pass.
“Mata and Dizon are coming along pretty good at this point,” Kobayashi said. “Mata actually has a lot of experience from last year.
“But it was the entire defense that played well.”
In addition to that unit’s stinginess, Waimea showed equal ability offensively – though it might have liked a better showing aerially.
The Menehunes rushed for 318 yards against a defense that featured experience at lineman, linebacker and defensive back. Waimea’s offensive line opened the holes, and Rayson Cacal, Chesley Barba, Dizon and Cabral ran through.
Cacal led the charge with 132 yards on 17 carries and five touchdowns.
“Rayson kind of blossomed [Saturday] night,” Kobayashi said. “It was somewhat of a coming out party for him. He gained a lot of confidence.”
Cabral was close on Cacal’s heels, carving out 97 yards on 12 carries. Barba did most of the work early in the game, rushing 15 times for 85 yards and a touchdown.
“Chesley is our most experienced back,” Kobayashi said. “We know what we can expect when we go to him, so we did it early.
“We’re still trying some things in the backfield, though.”
Positives aside, the first thing Kobayashi wanted to discuss when interviewed was a series of uncharacteristic lapses in concentration.
False start penalties were Waimea’s only eye sore. The Menehunes were flagged 12 times for the infraction, amassing 60 negative yards.
“We need to clean up the mistakes,” Kobayashi said. “You can’t be satisfied when you make so many.”
Of course, there also was a silver lining to the penalties. Waimea drew the yellow flag just three times after halftime, responding favorably to coaches’ instruction at the intermission.
“We’ve got good players,” Kobayashi said. “There are good boys here to work with.”
Cacal began the scoring barrage late in the first quarter when he bolted 15 yards to the end zone. Just moments later, lineman Mark Ruiz blocked a Hilo punt. Barba scooped it up and jogged five yards for the score.
Quarterback Adrian Agan hooked up with Cacal for the final score of the first half, a 28-yard pass play.
Cacal got right back to work in the third quarter, scoring on runs of two and six yards. He also scored the final touchdown of the game, an 18-yard sweep around the left end.
In between Cacal’s second-half TD frenzy, Barba punched one in from a yard out. Agan connected on 3-of-5 point-after attempts.
Waimea opens the KIF season against Kaua’i on September 7 at Vidinha Stadium.
Waimea 45, Hilo 0
Hilo 0 0 0 0 0
Waimea 7 13 12 13 45
Scoring Summary
Waimea – Cacal 15 run; Agan kick
Waimea – Barba 5 block punt; kick fail
Waimea – Cacal 28 pass Agan; Agan kick
Waimea – Cacal 2 run; kick fail
Waimea – Cacal 6 run; kick fail
Waimea – Barba 1 run; Agan kick
Waimea – Cacal 18 run; two-point fail
The Vital Stats
Team Vikings Menehunes
1st Downs 3 19
Total Yards 90 357
Rushing 38-90 47-318
Passing 0-3-0-0 2-4-1-39
Punting 6-23 1-23
Fumbles-lost 4-1 2-1
Penalties-Yards 7-35 12-60
