Red Raiders clinch with overtime win over Warriors

LIHU‘E — Both the Kaua‘i High School Red Raiders and the Kapa‘a High School Warriors were well aware of the what was on the line Saturday at Vidinha Stadium. For the Red Raiders it was a chance to reclaim a KIF title, and for the Warriors it was the chance to keep its hopes alive in repeating as champions from a year ago.

Emotions ran high for the majority of the game, which did result in penalties on both sides, but it took some late game heroics, gutsy performances and some drama to crown the Kaua‘i High School Red Raiders as KIF champions, as they walked away with the 20-13 win that went into overtime.

Defense would be in the spotlight for three quarters of play as both defensive units came to play. The first score of the day came when Kapa‘a quarterback Turtle Kahaulua dropped back to pass and threw the ball in the flat for a receiver, but Kaua‘i’s Kaiea Iwasaki would jump the route and take the ball the other way for a pick six to give the Red Raiders the early 6-0 lead in the first quarter. The extra point attempt was squandered leaving it 6-0.

Other than Iwasaki’s defensive play, both teams would struggle moving the ball. In fact, neither team would score again until the fourth quarter.

Penalties played a big part in the game. Some seemed to be of the questionable variety with a lot of flags flying, especially late in the game. No doubt that tempers seemed to flare, which could also account for many of the flags as the game went on.

“When it comes to a game like that, it is very emotional,” said Kapa‘a Head Coach Keli‘i Morgado. “There is a lot of pressure, and these are young kids, they are young men, but they are still young and you combine that youth with the pressure and you get a lot of mental errors.”

Both teams seemed to struggle in the red zone, and the flags did magnify those struggles.

“The referees do their best,” said Kaua‘i Head Coach Cory Aguano. “It’s just a game. They see things that we don’t, we get all panicky and lose our temper, but they are out there doing their job.”

It wouldn’t be until early in the fourth quarter that Kapa‘a would eventually break through on a 71-yard drive, which culminated in a creative play call which let J.J. Alonzo run the ball in the endzone from 21-yards out and knot the game at 6-6. Yet again the extra point was muffed, which would leave the score tied.

With the Kaua‘i driving and entering the red zone, running back Reggie McFadden would fumble, which was recovered by Kapa‘a’s Brooks Bethel and returned to the Red Raider 40 yard line setting up great field position for the Warriors.

A 15-yard scramble from Kuhaulua would set up first and goal on the 1-yard line, which Una Masaniai would punch in giving the Warriors the 12-6 lead. Kicker Jonathan Paleka would be able to get a kick off this time converting the extra point leaving Kapa‘a with a 13-6 lead with about three minutes left to play.

The Red Raiders started on its own 24-yard line with little time to play in the fourth quarter. A pair of Trey Aguano scrambles would net the Red Raider two first downs. A few plays later Kaua‘i found themselves at fourth down and 16 yards to go with the game on the line. Aguano would drop back to pass an connect with Chanse Ramirez for a crucial first down.

On the very next play Agauno would connect with Dreyke Smith-Butac for a strike that would put the Red Raiders on the 16-yard line. Aguano would go on to spike the ball to stop the clock with about 40 seconds remaining.

Kapa‘a’s Cory Comera-Payomo would then come up with a huge sack putting Kaua‘i back at the 25-yard line, with the time still ticking away. Aguano would again spike the ball to stop the clock. On the very next play, Aguano would pull the ball down and run getting to the 22-yard line leaving it fourth and 16. Again, the seconds were ticking away.

Aguano would hustle his team to the line and with about eight seconds left, got the snap off and threw the ball down the middle of the field where he connected with Smith-Butac in the endzone for a 22-yard touchdown leaving only a few seconds left and the score was 13-12 in favor of Kapa‘a. Kicker Grant Basquez would convert the extra point tying the game at 13-13.

“They only had one back in the middle,” Smith-Butac said. “It was wide open, a simple read, and Trey got me the ball simple as that.”

Smith-Butac finished with 53-yards receiving on three receptions, including the big touchdown catch.

Aguano finished the night with 82-yards through the air on five of 14 attempts.

“I was seeing safeties to the outside,” Aguano said. “I saw the linebacker not facing the receiver so I just threw it right over his head. It was a great play.”

In overtime the ball is placed on the 25-yard line and each team is given the opportunity to score.

The Red Raiders came up with the ball first, and three straight hand-offs to running back Waika Alapai would result in lead changing touchdown putting the Red Raiders up 20-13.

Alapai would finish with an impressive 108-yards rushing on 16 carries, he would also make his presence felt on defense as he came up with five tackles.

That put the ball in Kapa‘a’s hands, and the team would need a score if it wanted to stay alive. Unfortunately for the Warriors, a false start penalty on third and short would push the situation back to third and seven. A hand-off to running back Leevi Bethel would get the Warriors one yard leaving it fourth and six. With Kahaulua dropping back to pass, he was not given much time to find an open receiver as he was met with a host of Red Raider defender who would pull him down for the sack and the title.

“Hats off to Kapa‘a. They played an outstanding game to the wire,” Cory Aguano said. “We had a circus act at the end to win this. It’s huge to wrap it up today. It looked grim for a little while, but these boys played resiliently, overcame all of the penalties today and they came back and they won. They just surprised me and I am very proud of them.”

• Rick Killeen, sports writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or sports@ thegardenisland.com. Follow @RickKilleen