LIHUE — Kapaa High School’s Rino Banasihan got the crowd of more than 1,000 excited early Saturday evening under threatening weather at Vidinha Stadium.
Banasihan capped an 85-yard opening drive by the Warriors after taking the handoff from quarterback Kahanu Davis and cradling the pigskin on a 48-yard scoring run in Kapaa’s opening series that started after a low kick from Lahainaluna and coralled on the Warriors’ 35-yard line.
With less than a minute off the clock, Chysen Lagunes-Rapozo converted the point-after boot for the 7-0 bulge. That lead stood until the Lunas tapped their second touchdown midway through the opening quarter when Derek Perez found the end zone at the end of a 30-yard scamper with the clock showing 7:58 left.
Kapaa was able to squeeze in a field goal by Lagunes-Rapozo with 3:51 left in the first half, but were shut down by Lahainaluna, 30-10 at the final buzzer.
“Any time you don’t win, you don’t feel as good as if you had won,” said Kapaa coach Philip Rapozo. “We had some bright spots, and we knew that we were playing one of the best schools in Division II. They are a well-coached and efficient team with a lot of talent. We had our chances, and I think we did all right. We got to see the areas we need to work on. Overall, I think we did well and gave the fans a good game.”
Lahaina answered Kapaa’s opening TD when Perez took a long kick and ran it back to where Etuati Storer closed the door with a four-yard charge into the end zone. The point-after attempt was blocked by Kapaa, which held onto a 7-6 advantage.
Perez put Lahaina up, 12-7 with 7:58 showing in the opening quarter after capping a 46-yard drive with a 30-yard scamper into the end zone. The PAT failed again.
Kapaa went down 18-7 following a Lunas’ TD from Joshua Tihada after driving to inside the Lunas’ 2o-yard marker in the second quarter. Davis was sacked by the Lunas’ defense on a fourth-and-long play to stifle a drive that stalled at the Lunas’ 22-yard line. Lagunes-Rapozo nailed the field goal to bring Kapaa to within a pair, 12-10, with 3:51 showing in the half.
The Lunas took control of the match from that point, taking a 24-10 lead into the break after Tihada found the end zone on a four-yard charge with less than a minute to the half.
William Kai Bookland announced the Lunas with a 39-yard score to open the third period and score the game’s final TD with just over 15 seconds peeled off the half, catching a long pass.
With the loss, Kapaa prepares to travel to Kona this weekend to face Konawaena, which just came off a 61-9 loss at the hands of Kahuku.
•••
Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
