LIHUE — The Warriors got a big win to inch closer to a league championship.
Kapaa High School’s varsity football team defeated Kauai High School on its senior day, 21-0, Saturday afternoon at Vidinha Stadium.
Kapaa (5-2, 4-1 KIF) will play against Waimea High School (1-6, 0-5 KIF) next weekend to conclude the Kauai Interscholastic Federation football regular season. The junior varsity game will start at noon and the varsity game will follow.
If Kapaa wins, the Warriors would clinch the KIF championship and a berth to states. If Kapaa loses, the Warriors and Red Raiders would end the season tied and a playoff game would be played at a date and location to be determined.
“Definitely a big win, but we’re still not done,” said Kapaa head coach Philip Rapozo. “We’re never going to overlook the Menehune because that’s a helluva team. Those boys got heart.”
“We beat a good really team today. We sputtered on offense. Our defense played lights out. That was some play by the defense. They’ve been good all year,” he continued. “We did enough to win on offense. But defensively, we were on fire today. We held a good offense to no points today.”
Kapaa went into halftime with a 6-0 lead. Warriors senior kicker Chysen Lagunes-Rapozo made two field goals of at least 40 yards in the first half.
The Warriors got their first touchdown in the first play of the fourth quarter — a 21-yard completion in the end zone from junior quarterback Kahanu Davis to senior receiver Jai Alapai.
Kapaa iced the win with a four-yard touchdown run from senior rusher Ryno Banasihan in the final minute of the fourth period.
Defensively, Kapaa totaled seven sacks and two interceptions. Warriors senior linebacker Raffy Perono tallied three of the team’s sacks.
Rapozo said that first loss to Kauai earlier in the season was “a wake-up call.”
“We didn’t know our identity. Us coaches, we’re not perfect either. We make mistakes, too. We went into that first game thinking we can do things that maybe we shouldn’t have,” Rapozo said. “We learned from it. The next game (against Kauai), we put it together.
“Hats off to Kauai High today. Our running game, they really held us. We controlled the clock. We controlled the game, but we didn’t get really big plays like we usually do. So, hats off to them on their defensive fight against our running game.”
Kauai threatened to score in the second quarter. The Red Raiders marched down to the Warriors one-yard line.
A sack and a tackle-for-loss pushed Kauai back to the Warriors six-yard line. The drive ended on a missed field goal by junior kicker Kaylee Alapai.
“I’m not going to hang my head on this because I don’t think the score reflects on how we play,” said Kauai head coach Jason Apilado. “I know our kids. From the beginning to the end, especially our seniors, they left it all out there. They knew what was at stake.”
“Not the result we would like. I think we were fighting adversity from the very beginning. A lot of things wasn’t going our way, but we kept in there and we kept fighting. So, I couldn’t be more proud of our squad right now,” he continued.
With Saturday’s result, Kauai High ends its 2018 regular season with a 6-2 overall record, going 4-2 in the KIF.
The Red Raiders started their season 5-0 going back to the preseason in Apilado’s first year as Kauai’s varsity head coach.
“First season, from the beginning, I didn’t know what to expect. A little rocky, especially with the administrative side of the role,” Apilado said. “Going through this season — my wife is going to think I’m crazy —but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’d do it again, again and again. (It’s been) very rewarding. I’ve gotten to know these kids really good. We’ve become a family in such a short time.”
He added of a potential playoff game if Waimea defeats Kapaa on Saturday: “Waimea’s a team that, it doesn’t matter if they’re down. They’re going to keep playing. Hey, stranger things have happened. I wish (Waimea head coach Jason Caldeira), his staff and his kids the best of luck.”
Scoring summary
1st quarter
07:25 KAPAA Chysen Lagunes-Rapozo 44-yard field goal, 3-0 Kapaa
2nd quarter
00:49 KAPAA Chysen Lagunes-Rapozo 41-yard field goal, 6-0 Kapaa
4th quarter
11:52 KAPAA Jai Alapai 21-yard reception from Kahanu Davis, 2-point conversion good (Tyson Tranilla reception from Kahanu Davis), 14-0 Kapaa
00:38 KAPAA Ryno Banasihan 4-yard run, Chysen Lagunes-Rapozo PAT good, 21-0 Kapaa
Stat leaders
Kapaa
Passing: Kahanu Davis, 10-15, 84 yards, 1 touchdown
Rushing: Ryno Banasihan, 27 carries, 82 yards, 1 touchdown
Receiving: Nakela Snyder, 4 receptions, 40 yards
Defense: Raffy Perono, 8 tackles, 3 sacks
Kauai
Passing: Kona Asano, 3-4, 49 yards
Rushing: Austin Paresa, 12 carries, 37 yards
Receiving: Logan Noice, 1 reception, 38 yards, 1 fumble
Defense: Matthew Passi, 8.0 tackles
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Nick Celario, sports writer, can be reached at 245-0437 or ncelario@thegardenisland.com.
