Dennis Fujimoto The Garden Island
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LIHUE — Excitement — both good, and bad — filled the air of the Kauai Pop Warner Football League games Saturday when the league hosted five games at Vidinha Stadium.

“I have some good news,” said KPWFL president Teddy Arroyo. “The Kekaha Titans PeeWee division team, by virtue of its 14-0 win over the Hanapepe Colts PeeWee, will advance to the National Pop Warner Super Bowl in Florida. Scotty Rita and his team made their mark, early (we still have more games in the season). The Titans PeeWee will represent Hawaii, not just Kauai, at the national games.”

During the shutout contest, Kekaha’s Ikaika Miyashiro found the end zone early in the matchup against the Colts, charging three yards and gracing the score with a point-after run for the 7-0 bulge with less than a minute peeled off in the opening quarter.

The score stood until the final quarter when Kekaha’s Breman Fernandez found open ground on a 30-yard scoring run and capped the touchdown with a PAT run for the 14-0 win.

Kekaha’s Mitey Mites tried to celebrate the PeeWee honor, but came up short, 22-30, when the Hanapepe Colts Mitey Mites’ River Balocan was three-for-four in point-after kicks.

Kaikea Miyashiro did the three scoring honors for the Kekaha Mitey Mites, first finding the end zone in the opening quarter for 38 yards. The Point-After Touchdown came up empty for the 6-0 bulge that was answered by two Hanapepe scores in the second quarter.

Kanoa Naumu charged three yards for the Colts’ first answer to the Titan margin, and the Balocan boot put the Colts up, 8-6, until Camben Barba found the end zone on a 12-yard run with 2:01 showing in the break. Balocan’s PAT kick gave the Colts a 16-6 margin at the half.

The Titans answered the deficit out of the locker rooms when Miyashiro peeled off 15 ticks with a 65-yard touchdown. Shayne Cabral did the PAT boot to draw the Titans to a 14-16 deficit that stood until the final minute of the third quarter when Hanapepe’s Shige Numazawa pounced on a fumble recovery for a 14-yard touchdown, Balocan’s PAT improving the lead to 10 points, 24-14.

Both teams exchanged scores in the final period, Kekaha’s Miyashiro finding the end zone on a 79-yard run and Balocan gracing the score with his PAT boot. Hanapepe answered the challenge when Naumu tapped the end zone on a 10-yard run with the PAT boot coming up empty for the 30-22 final.

The Flag Division heralded the start of the afternoon series when Lihue Raiders’ Junior Clement and Aries Arruda each scored twice, and Randy C. netted the longest score at 22 yards all in the first half to lead the Raiders to a 22-0 final over the Kapaa Eagles.

The cold bug that has been impacting sports teams for the past several weeks finally made its appearance, shortening the Mitey Mite contest between the Lihue Raiders and the Kapaa Eagles to just a half.

“The 1:30 p.m. Mitey Mite game was ended at the half due to sick and injured players on the Kapaa side,” said Blaine Agena, the KPWFL commissioner. “Scoring in that game is limited to just the first half.”

Jahsiah Mawai-Cabinatan put the Raiders up on a 31-yard punt return in the opening period for the 6-0 bulge.

Lihue Mitey Mites put two more scores on the board in the second period when Soljah Kahale found the end zone on a four-yard charge with 8:18 showing in the break, Drake Janer doing the PAT honor for the 13-0 margin.

The Raiders’ second score in the period came on a 46-yard run from Takaze Thomas with Kahale doing the PAT honor before the contest was called.

A 42-yard pass from the Kapaa Eagles PeeWee kept the contest from being shut out in the day’s final encounter that ended with the Lihue Raiders scoring six touchdowns, including a pass interception for score in three quarters over the Eagles, 38-7.

Games for this week move to Sunday because of the endangered seabird fledging season. The first contest opens from 7:30 a.m. at the Hanapepe Stadium when the Hanapepe Colts host the Lihue Raiders Mitey Mites. The final game of the day starts at 3:30 p.m. when the league-winning Kekaha Titans PeeWee division takes on the Koloa Rams.

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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.