Kapa‘a sweeps football opener; Warriors up end Red Raiders 28-7

Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island

Kapa‘a’s Kahnah Hepa comes up with a pass interception on a ball intended for Kaua‘i’s Pookela Silva as Judge Randal Valenciano prepares to flag a Kapa‘a infraction in the fourth quarter, Saturday during the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation football game at Vidinha Stadium.

Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island

Kaua‘i QB Racen Pegeder is swarmed by Kapa‘a’s Masaias Mersberg and Christopher Rapozo for no gain in the third quarter, Saturday during the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation football game at Vidinha Stadium.

Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island

Kapa‘a’s Kamalei Gonsalves finds a hole in the third quarter for a first down, Saturday as Kaua‘i defender Kaimana Inouye closes in during the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation football game at Vidinha Stadium.

Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island

Kaua‘i’s Joshua Ibaan shakes off the defensive efforts of Kapa‘a’s Jayden Yamashita long enough to gain a first down in the second quarter, Saturday during the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation football game at Vidinha Stadium.

Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island

Kaua‘i High School receiver Andrew Renaud is defended on by a pair of Warrior defenders, including Jayden Yamashita (10) in the second quarter, Saturday during the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation football game at Vidinha Stadium.

Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island

Kapa‘a quarterback Kapono Na-O picks up five yards in the second quarter before being downed on his own 31-yard line, Saturday during the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation football game against Kaua‘i at Vidinha Stadium. Na-O followed this play by connecting with Canaan Coleman for a 69-yard TD.

LIHU‘E — Kapa‘a High School junior Steeler Burley plucked a Kaua‘i High School pass and ran the ball back 52 yards for a touchdown that capped Kapa‘a’s 28-7 win, Saturday night as the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation opened its nine-game football season.

The varsity victory also capped a winning night for Kapa‘a after the Warrior Junior Varsity took a 30-6 win over the Red Raider JV earlier in the afternoon at Vidinha Stadium.

Following a pair of Kapa‘a JV scores in the third stanza — a 12-yard scamper by Kamalei Dasalia-Mundon that had a two-point conversion tagged to it, and a 29-yard run by Brayden Bermoy that was graced by a Micah Rapozo point-after-touchdown boot — Kaua‘i look at a 27-0 deficit that was answered in the fourth quarter when JV Red Raider QB Tyren Aona found Layne Monteymayor at the end of a 14-yard scoring pass to prevent the shutout.

Rapozo split the uprights on a field goal from the Kaua‘i 11-yard line for the final read, and a Bermoy pass interception set the stage for the varsity encounter.

The defending KIF champion Kapa‘a Warriors took the stage, tentatively, and was roused from the hot afternoon heat when Kaua‘i High School capped its opening series when Andrew Renaud took the pigskin for a 26-yard run to the end zone.

After punting away its first possession, and driving in its second hold, the Warriors overcame the tough red zone defense by getting on the scoreboards with a Christopher Rapozo field goal after the Kapa‘a drive stalled on the Kaua‘i 8-yard line to end the opening quarter.

From that point, Kapa‘a announced its presence in the second quarter when QB Kapono Na-O found Canaan Coleman at the end of a 69-yard scoring pass, Christopher Rapozo doing the PAT boot honors with 4:32 remaining before the break where Kapa‘a held a 13-7 lead.

Kapa‘a added a touchdown tagged with a two-point PAT effort in the third frame, and capped the victory with a touchdown and a field goal in the final stanza.

The KIF football continues, Saturday when Kaua‘i High School travels to Hanapepe Stadium to take on the Waimea High School program. The JV contest kicks off at 5 p.m. with the varsity contest to follow 30 minutes following the end of the JV game. Tickets are online only.

0 Comments