HANAPEPE — Thursday marks the final night of the Kauai Interscholastic Federation girls flag football regular season before the Central Pacific Bank KIF Championship games on April 17.
Following Thursday’s games, where Kauai High School shut down Kapaa, 14-0, and dropped to the Menehune, 20-26 in overtime, Waimea split its two contests, falling to Island School, 6-20, and beating the Red Raiders in overtime.
Island School swept the night, taking the Menehune and shutting down Kapaa 25-0 in the finale.
Heading to Thursday, Kauai and Waimea hold the lead with five wins. Island School has three wins, and Kapaa is still looking for its first “W.”
Island School will face the league leaders on Thursday at Hanapepe Stadium. The Voyagers open the night of excitement against Kauai High School and will take on Waimea in a 6:30 p.m. kickoff.
Waimea will face Kapaa in a 5:15 p.m. kickoff before tangling with the Voyagers. Kapaa will close the day’s schedule when the Lady Warriors kick off against Kauai, starting at 7:45 p.m.
During last week’s contests at the Bryan J. Baptiste Sports Park stadium, Island School‘s Kolohai Kuhaulua marked two touchdowns in the second half, the final TD coming with less than a minute remaining on the game clock.
Down 20-0 with 56 seconds remaining, Waimea prevented the shutout when Qhaiya Malabe found Cayden Aranio in the end zone with just 14 seconds remaining on the game clock for the 20-6 final score in favor of Island School.
With just enough time to vacate across the field, Waimea took on the Red Raiders, who scored first when Carly Dela Cruz found the promised land at 8:24 on the game clock.
After Waimea quarterback passed to Aranio to knot the contest, Kauai took the lead, 14-7, when Red Raider QB Naomi Ikimaka hit Kylah Racca with a scoring pass and Taylor Carvalho for the PAT.
Only 11.1 ticks remained in the first half when Menehune signal caller Wailana Tanigwa Christian found Aranio in the end zone. The PAT failed, and Kauai took a point bulge at the break, 14-13.
The Menehune produced the only score of the third quarter when Keena Smythe found the promised land, and the Wailana to Arano PAT pass yielded the 20-14 Waimea go-ahead.
With 1:04 showing in the game, Kauai’s Ikimaka found Keira Caoagas in the end zone. The PAT attempt came up empty for the 20-20 deadlock. With just five ticks remaining in the game, Kauai’s Kamaile Manibog went high to pluck a Christian pass to force the overtime play.
Leily Suga found the end zone in extra time for the 26-20 Waimea win.
