LIHU‘E — The Kaua‘i Pop Warner Football League takes a break from the field Sunday when it hosts its KPWFL and Regional Cheer Competition. Cheerleaders, featured alongside the benches of tackle football players at each week’s games, will be in
LIHU‘E — The Kaua‘i Pop Warner Football League takes a break from the field Sunday when it hosts its KPWFL and Regional Cheer Competition.
Cheerleaders, featured alongside the benches of tackle football players at each week’s games, will be in the spotlight, competing for eligibility spots to the National Pop Warner Cheer and Dance Competition, which will be held in Orlando, Fla. in conjunction with the Pop Warner Super Bowl at Disney World.
Doors to the competition at the Kaua‘i High School gym opens at noon with the first groups taking the floor starting at 12:30 p.m.
Admission is $8 for adults and $6 for keiki ages 5 through 7 years old. Kupuna admission is $6. Keiki from 0 to 4 years old are admitted free.
Heading into the Sunday island-wide cheer competition, tackle football players wrapped up its weekly series with Koloa Redskins winning both its games while the host Lihu‘e Patriots finished with two tie games and a loss.
JPW: Koloa 32, Kekaha 8
The Koloa Redskins went to the depth of its bench, drawing on different players to score its tally of touchdowns, Wailani Kawahalau opening the scorebooks late in the first quarter on a 28-yard run to the end zone for an early 6-0 lead.
With 1:26 remaining in the half, the Redskins tapped paydirt when Gunnar Burkman charged into heavy traffic and emerged with a 32-yard touchdown, Jacob Borrero doing the point-after boot for the 14-0 halftime lead.
Koloa continued its assault in the third period, scoring two touchdowns, the first coming when quarterback Trey Taba, on a keeper play, tapped the end zone at the 6:24 mark.
Less than two minutes later, Kawelo Huddy broke out for a 58-yard touchdown at the 4:49 mark to give the Redskins a hefty 26-0 lead.
Undaunted, the Kekaha Titans prevented the shutout when Koedy Albinia finally hit paydirt on a six-yard charge with less than a minute peeled off the final period. Bryson Kapahu booted the point-after for the 26-8 reading, which was answered with 5:53 remaining in the game when Franklin-Kyle Bisarra chalked up Koloa’s final TD on a six-yard charge for the 32-8 final.
MM: Koloa 26, Kekaha 6
Earlier in the day, Koloa opened the day on a 26-6 win over the Titans when Kahanu Davis scored three of Koloa’s four touchdowns.
The Titans’ Maikoa Sahut-Baniaga prevented the shutout when, with 5:00 showing in the game, tapped paydirt on a one-yard charge.
Davis marked his first TD with just 49.1 seconds left in the opening quarter, striking paydirt on a three-yard run, Brayden Galas running in the point-after for the 7-0 lead.
Davis added two more TDs in the second period, his first coming at the 4:52 mark when he found the end zone following a 34-yard run, Galas doing an encore run-in of the point-after for the 14-0 bulge.
Davis’ final TD came with just eight ticks remaining in the half when he broke open for another 34-yard touchdown, the PAT failing for the 20-0 halftime lead.
Koloa marked its final score in the third quarter when Keanu Fernandez found the end zone following a 42-yard run, the longest score of the day, before Kekaha’s Sahut-Baniaga’s TD.
JM: Lihu‘e 8, Kapa‘a 8
The host Lihu‘e Patriots Junior Midgets came back in the second period to answer a Kapa‘a Eagles’ lead and end the game in an 8-8 stalemate, all of the game’s scoring coming in the first half.
Jai Alapai pulled in a 15-yard pass from quarterback Cade Halemanu to put the Eagles on the board with 3:41 showing in the first quarter, Jayson Hawthorne’s point-after boot icing the 8-0 lead.
But the host Patriots answered in the second period when Noah Tangalin plucked a Halemanu aerial and turned it into a 30-yard Patriot touchdown with 5:33 showing in the half.
Tangalin followed the defensive score by booting the point-after for the 8-8 deadlock following a scoreless second half.
JPW: Kapa‘a 22, Lihu‘e 12
Kapa‘a’s Ezekiel Anakalea and Lihu‘e’s Tyler Oshima each scored two touchdowns, the Kapa‘a edge coming from Kaimi Malina in the second quarter in the Eagles’ 22-12 edge over the Patriots.
Anakalea opened the game with 1.8 seconds left in the opening quarter, striking paydirt on a four-yard run and gracing the score with the PAT boot for the 8-0 bulge.
Following a defensive slugfest through the second period, Oshima answered the Eagles’ score with 1:20 showing in the half when he tapped the end zone at the end of a two-yard run.
The point-after failed giving the Eagles an 8-6 edge before Makoa Gorospe pulled in a 15-yard pass in the end zone from quarterback Malina with just 23 seconds showing in the half, Anakalea bringing the score to 16-6 at the half folllowing a successful PAT boot.
Following a scoreless third frame, Anakalea tapped paydirt for the third time with less than a minute peeled off the final stanza, crossing into the end zone on a six-yard run.
That score was answered less than two minutes later when Oshima marked his second score on a 10-yard charge with 7:17 left in the game for the 22-12 Kapa‘a win.
MM: Lihu‘e 6, Kapa‘a 6
Kawika Na‘o prevented a shutout and pulled to a 6-6 deadlock with 1:03 left in its game against the Patriots.
Tryten Pongasi put the Patriots on the board with 3:43 showing in the half, the point-after failing for the 6-0 Lihu‘e lead at the half.
Following a scoreless third frame, Kapa‘a scored when Na‘o found the end zone at the end of a four-yard charge with a little more than a minute left in the game for the 6-6 tie.
The KPWFL tackle football players return to the gridiron on Oct. 28 following this Sunday’s KPWFL and Regional Cheer Competition.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
