After securing a first-round bye, the second-seeded Kapaa Warriors have the luxury of watching the first-round opponents Kamehameha-Hawaii and Roosevelt.
Warriors’ football coach Philip Rapozo told the Garden Island, in a recent phone interview, that he enjoys being able to watch fourth-seeded Kamehameha (9-0, 10-3), a team that lost to Kapaa 47-0 Oct. 12 during a regular-season exhibition.
Fifth-seeded Roosevelt (8-2, 9-2) and KS-Hawaii will play for the right to advance to play top-seeded Lahainaluna in the semifinal round of the 2019 First Hawaiian Bank Football Championships. They play at 7 p.m. today on Hawaii Island.
Rapozo said he felt KS-Hawaii has improved since the team’s last meeting.
“I think they are a better team than what they showed in the first game with us,” Rapozo said. “I think the way they dominated teams in the Big Island, I think they came into the game with us thinking it would be business as usual, and I think we are going to see what they are capable of bringing during the playoffs.”
The Warriors may have played KS, but Rapozo admits they have seen more film on Roosevelt, a team that is in the same conference of their upcoming opponent Kaimuki.
The second-seeded Warriors will host third-seed Kaimuki Bulldogs at 2 p.m. Nov. 23 at Vidinha Stadium.
“Roosevelt has played on TV, and we’ve watched a little film when they played Kaimuki and watching their film and having Roosevelt, so we have some stuff on them.”
Rapozo said he was impressed with the play of Roosevelt quarterback Michael Perry in the film he’s studied. Perry has accumulated over 1,000 yards passing and tallied 13 touchdowns in his 97 attempts on the season.
“Their quarterback is athletic, and he can run, throw the ball, and has good receivers,” Rapozo said. “He has some athletic receivers to throw to.”
Roosevelt doesn’t throw the ball often, but when they do, they are efficient, according to scoringlive.com.
During the 2019 season, Warriors’ wide receiver Izayah Chartrand-Penera caught 28 receptions accumulating 600 yards and three touchdowns. Penera averages 21.3 yards per reception on a team that has attempted less than 100 passes on the season.
“Kaimuki played Roosevelt twice in the regular season, so we’ve seen the most film on Roosevelt than anyone else in the playoffs besides Kaimuki,” Rapozo said.
Even though they watch the other teams, Rapozo said his team’s focus is on Kaimuki.
“We’ve spent 99-percent of our time prepping for Kaimuki,” Rapozo said.
Last season, the Warriors finished second with a 34-32 loss to Lahainaluna in the 2018 First Hawaiian Bank Football Championships.
The Warriors were unbeaten in the KIF.
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Jason Blasco, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or jblasco@thegardenisland.com.
