LIHU‘E — Trailing 30-7 and with just 14 ticks remaining on the clock, Kaua‘i High School’s Hekili Dizol punched through the remaining yard to score a touchdown for the Red Raiders to soften the defeat against Waimea Saturday during the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation football game at Vidinha Stadium.
The point-after-touchdown was an opportunity to soften the loss even more, but the two-point effort fell short on the 30-13 final before a strong showing of both Kaua‘i and Waimea fans.
“Kaua‘i played tough as nails,” said Waimea head coach Kyle Linoz. “Hats off to Kapa‘a, who played a super game against us last week. But the biggest thing about today is the kids are out there having the ability to play. They are happy.”
Waimea took the field ready to play, and wrapped up its victory behind two touchdowns from Makenyah Okeigar and the foot of Joseph Sams, who booted a pair of field goals and a PAT. Aukai Emayo scored an early TD and Robbie Correa sacked Kaua‘i quarterback Andrew Passi in the end zone for a safety, and the junior linebacker added a two-point conversion.
Kaua‘i marked its scores on a Passi keeper and the final Dizol plunge. Austin Renaud booted the PAT following Passi’s score to account for the Kaua‘i scoring.
Waimea opened strong when Tresten Shigematsu settled the ball on the Raider 30-yard line on the Menehune’s first possession. From there, Emayo capped the drive on a 2-yard scoring dive with Sams kicking the PAT at the 5:85 mark.
Kaua‘i took possession in a drive that resulted in a 14-yard loss when Correa dropped Passi in the end zone for a safety at the 7:00 mark.
On the ensuing drive, Waimea settled for a 35-yard field goal by Sams for the 12-0 reading with 4:01 remaining in the opening stanza.
With 46 ticks showing in the first frame, Okeigar set up the next Menehune score by pulling in a Shigematsu aerial on the Kaua‘i 3-yard line, the Menehune settling for another field goal by Sams on a fourth-and-12 situation with 14 seconds peeled off the second quarter for the 15-0 go-ahead.
Kaua‘i answered when Greg Manintin broke open for 65 yards to settle the ball on the Waimea 6-yard line to set up Passi’s 1-yard scoring plunge with 8:01 remaining in the half. Renaud’s PAT boot put Kaua‘i on the boards, 15-7.
With just 35 seconds showing in the half, Waimea struck again when Shigematsu found Anson Lazaro on a pass play that set up the Menehune’s score that came on a 9-yard scoring pass from Shigematsu to Okeigar. Sams booted the PAT for the 22-7 read at the break.
Okeigar pulled in a 22-yard scoring pass from Shigematsu to open the final period. Following a faked PAT, Correa ran in the conversion for the 30-7 read that stood until the final seconds when Dizol scored for Kaua‘i.
The Waimea win puts the Menehune at 1-1 in the record books. Kapa‘a (1-0) hosts the Kaua‘i Red Raiders (0-1) at Vidinha Stadium in a double-header when the Kapa‘a junior varsity tangles with the Waimea JV starting at noon, and the Warrior varsity squad hosts the Red Raider varsity 30 minutes following the completion of the JV contest.
