WAIPAHU, O‘ahu — Kapa‘a High School, the reigning Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation football champion and sole Division 1 representative from the KIF, locked horns with the Waipahu High School Mauraders on Friday in the first round of playoffs for the Division I in the First Hawaiian Bank Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association state football championship.
Warrior quarterback Kapono Na-O passed for a touchdown and ran for a touchdown against the Mauraders to help build a 35-13 lead over Waipahu during the first two quarters of play, according to statistics available on the scoringlive.com website. Kapa‘a earned the No. 5 seed in the Division I title fight, while Waipahu earned the No. 4 seed.
Faced with a 35-19 deficit at the break, the Mauraders, with an injection of Liatama Uliata, roared back for a 30-6 second half to end the Warriors’ season with a 49-41 win at the Waipahu High School campus on O‘ahu.
Turnovers led to the first two Kapa‘a scores, including a pass pluck by Mahana Alameda, who ran the ball back 39 yards for the first score of the contest in which Warrior quarterback Kapono Na-O scored two rushing TDs and passed for one.
Na–O pushed the ball for 15 yards for the second Kapa‘a score before Waipahu responded with a pair of touchdowns by Anieli Talaenai, a 4-yarder at the 3:16 mark in the first quarter and a 77-yarder with 57 ticks showing in the first quarter. The quarter ended with Kapa‘a holding a 14-13 edge.
Kapa‘a’s Kamalei Gonsalves pushed two of the three Kapa‘a second-quarter scores, running for 22 yards with less than 30 seconds peeled off the frame, and pulling in a 21-yard scoring pass from Na-O with 1:43 showing before the break. Solomone Malafu, playing strong defense, notched the Warriors’ third score on an 11-yard run for the 35-13 Kapa‘a bulge.
With less than 36 ticks before the break, Waipahu started its climb out of the hole when Uliata hit Jayvren Pinera with a 44-yard scoring pass.
Talaeai picked up this third touchdown in the third frame, a 9-yard run, and Uliliata reaped his first touchdown on a 27-yard keeper to open the fourth frame, where Waipahu turned the tide against Kapa‘a when Romeo Tagata picked up a blocked punt and ran the ball 8 yards to score with 8:23 showing on the game clock.
Chazen Rodillas-Vesido was the recipient of an Uliata 31-yard scoring pass, and Na-O rushed 3 yards for the contest’s final mark with 1:30 showing before the Mauraders ran out the clock.
With the win, Waipahu makes the trip to Kona on Hawai‘i Island Nov. 19 to face No. 2 seed Konawaena.
w Info: scoringlive.com, sportshigh.com
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
