KAPA‘A — Facing a 55-0 deficit, and the clock winding down with 5:57 remaining in the game, Kaua‘i High School wide receiver Kami Fonua realized he had the ball in his hands from second-half quarterback Racen Pegeder.
The 5-foot 8-inch junior shook off the Warrior defender and found paydirt to prevent a shutout in Kapa‘a’s 62-6 rout of the Red Raiders before an audience that came to celebrate Kapa‘a’s Senior Night for 15 of its rostered players.
With time remaining on the game clock, Kapa‘a turned to its nontraditional score reapers to add an answering touchdown, when Kanai Aguiar cradled the ball and went heels over head for Kapa‘a final score with 1:34 showing on the game where frustrated fans on the Kaua‘i side of the field harassed and bullied KIF officials. The score was ruled and Kapa‘a won, 62-6 following a Micah Rapozo extra point kick.
The Warriors, the KIF’s Division I team, and ranked No. 10 by sports publications, lost little time getting the scoreboards lit up when on its first possession Siotome Malafu capped the opening drive with a 3-yard score. Kamalei Gonsalves iced the touchdown with a extra point boot.
Two plays later, during the ensuing kickoff, Kapa‘a’s Steeler Burley plucked a Tyren Aona pass and ran it back for a touchdown with less than a minute peeled off the game clock from Kapa‘a’s first score. Gonsalves made the extra point boot to give Kapa‘a a 14-0 bulge heading to the second quarter.
The Warriors’ QB Kapono Na-O added two more scores in the second quarter for a 28-0 halftime reading on the scoreboard. Na-O’s second TD in that quarter was highlighted by a spectacular No-O to Gonsalves pass play that peeled off 68 yards. Na-O capped that drive with the 6-yard plunge to paydirt.
Kapa‘a added another two scores in the third quarter, and opened the final frame when Coach Michael Tresler and his staff turned to nontraditional score reapers to cap the victory.
Napela Mokuahi tapped paydirt on a 4-yard charge, followed by its Homecoming King Likio Bruno finding the end zone following a 2-yard push before Kaua‘i finally scored ahead of Aguiar’s final score in the final period.
Earlier in the noonday sun, the Kapa‘a junior varsity squad wrapped up a 26-6 win over the Red Raiders.
With the Kapa‘a victory, the Warriors head to Hanapepe Stadium on Saturday to face Waimea High School in the Menehune’s Homecoming game. The JV contest is scheduled for a noon kickoff, followed by the varsity contest starting 30 minutes after the conclusion of the JV game.
