By Wes Nakama
MILILANI — In a defensive power struggle that ended with fireworks, Kailua rallied past — and then held off — Kapa’a, 13-9, Friday night to win its first First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Division I Football State Championship.
An official crowd of 2,512 at John Kauinana Stadium watched the Surfriders score the go-ahead touchdown with 3:31 remaining and then seal the victory with Keoki Cypriano’s interception with 25 seconds left to finish the season at 12-3. The Warriors, who had taken a 9-6 lead on Yair Antonio’s 22-yard field goal on the second play of the fourth quarter, came up just short in a repeat state title bid and ended up 8-2.
Kapa’a eliminated Kailua in last year’s first round.
“It means everything … to bring one (state title) to Kailua,” said Surfriders coach Hauoli Wong, who played for Kailua in the early 1990’s under legendary coach Alex Kane, for whom the school’s stadium is named after. “I feel blessed and honored by Alex Kane, who coached me, and Coach Joe Kahahawai, who still was around when I played there. I just wanted to be a fraction of what they were, and I’m humbled, because those were my mentors and I learned so much from them.
“But it’s not about me, it’s about the ‘we,’ and it’s about these kids and (assistant) coaches.”
The game lived up to its billing as a matchup between two programs that usually win in the trenches. The Surfriders’ only score before the final one came on the opening kickoff, when Micah Sua took the opening kickoff, dashed around a wall of blockers on the left side and then sprinted up the sideline for an electrifying 95-yard return to the hale. The extra point attempt was blocked.
The Warriors cut the lead in half with just under two minutes remaining in the first quarter on Antonio’s 26-yard field goal, then tied it at 6-6 on another Antonio triple, this one from 35 yards out three minutes into the second quarter.
That’s how the score stood until Antonio’s third field goal made it 9-6 with 11:14 left in the game.
“To hold them to three field goals, that just says something about the preparation and effort by our defense — bend, don’t break, keep them out of the end zone,” Wong said. “They’re gonna make plays, and they do. But our defense, they brought their lunch today.”
Kailua’s offense, meanwhile, had been struggling to move the chains and could not seem to find its rhythm. After Antonio’s field goal, a penalty on the ensuing kickoff return forced the Surfriders to start their final drive on their own 5-yard line. After gaining two first downs, they faced third-and-2 from their 41, and running back Marquez Mellor fought off a couple tacklers to get to the line to gain and keep the drive alive.
Five plays later, on third-and-5 from the Kapa’a 35, quarterback Isaiah Keaunui-Demello completed a 15-yard play-action pass to tight end Ben Honebein, who switched to offense on that series after playing an outstanding game at defensive end.
“He’s been doing that all season long,” Wong said of Honebein, who has made a verbal commitment to play for UC Davis. “We know what he can do.”
Three plays later, Keaunui-Demello rolled out to his right and threw a pass to the right side of the end zone for receiver Tayvin Kahele, who lunged forward to make the 23-yard touchdown catch.
But after the ensuing kickoff, the Warriors went to a two-minute drill offense and converted a key 27-yard pass on third-and-13 from their own 41 to keep the drive alive and eventually advance to the 9-yard line with 30 seconds on the clock. After a timeout, Kapa’a faced third-and-5.
Quarterback Kaitin Mundon faked a handoff, jumped into the air and tried to connect with his tight end, who was open near the goal line. But the pass had a low arc and Cypriano leaped to snare the interception, then ran down the left side all the way to midfield. With the Warriors out of timeouts, Kailua took one knee in Victory formation and the clock wound down to 0:00.
“They called a timeout, we came together and we said, ‘Hey, watch the jump pass,’ because that’s what a running team can do,” Wong said. “(Mundon) is a running quarterback, he runs, draws the defense, dumps … but Oki climbed the ladder and made a play. Like they say, ‘Offense wins games, but defense wins championships.’ And they won us a championship.”
Wong said all 60 players bought into the Surfriders program and wanted to win for something bigger than themselves.
“We set out to win a championship, but also hoping to develop better football players, better community leaders, better doctors, better politicians, husbands, whatever it is, and we just try to do our part in bringing these boys up,” Wong said. “What they did is they uplifted the whole community of Kailua and Waimanalo.”
Photos: Lori McKeown
