Hilo is one win away from completing a worst-to-first turnaround, but that wasn’t on coach Dave Baldwin’s mind late on Friday night.
It all looked so shaky for the Vikings, who couldn’t figure out a way to put a lid on Waiakea quarterback Kean Wong and crafty wide receiver Dayton Kiko in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division I football semifinals at Wong Stadium.
Still, Hilo will be in the BIIF championship on Saturday, after beating the Warriors 21-20. The Vikings (5-2 BIIF, 7-4 overall) last won the league title in 2003.
In his dramatic rally, Wong either had a fraction of time or scrambled to find a window, and he fired three touchdown passes to Kiko, all in the second half. The last score, a 24-yard TD strike, pushed the Warriors ahead 20-14 with 4:12 left.
That was more than enough time for Hilo quarterback Drew Kell to lead a game-winning 77-yard march. But it wasn’t easy. Waiakea’s defense pretty much shut down the run in second half, holding the Vikings to 51 yards on 17 carries; they had 104 yards on 16 attempts in the first half.
But when the Vikings needed a key first down on third-and-10 from their own 23, they went to the run after two incompletions. Kell picked up 11 yards on the ground. Three plays later, he threw a 52-yard touchdown pass to Faoa Kelley.
“That was the ugliest win I’ve ever been a part as a coach,” Hilo first-year coach Baldwin said. “We wanted to take a shot at that moment. It was a smart shot to a proven producer and competitor. Kelley came up big.
“We battled through the game, but it wasn’t pretty or picture-perfect. We’re still not there. We’re still searching to hit our stride. We’re looking to improve on our execution and fundamentals.”
Waiakea coach Fred Lau appropriately summed up the close battle between the crosstown rivals, a three-game series that Hilo swept, winning 38-21 and 21-14 earlier.
“We did the best we could,” he said. “Somebody had to lose. I’m sorry it was us.”
Over on the other side, Baldwin still saw room for improvement.
“We’re searching for an ‘A’ game in all three phases,” he said. “The good news is we have one more week to try.”
