KEAAU — Kalei Young is one of those football coaches who sees the bright side in pretty much everything. He won’t tell you it’s a beautiful day if it’s raining, but he’ll find a silver lining somewhere.
The first-year coach is aware that his young and rebuilding Keaau ballclub will take its lumps. Sometimes the defeats get lopsided, but that doesn’t mean good things won’t happen.
Hilo scored early and often, and defeated Keaau 67-0 in a Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division I game Saturday at Cougar Stadium, where the rain stayed away for the school’s homecoming.
It was a nice moment for the homecoming court when the class couples slow-danced at the stadium. Sometimes things don’t always go according to plan. The music stopped for a few seconds, leaving for a somewhat awkward moment, but the song continued and so did the day’s festivities.
Coming off a defensive-minded 7-0 win at Kealakehe, Hilo (5-0 BIIF, 6-0) had far more success against the winless Cougars. The Vikings held a 46-0 halftime cushion, then stuck in the backups and third stringers for the second half.
Keaau (0-5, 0-6) has suffered a lack of numbers and canceled its junior varsity team’s games earlier in the week. The Cougars are now a combination of both JV and varsity rosters.
There was an apparent lack of communication by the league because neither the BIIF officials nor the media were notified that the single game would start at 3 p.m. The original time was 2 p.m. for the JV and around 4:30 p.m. for the varsity.
In fact, the BIIF officials discovered the time change after they covered the Kealakehe at Waiakea game Friday night. One of the officials works at Keaau, and informed the officiating crew.
Hilo declined to speak to the media after two previous games, and coach David Baldwin addressed the issue, though in due respect to the lopsided score he preferred not to highlight anyone from his team.
“We’ve got to build character, and our players have to be accountable for how they act on and off the field,” Baldwin said. “Football is a motivating factor in their lives. We’re coming around to accepting that.
“What it boils down to, is that we want our players to focus on family, school and football.”
Meanwhile, Young noted that a lot of his starters were on the sideline with injuries, including his first four quarterbacks. Senior Derek Kalani is the fifth-string guy, and he’s in his first year of football, and starts at tight end and linebacker.
“A lot of our JV guys stepped up. We had four QBs down,” Young said. “We gave him a crash course in playing quarterback. What an attitude he had. Derek embraced it. He’s always been a leader, and it’s fitting that he would take that role on Wednesday.
“A lot of our JV guys grew up, especially playing a team the caliber of Hilo. They saw how fast the pace of the game is. I told them at halftime to win each play, take it a play at a time, take pride whether you get 6 yards or make a first down or get a tackle, or make the correct read on a zone option.”
Sometimes things don’t go according to plan. Maybe there’s a lack of communication, and a gap doesn’t get covered. But like Young said when you take pride in doing the right thing then that’s when it becomes a beautiful day.
“They played hard to the end. There’s nothing that makes me more proud when I see the kids give it their all to the last second,” Young said.
Hilo 16 30 0 21 — 67
Keaau 0 0 0 0 — 0
First quarter
Hilo — Cohlby Espaniola 20 pass from Sione Atuekaho (Malu Lapilio run)
Hilo — Isaac Lerma 18 pass from Atuekaho (Donavan Kelley run)
Second quarter
Hilo — Melvin Kikau 57 interception (Keola Kelekolio pass from Kelley)
Hilo — Espaniola 33 pass from Atuekaho (pass failed)
Hilo — Tristin Spikes 8 run (Kelley run)
Fourth quarter
Hilo — Lerma 61 run (Rayce Takayesu kick)
Hilo — Kaale Tiaganco 6 run (Takayesu kick)
Hilo — Tiaganco 9 run (Takayesu kick)
Note: The scoring summary for one of Hilo’s touchdowns was not available.