WAIMEA — Hawaii Preparatory Academy quarterback Kekoa LeBlanc threw two touchdown passes as Ka Makani reeled off all of its points in the second quarter to down north Hawaii rival Honokaa 23-0.
“Honokaa is always a very scrappy matchup for us, so I was happy with the way our boys played today,” Hawaii Prep head coach Jordan Hayslip said. “But we have to continue to get better. We still have a lot of work to do.”
Neither team managed much offense, with Hawaii Prep outgaining Honokaa 168 yards to 105.
LeBlanc finished with 65 yards on 5-of-9 passing for Hawaii Prep. Alex Brost led the team in rushing, with 24 yards on six attempts.
While the Hawaii Prep defense — led by linebacker Anthony Palleschi with 10.5 tackles — pitched its first shutout of the season, swirling winds and sideways rain helped ground Honokaa’s potentially potent passing attack.
Quarterback Nainoa Falk threw for just 33 yards on 6-of-16 passing with an interception. Sophomore Ocean Guerpo-Beamer contributed 44 yards on the ground.
“We like our weather here,” Hayslip said with a grin.
With both teams struggling to find any traction on offense early on, field position played a very important role. Ka Makani won that battle thanks to stellar punting from Alex Brost, who pinned Honokaa deep in its own territory multiple times.
After a Brost boot put Honokaa inside it’s own 10-yard line, Hawaii Prep broke the scoreless tie when a snap went high over the head of Falk and he was forced to jump on it in his own end zone, resulting in a safety.
Hawaii Prep’s first touchdown drive was set up after the Honokaa punter’s knee hit the ground while fielding a bad snap. Ka Makani took over at the 12-yard line and on the opening play of the drive LeBlanc hit Zack Chaikin on a swing pass. The sophomore back outran the Dragon defense to corner of the end zone to make it 9-0.
On Honokaa’s next play from scrimmage, Kevin Durkin picked off a Falk pass to give Hawaii Prep another chance on the Honokaa side of the field.
Brost made something out of nothing with 20 yards on a broken play, and then Anthony Palleschi bowled over defenders on a 4-yard dive into the end zone.
The Dragons continued to have a tough time hanging onto the ball. A fumble on the next possession led to a 30-yard pass from LeBlanc to Brost — Hawaii Prep’s longest passing score of the season.
The three touchdowns came in just over a three-minute span.
After another Dragon fumble with less than 20 seconds remaining, Hawaii Prep had yet another shot at putting points on the board before the half. However, LeBlanc’s pass on a scrambling Hail Mary attemptwould be picked off.
The second half looked a lot like the first quarter, with neither team mustering much on offense. However, Hawaii Prep didn’t seem to mind. Ka Makani pounded the ball, ran down the time and came away with their second win of the season.
Honokaa 0 0 0 0 — 0
Hawaii Prep 0 23 0 0 — 23
Scoring summary
Second quarter
HPA — Safety 8:36
HPA — Zack Chaikin 12-yard reception from LeBlanc (Brost kick good), 3:08
HPA — Anthony Palleschi 4-yard run (Brost kick good), 2:32
HPA — Brost 30-yard reception from LeBlanc (Brost kick good), :18