KEALAKEKUA – Senior Night for Konawaena was hardly about saying goodbye. More like, see you again soon.
Playing fast and starting even faster, the Wildcats gave Honokaa a lot to think about for the next seven days.
Kayson Mahiai returned the opening kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown Friday night, and Austin Ewing continued the Wildcats’ first-quarter onslaught by accounting for three scores as Konawaena thumped the Dragons 50-6 in a BIIF regular-season finale.
“It’s a big game-changer and sort of set the tone,” coach Brad Uemoto said of the return. “We haven’t had one all year. We had a couple called back, so it was nice to get one.”
Ewing was injured on a hit out of bounds in the second quarter and remained on the sidelines with his knee wrapped, but Uemoto said he was fine and would be ready to play next Friday night in Kealakekua when the teams match up again in the Division II semifinals.
“It’s weird,” Uemoto said of playing a team he knew he was going to have to play again. “Hopefully, it will go the same way. Anything can happen with high school kids.”
Top-seeded Konawaena (6-1 BIIF, 8-1) will be hard-pressed to get off to a better start than it did Friday.
Already ahead 7-0 after Mahiai broke a handful of tackles and raced down the right sideline for a score, the Wildcats forced a three-and-out, Cameron Howes returned a punt 39 yards and then took a short pass from Ewing 39 yards for a score.
“The returns definitely fire up the offense and defense,” Howes said.
Less than eight minutes into the game, Ewing and the uptempo offense already had tacked on two more touchdowns. Ewing scored on a 10-yard run after Konawaena took over in Honokaa territory, and Ewing tossed a 10-yard TD pass to Kamakana Ching after Mahiai ran for 22 yards and a personal tacked on 15 more.
Ewing finished 5 of 8 for 74 yards, and Tristan Fleming-Nazara was 2 of 3 for 61.
“Our fast tempo has been in gear all year, and right now I think we’re just trying to keep at the same pace, if not faster,” Howes said.
Said Uemoto: “It’s getting better. A lot better.”
The Dragons continue to struggle mightily since a 2-1 league start. In a four-game losing streak, Honokaa has scored just 12 points, avoiding being shutout for the third game in a row when Keaka Swift scored from a yard out in the fourth quarter.
Swift was the Dragons’ only source of offense, running for 80 yards.
“We have to tighten that up,” Howes said.
Quarterback Nainoa Falk was just 1 for 9 for 0 yards.
Mahiai intercepted a pass from Jonathan Charbonneau, who played quarterback in the second half. Austin Santos-Johnson had two sacks and another tackle for loss, and Torin Tuppein collected two sacks.
Javen Blackhat (14 carries, 56 yards) was the Wildcats’ leading rusher until Chauncey Mariani-Louis scored on a 66-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.
Konawaena finished with 233 yards on the ground, though standout Algene Kelekolio injured his shoulder and Uemoto said he would need to be re-evaluated.
That was the only damper of the night for the Wildcats.
“We want to peaking at the right time,” Uemoto said.
Honokaa 0 0 0 6 —6
Konawaena 28 9 0 13 — 50
Scoring Summary
First quarter
Konawaena – Kayson Mahiai 88 kickoff return (Austin Ewing kick), 11:45
Konawaena – Cameron Howes 39 pass from Austin Ewing (Ewing kick), 9:02
Konawaena — Ewing 10 run (Ewing kick), 6:51
Konawaena – Kamakana Ching 10 pass from Ewing (Harry Hill kick), 4:04
Second quarter
Konawaena – Mahina Ellis-Noa 2 run (kick failed), 7:39
Konawaena – FG 23 Hill, :26
Fourth quarter
Konawaena – Kelsan Cacoulidis 4 run (kick failed), 9:47
Honokaa – Keaka Swift 1 run (kick failed), 4:01
Konawaena – Chauncey Mariani-Louis 66 run (Hill kick), 1:14
