HONOKAA — First-year Honokaa head coach Noeau Lindsey was curious how his team would respond to adversity.
HONOKAA — First-year Honokaa head coach Noeau Lindsey was curious how his team would respond to adversity.
In the Dragons first, and only preseason contest on Friday night against Waiakea he got to see just that — again, and again, and again.
The Dragons (1-0) traded scores with the Warriors several times, scored two touchdowns late, and sealed the deal with an interception with less than a minute left to come away with a 41-35 victory.
“Adversity is what this game is all about. If we can teach these kids to continue to respond to those situations, they will be successful on the field and in life,” Lindsey said. “I didn’t want to put too much focus on winning the game. It was more about us finding out something about ourselves. What do you know — we were able to do both.”
In his first start, Honokaa quarterback Ocean Guerpo tossed five touchdown passes, including the game winner to Paki Akau in the fourth quarter. On that play, Guerpo stood in the pocket, took a hit and celebrated from the ground with him arms straight up in the air.
Guerpo finished 14 of 22 for 181 yards. His lone mistake came on an interception, which looked like a miscommunication with the receiver.
“It was good to see my quarterback persevere through some stuff and take leadership in the huddle,” Lindsey said. “If there was any question if he could be a leader on this team, he answered that.”
Guerpo was expected to be one of the lynchpins for the Honokaa offense, but he got some help from his fleet of pass-catchers — some that was unexpected.
Down a score, Guerpo found junior wide receiver Gene Ansagay on back-to-back plays — the second a 14-yard TD strike to tie the game.
“He runs an awesome route,” Lindsey said. “Gene has never played football before. He’s just running around and trying to put in work. It paid off for him.”
While the offenses traded points, both defensive units were searching for answers. However, the Dragons came up with one more play when they needed it most.
Down six points late, Waiakea drove the ball into Honokaa territory twice in the closing minutes and got their share of chances. A wide receiver dropped a tough, but catchable ball in the corner of the end zone, and Waiakea quarterback Gehrig Octavio found ways to repeatedly give Honokaa headaches outside the pocket.
The Dragons put an end to any late game heroics with an interception by linebacker Maikai Kunishige-Aikau.
“The only thing going through my head at the end of the game was getting that W and getting to the quarterback,” Honokaa defensive end Klayson Nobriga said. “With the little time left and them moving the ball, we knew we had to make a play. It was a relief to see our guy come up with the interception.”
The game could also be seen as a win for Waiakea. Although the Warriors came out on the losing end on the scoreboard, the game was a shot in the arm for a team that needed a change of pace. Waiakea had been outscored 92-0 in its first two preseason games, so posting 35 points and hanging with Honokaa was a huge step in the right direction.
The performance of Octavio was another bright spot for Waiakea. The senior quarterback tossed three touchdown passes and scampered for over 100 yards. However, a lot of what he did will not show up on the box score. He had multiple big plays called back, including a punt return score in the second half. It’s not often teams have to worry about punting away from the opposing team’s quarterback.
Early in the game, it was Austin Deperalta carrying the load for Waiakea. The senior back totaled 108 yards and a score, most in the first half.
“I give credit to Waiakea. They really pushed us,” Lindsey said. “This was exactly what preseason game should be. On offense, we got to see our guys in different sets and how they would respond. Our defense came up with plays when we needed it. It’s like my defensive coordinator said, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.”
Honokaa opens its BIIF campaign on Aug. 26 against Division I contender Kealakehe. Waiakea heads to Kamehameha-Hawaii the same day.