KEAAU – Standing outside a victorious locker room for the first time this season, Kealakehe defensive players BJ Mareko-Berdon, Ismail Souza and Bryton Lewi said they had no plans to give their buddies on the offensive side of the ball a hard time.
No “I hoped you enjoyed the night off,” nor a quick “Our back hurts from carrying you guys.”
Not even some good-natured ribbing.
“Hey,” Mareko-Berdon said, “maybe next time both sides of the ball will play well.”
The Waveriders only needed one side Friday night, and along with a few plays from their special teams they left rain-dampened Kamehameha with a 3-0 victory in what was a hazardous exercise for offensive BIIF football played in slick conditions.
“I’ll take a win wherever I can get it,” coach Sam Kekuaokalani said after what could be a season-saving victory that puts the Waveriders back in the thick of four-team race to reach the BIIF Division I championship game. A clash with Konawaena looms Friday.
“I thanked the guys for staying focused because I kind of anticipated this was going to be a slippery game,” Kekuaokalani said.
And how. The teams combined for 19 fumbles and the Warriors lost six.
“Our coaches started telling us to go for the ball,” said Mareko-Berdon, a defensive lineman.
The thunder and lightning that had been prevalent the past two days never came — just good old-fashioned East Hawaii rain.
“It was miserable out there,” Lewi said.
Through it all, Kealakehe’s defense was equal parts swarming and opportunistic.
Consider:
• The Waveriders (1-2 BIIF Division I, 1-3) went backward in the first half, compiling minus 22 yards of offense, but didn’t trail.
• In fact, even as their offense muddled along in the second half, the defense started to assert itself and would have turned the Warriors over on three consecutive plays from scrimmage if not for a penalty.
“Hats off to Kealakehe,” Warriors coach Dan Lyons said. “This is the second year in a row that they beat us by keeping composure and being willing to take three-and-outs.”
• Eventually, one turnover put the game on a silver platter at the 14 for the offense, and after three plays netted six yards, quarterback/kicker Anthony “Head” Trevino’s 25-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter provided the game’s only points.
• In the end, the Waveriders turned the ball over five times and still defeated a previously unbeaten team despite managing only 18 yards of total offense.
“I didn’t think that was possible,” said Kekuaokalani, who noted that all three of his team’s BIIF games have been played while “rainy and horrible.”
“I think these conditions like us,” he said.
Trevino’s six completions only mustered 19 yards, but he contributed a 75-yard punt that got the ball out of harm’s way with just more than a minute remaining in the game.
Mareko-Berdon, Souza and Lewi didn’t want to sound off to their offense, but they did give a shout-out to honorary coach Shawn Akana, who has colon cancer.
“That motivated us,” Souza said.
Inspiration also was drawn from a teammate’s parent who is ill.
“We did it for them,” said Lewi, who was happy the secondary did their part in victory.
“The defensive backs have been having a hard time, so we wanted to come through,” he said.
Kamehameha (2-1 BIIF Division II, 4-1) was on the receiving end of 10 Honokaa turnovers in a victory last week, but it played giveaway Friday night and its receivers dropped multiple passes.
The Warriors posted 112 yards of offense, and the Waveriders’ defense got stingier in the second half as backup quarterback Kekona Naipo-Arsiga took most of the snaps after Kaimi Like left the game, first with a hand injury, and then after a blow to the head. Lyons said Like entered the concussion protocol.
Abishai Campbell ran for 43 yards in the first half — a gargantuan total for this game — but he limped off with an injury in the second quarter and did not return.
“Personally, I don’t think the conditions really had anything to do with the turnovers,” Lyons said. “We have to be able to execute to help our defense, which is playing at a championship level.”
Kamehameha’s defense did its part to pave the way to victory, setting up the offense at the Waveriders’ 13 after a fumble recovery midway through the fourth quarter. But the Warriors promptly fumbled on the next play.
Starting at the Kealakehe 45, the Warriors’ best drive came late in the fourth as Naipo-Arsiga started hitting passes in the flats and Bryce Furuli’s run on fourth down got the ball to the 3.
But after a false start, Souza came up with a huge play from his linebacker position, sacking Naipo-Arsiga for an 11-yard loss, forcing Justin Kenoi into a 38-yard field goal attempt, which was low.
“I couldn’t have done it if the defensive line hadn’t done its job,” Souza said.