Editor’s note: While the sports world is shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, West Hawaii Today will look back every Tuesday at memorable sports moments on the Big Island.
On Nov. 22, 1980, Konawaena head coach Jim Barry reveled with his players at Wong Stadium in Hilo after defeating Waiakea 15-6 to win the Wildcats’ third BIIF football title since the program began in 1968. The first-year coach had led the team to a 7-2-1 record and immediately was looking ahead to what the team could bring in 1981.
“Well, I guess it’s time to think about next year,” Barry told West Hawaii Today reporter Bill Giese Jr. after the game. “This season was a complete success and I thought our kids did better than anyone expected them to. I thought the team came close to peaking during last Saturday night’s game, and I hope to achieve the same caliber of play next year.”
The game wasn’t close to the Wildcats’ peak, as the team did achieve the expectations Barry sought for them in 1981, once again winning the BIIF title. And then, the Wildcats did it for the third consecutive time in 1982. And then again in 1983. And all the way through 1990, a streak of 11 BIIF titles that has yet to be matched by any other football team on the island.
The 1980 Wildcats offense starred starting quarterback John Yates, running backs Guy Nagata and Daniel Ku, and receivers Didja Llanes and Ivan Yasuda.
“From the first seconds of the first quarter, Cat quarterback John Yates threw missiles right, left and long to his receivers against a seemingly bewildered Warrior defense,” Giese wrote in his Nov. 25, 1980 article on the game.
Defensive backs Dennis Andrade, Lance Shafer and Francis Akao, and linebacker Harold Deniz were part of a Wildcats defense that held the Waiakea Warriors to six in that game.
The Warriors were missing their starting quarterback in the title game, Bert Macanas, due to a shoulder injury. Instead, Paul Leong started under center for Waiakea.
“Bert was probably in good enough shape to play quarterback this game,” Waiakea head coach Wayne Abalos told West Hawaii Today. “But he’s an all-sport athlete and I have to think about the upcoming basketball season, in which he will be playing. If he got hurt in this game, it could ruin his basketball season.”
Barry would end his BIIF career with the Wildcats in 1986 with 93 wins and a .694 winning percentage in the league.
The Konawaena football team would continue its success beyond Barry’s time at the helm. On November 9, 1990, the Wildcats capped off their streak in a 42-6 defeat of the Honokaa Dragons to finish a perfect season, 10-0.
”Konawaena scored quick and early and never looked back,” West Hawaii Today’s Gordon Y.K. Pang wrote about the game. “On an impressive opening drive, the Wildcats drove the length of the field, going 85 yards in nine plays. The key play was 58-yard connection from (Shannon) Pua to senior running back Cyril Nishida that put Konawaena on the Dragons 16.”
In all, Konawaena has won 23 BIIF titles. 2017 was the last time the Wildcats were crowned.