KEALAKEKUA – There’s an electricity in the air at Konawaena.
A year after ending Hilo’s seven-season reign atop the BIIF, the Wildcats of Konawaena enter the 2022 season more than ready to defend their title in Division I. Already the most experienced team on the Big Island, the Wildcats return 11 players who earned first-team All-BIIF honors in 2021, more than the other four teams in Division I combined.
That alone would have been enough to make Konawaena the clear favorite to claim the 2022 BIIF Division I title, but this year’s squad will boast even more talent on their roster. The Anahu-Ambrosio brothers – Hezekiah, a senior linebacker committed to the University of Nevada, and Zedekiah, a sophomore defensive back with Division I offers from Hawaii and BYU – have returned to the Big Island to suit up in Wildcat green.
Add in a pair of senior defensive backs/wide receivers in Jacob Ahmooksang – from Bonanza High School in Nevada – and Kuanio Maioho – from Saint Louis School on Oahu – and it’s easy to see why the Wildcats have a state title in their sights this season.
“We feel we have the pieces, and we have a really good group,” said Brad Uemoto, who is entering his seventh season as the Wildcats’ head coach. “We have that opportunity to compete at the state level.”
Leading the offense, junior quarterback Keoki Alani – an All-BIIF first-teamer who threw for 1654 yards and 20 touchdowns a year ago – will have no shortage of weapons surrounding him. Potential playmakers include All-BIIF returnees Kawelu Kaiawe, Ro’o Satta-Ellis and Isaac Clement, as well as Landon Daquel-Shimabukuro and the aforementioned quartet of newcomers.
Though the exact hierarchy has not yet been determined, with some of those athletes likely to start on the defensive side of the ball, Uemoto is looking forward to having such a deep group of playmakers on the perimeter.
“At the receiver position this year, we’re going to be eight deep,” he said. “We’re going to be able to rotate kids… Less two-way players because we have a flood of talent in different positions.
“We’re not going to need to have to play a kid at safety and slot and do that for 48 minutes. We’re going to be able to rotate a lot of kids and have kids come in fresh.”
Protecting Alani and creating running lanes for Kaiawe – who ran for at least 90 yards in every BIIF contest a year ago, including a 227-yard, three touchdown performance against Keaau in the BIIF D-I semifinal – will be an offensive line led by a pair of All-BIIF returnees in seniors Iziah Mariano and Treston Tinao.
On defense, an already stingy squad that surrendered just 14.4 points and 121.6 yards per game last year appears poised to be even better in 2022.
Konawaena has All-BIIF returnees at each level: Chray Flanary and Kaikoa Kelii in the trenches, Anthony Torres and Trez Uemoto at linebacker, and Clement and AJ Blanco in the defensive backfield. With the abundance of perimeter talent, Blanco – a sophomore – will likely make a move to linebacker.
The addition of Hezekiah Anahu-Ambrosio as a pass rusher is likely to strike fear in the eyes of opposing quarterbacks who already weren’t safe against the Wildcats’ swarming front seven; the 200-pound senior accounted for 100 tackles and nine sacks during his junior season at Timpview High School in Utah, displaying a knack for finding his way into opposing backfields.
Konawaena will open their season on Friday, August 12 with a trip to the mainland. They’ll travel to Utah to take on Granger High School, where former Hilo coach Sergio Mamone coaches former Vikings Landon Figueroa and Keenan Freeman alongside his son Ricky Mamone.
“We’d been in contact, and we were always wanting to travel,” said Uemoto of the early-season contest. “We were kind of off to a late start in terms of scheduling; a lot of California teams had already been scheduled out. It sort of fell into our lap in terms of giving them a call, they left the date open.”
Though the Lancers went just 2-9 in 2021, Uemoto sees the trip as a good opening test for his team.
“They play in the top division in Utah; the translation is almost they’re a team playing in the open division of HHSAA,” he said. “They’ve got height, they’ve got weight, they’ve got talent.
“It’s going to be a challenge for us physically. Playing in 4,500-foot elevation, it’s hot. It’s going to be a bunch of different obstacles that we have to overcome. I think our kids are excited and hopefully it’s a great learning experience for us.”
The Wildcats will then turn their attention to BIIF play to defend their conference title. Their first conference game in what has the potential to be a special season will come on August 20, when they travel to Waiakea.
“I feel like a lot of things have aligned for us,” said Uemoto. “Outside of the excitement, there’s more pressure put on us as a coaching staff and our kids.
“I think it’s really bled into our practice structure. We’ve never had the turnout we’ve had in the offseason. In the first week of practice, we really look like we’re in midseason form in terms of having different things installed, how fast we’re playing, how well we’re executing…We’re really excited.”
