KEALAKEKUA — It all comes down to this weekend for Konawaena football.
The No. 1-seeded Wildcats (11-1 ovr.) will play No. 2 Waipahu (7-4 ovr.) for the HHSAA Division I Football Championship at 7:30 p.m. today at Mililani High School on Oahu. Konawaena is seeking its second consecutive state championship to bring back to West Hawaii.
“We’re excited for another opportunity to win a state title,” coach Brad Uemoto told West Hawaii Today. “It’s not something every program gets to achieve, so our mindset now is very business-like — very calm and focused.”
The business-first approach makes complete sense for the Wildcats, who have been in this situation before. Following their 37-19 semifinal win over Kapaa last weekend, the green and white will be playing the Marauders for the state title for the second straight season.
“It’s a challenge, because they’re obviously more familiar with what we’re trying to do,” Uemoto said. “But the groups over the years for both of our teams have been so different, so we’re still going to have to execute against a good scheme.”
In the 2022 state championship, Konawaena handled Waipahu in a 38-28 victory. But much like the Wildcats, the Marauders have a different squad from a year ago. Their primary offensive cast has mostly new characters, as Elijah Mendoza took the reins as the full-time starting quarterback. The sophomore star finished with 2,434 passing yards, 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 2023-24 after making the most out of his limited opportunities as a freshman last season.
Mendoza has a plethora of weapons to distribute the ball to, such as Eric Stephens (1,230 yards, 14 touchdowns), Jayden Chanel (863 yards, 13 touchdowns) and Tai Aipia-Barrett (734 yards, six touchdowns). The Marauders’ high-octane offense has averaged nearly 40 points per game thus far.
Slowing them down won’t be easy, and Uemoto believes the Wildcats will need to play a complete game to take home the hardware.
“They’ve got some playmakers on the outside, so we’ll have to contain them,” he said. “On the other side, we’re gonna have to move the ball offensively by establishing a run game and hoping our pass game opens up from that.”
Regardless of what happens tonight, Konawaena plans to come to play with heart, grit and pride for the people of south Kona. While winning a championship in 2022 was a historic moment in the school community, Uemoto admits a second trophy would be even sweeter.
“It would mean the world to this school community and island in general (if we repeated as champs). Even getting to this game is very difficult to do, so I’m proud of this group and happy for this community. You never know when you can get back here, so we’re gonna do our best to try to get another state title.”
