The Konawaena defense forced two safeties and sophomore quarterback Austin Ewing connected twice with Kamakana Ching for touchdowns as the Wildcats rolled over Saint Francis 18-6 at Julian R. Yates Field on Saturday night.
The Konawaena defense forced two safeties and sophomore quarterback Austin Ewing connected twice with Kamakana Ching for touchdowns as the Wildcats rolled over Saint Francis 18-6 at Julian R. Yates Field on Saturday night.
The contest against the Saints of the ILH was the preseason debut for Konawaena (1-0) and ushered in the coach Brad Uemoto era of Wildcat football.
“We did enough. It definitely wasn’t easy,” Uemoto said. “Saint Francis was a great, physical test for us in the first game of the year. They were well coached, and I believe they make it out of the ILH Division II as a state qualifier.”
The game also marked the first varsity start for Ewing. The sophomore QB finished 11 of 25 for 164 yards and two touchdowns for the Wildcats.
Konawaena came out quick with two first quarter strikes, but relied on an aggressive, speedy defense for the remaining three quarters. The Wildcats sacked Saints quarterback Scott McLeod five times, with safety Cameron Howes leading the way with two.
“We did an excellent job on defense,” Uemoto said. “They carried us for sure. We got two quick scores and basically were looking to run out the clock from there.”
The night didn’t start stellar for the Wildcats. Senior running back Algene Kelekolio fumbled on Konawaena’s opening possesion of the season and Saint Francis recovered. However, the Saints would not capitalize on the opportunity, going three-and-out.
Konawaena revved up its offense on the next drive. Ewing connected with Kelekolio on a 22-yard screen, and then found a wide-open Ching on a 49-yard touchdown connection. The two-point conversion failed.
While Saint Francis continued to struggle on offense, Konawaena kept up a torrid pace. That effort was spurred by Ewing, who showed poise uncharacteristic of a sophomore.
With two minutes left in the first quarter, Ewing rolled out of the pocket, away from pressure, and found Ching again, this time on a 15-yard pass off his back foot for the score. Mahina Ellis-Noa pounded in the two-point conversion to give the Wildcats a 14-0 lead.
“He has those intangibles,” Uemoto said. “On both of those touchdowns throws he made something happen and that is what he gives us. Credit him for making the play, the offensive line for getting in the way and the receivers for getting open. We work on that scramble drill every day. Everybody did their job.”
Saint Francis did not have the benefit of good field position for much of the first half, and Konawaena maintained swarming pressure.
On the Saints third drive, Jonah “Pono” Luis-Mateo took the handoff on a sweep and Konawaena defensive end Torin Tuppein delivered a hit that jarred the ball loose and it rolled out of the end zone for a safety.
Tuppein put two more points on the board with a one-handed blocked punt that the Saints were forced to jump on in their own end zone early in the second quarter.
The Saints did not record a first down until the seven-minute mark of the second quarter, and it came on a penalty. Konawaena held Saint Francis to just 41 yards of first half offense. All of it came on the ground. Quarterback Scott McLeod went 0-6 with one interception in the opening half.
The best chance of the first half for the Saints came with all zeros on the clock. Konawaena punted with nine seconds left and Micah Kalei took it up the sideline into Wildcat territory. Kalei fumbled the ball, causing a mad scramble, but an illegal block would negate all the commotion and the teams would head into the break.
The second half opened with a stalemate — Konawaena unable to sustain a drive and the Saints seemingly determined to get a running game going.
With the clock winding down, Saint Francis had to look to its passing game. McLeod completed his first pass late in the third quarter with a 15-yard connection.
A long completion from McLeod to Destin Pakele in the fourth quarter set up the Saints only scoring drive of the game. Matt Dacuycuy — a 220-pound sophomore running back — finished the drive with a 7-yard run into the far corner of the end zone.
It would be too little, too late for Saint Francis. After recovering the onside kick attempt, Konawaena managed to run out the final five minutes and escape with the victory.
“I don’t think people understand how hard it is to get wins in high school football, especially considering how much success we have had the past few years,” Uemoto said. “We will savor this win for now and work hard for the next one.”
Konawaena travels to take on Kauai on Aug.22 to close out the preseason.
Scoring summary
First quarter
KONA: Austin Ewing 49-yard pass to Kamakana Ching (2-point conversion missed), 6-0
KONA: Ewing 15-yard pass to Ching. (2-point run by Mahina Ellis-Noa good) 14-0
KONA: Safety (Torin Tuppein forced fumble out of end zone), 16-0
Second quarter
KONA: Safety (Blocked punt by Tuppein) 18-0
Third quarter
None
Fourth quarter
SAINT: Matt Dacuycuy 7-yard run (2-point no good) 18-6
ST. FRANCIS — 0 0 0 6 — 6
KONA — 16 2 0 0 — 18