Kealakehe head coach Sam Kekuaokalani is not a big rah-rah guy.
Kealakehe head coach Sam Kekuaokalani is not a big rah-rah guy.
But after his team’s thrilling 22-20 comeback win over Kamehameha-Hawaii on Friday night, the second-year head coach was left without a voice, along with probably a good chunk of the capacity crowd at Waverider Stadium.
“It was about focusing on the task and staying positive,” Kekuaokalani said. “When we made a mistake, we had to get right back up and get at it.”
After falling behind 20-0 in the first quarter, the Waveriders (2-2 overall, 1-0 BIIF) did just that, slowly turning small positives into big ones, reeling off 22 unanswered points.
The effort was led by a stingy defense, which broke the shutout when a sack and then fumble from the Warriors backup quarterback Kamakana Pagan forced Kamehameha-Hawaii (3-1, 0-1) to jump on a ball in their own end zone for a safety.
Those two points would end up being the difference.
“They stepped up — big time,” Kekuaokalani said of his defensive unit.
It’s a worn out saying, but it’s one Kealakehe lives by — there is no “I” in team. It’s not offense and defense; it’s not starters and backups. Everything is about the team. When things got hard under the heat of the Friday night lights, that’s what the Waveriders fell back on.
“Everybody has a role, and we support each other’s roles. If we have faults, we catch each other’s back,” Kekuaokalani said.
By far the biggest offensive play of the game for the Waveriders was a 56-yard run by Riggs Kurashige — who ended up the game’s leading rusher with 118 yards on 18 carries. The play was set up by a Klein Hao interception, and offensive coordinator Jerry Mareko made sure to point out an unsung hero on the play.
“Our wide receiver Dylan (Berman) made a block down field that sprung Riggs,” Mareko said. “He was in the right place at the right time. Blocking for six is just as good as running for six.”
On the other side of the field, Kamehameha-Hawaii was picking up the pieces after the stunning comeback. But the Warriors are taking the humbling loss in stride. Veteran head coach Dan Lyons knows it’s much better for a heartbreaking loss to happen in Week 1 against a nondivision opponent, rather than late in the season when the stakes are much higher.
“Nobody dislikes losing more than I do. But I also know we learn more and grow more from losses than wins,” Lyons said. “We are on a path to get better. That is all we ever want to do. The boys are disappointed because they don’t like losing, but we have to learn how to deal with adversity.”
There were some obvious bright spots for Kamehameha-Hawaii, and sophomore QB DallasJ Duarte’s performance was one of them.
Duarte finished his regular season debut 18 of 32 for 253 yards and two touchdowns. Much of that came on a stretch where he completed 10 straight passes in the first half, including five for over 25 yards and two for touchdowns.
“He’s learning and growing,” Lyons said. “He made some really good throws, but we still have a lot of stuff to figure out by the end of the season.”
Tre Evans-Dumaran also emerged as a major weapon in the vertical passing game for Kamehameha-Hawaii. On both TD scores he ran nearly straight up the sideline — with a slight hesitation that shook off the defensive back — and came down with athletic catches. On the 40-yard grab, he gained so much separation that he had time to high step for nearly 10 yards, although he was nearly brought down before reaching the end zone.
Kamehameha-Hawaii has a short week to prepare for Waiakea on Thursday. Kealakehe will look to ride the wave of momentum into a road game at Honokaa on Friday.