HILO — Hilo’s Kalei Tolentino-Perry hit a 29-yard field goal with 51 second left to shake off 21 unanswered points from Konawaena and give the Vikings a thrilling 23-21 win at Wong Stadium on Saturday night.
HILO — Hilo’s Kalei Tolentino-Perry hit a 29-yard field goal with 51 second left to shake off 21 unanswered points from Konawaena and give the Vikings a thrilling 23-21 win at Wong Stadium on Saturday night.
Hilo (1-0 BIIF, 1-1 overal) QB Ka’ale Tiogangco and wide receiver Lukas Kuipers provided an influx of early offense for the Vikings, but both exited in the second half with injuries. Tiogangco finished his day with 134 yards passing — 117 of those to Kuipers — and added 115 on the ground. He also tossed two interceptions. Kalei Tolentino-Perry hit three long field goals, including a 48-yarder and the game winner.
Konawaena (0-1, 1-1) running back Micah Laban rushed for 98 yards and a touchdown and added a passing score on a trick play to his stat line. Kamakana Ching caught two touchdowns for the Wildcats, and junior quarterback Austin Ewing finished the game 18 of 37 for 246 yards with a two touchdowns and two interceptions.
The BIIF heavyweight matchup between the top contenders in their respective divisions did not disappoint, although early on it looked like Hilo would easily send the Wildcats back to west Hawaii with their tails between their legs.
On the first play from scrimmage, Tiogangco dropped back and hit Kuipers in stride down the middle of the field. He went nearly untouched into the end zone and just 22 seconds in, Hilo had a 7-0 lead.
Things didn’t start as quickly for Konawaena. Ewing’s first pass of the night went high in the air and looked like a sure interception. Instead, it bounced off the Hilo defenders helmet and fell harmlessly to the ground.
Laban provided the best boosts early, including a pair of long runs on the first drive. The Wildcats moved inside the five-yard line, and got an extra life on a missed field goal thanks to a flag, but came away empty-handed after an incompletion on 4th and goal.
Tiogangco and Kuipers kept up their connection on Hilo’s second drive. Kuipers, listed at 6-foot with blazing speed, took advantage of single coverage. He grabbed receptions of 23 and 22 yards to move Hilo into the red zone, but the Viks settled for a 32-yard Kalei Tolentino-Perry FG to conclude an 11-play drive.
Tiogangco opened the game with four straight completions and a score, but hit a cold spell. After the hot start, the senior signal-caller missed on nine straight passes and threw an interception. However, he did find a way to create some offense, ripping off gains of 25, 33 and 17 on the ground to help keep drives alive.
It resulted in two Kalei Tolentino-Perry field goals to put Hilo up 13-0.
After a fairly stagnant start to the second quarter for both teams, Hilo’s Skylar Brede provided the highlight of the night. Players piled up along the Hilo sideline on what seemed to be a short gain, but Brede broke out of a rugby style scrum and busted down the sideline 91-yards for the score. It put Hilo up 20-0, and firmly in control.
As heavy rains hit Wong Stadium, Konawaena’s struggles continued. Hilo picked off Ewing late in the second quarter, and attempted to add to the lead. Konawaena senior defensive back Tyler Kahananui put an end to that, jumping a slant route and advancing the ball to midfield. The Wildcats had life, and for the first time all game, Konawaena capitalized.
Ewing hit on two long passes to Jeremiah Casuga-Llanes, and a personal foul gave Konawaena a chance inside the 5-yard line on an untimed down. The Wildcats lined up in a full house set and Ewing went in motion out wide, waving his arms. Laban took the direct snap and lobbed a pass to a wide-open Kamakana Ching.
Konawaena carried the momentum over to the second half, and in a big way.
The Wildcats drove 52 yards on 12 plays — including two fourth down conversion — to open the second half, which ended with Laban strolling into the end zone on a 14-yard swing pass from Ewing.
Just a few minutes later, Ewing dropped back and delivered a deep pass into the waiting hands of Ching. Inside the 10-yard line, Ching shook a defender and found pay dirt. An extra point by kicker Konawaena Harry Hill gave the Wildcats the lead for the first time.
Hilo started moving the ball late in the third quarter after the score, but were bit hard by the injury bug — already down a starting running back. First, it was Kuipers who exited on crutches after a collision on the sideline, and just moments later Tiogangco exited on a cart.
Freshman Kyan Miyasaito took over at quarterback, and the first pass of his BIIF career was a 46-yard interception return for a touchdown. But a flag gave the frosh a second chance, although just a few plays later the Wildcats recovered a fumble on a stray snap to take over.
The banged up Viks continued to battle, and Konawaena did just enough to get by before chaos ensued late. A block in the back penalty pinned Konawaena back deep, and a pooch punt put Hilo inside the red zone — already in Tolentino-Perry’s wheelhouse. The senior kicker came through, and completed his FG hat trick from 29-yards out.
On the ensuing kickoff, Hilo kicked the ball out of bounds three consecutive times. Eventually Konawaena took over at midfield and had 51 seconds to get in field goal range. Ewing’s second interception of the game on a Hail Mary attempt ended the instant classic. The teams will not meet again this season.