HONOKAA — Konawaena has one less thing to worry about thanks to another lopsided win.
HONOKAA — Konawaena has one less thing to worry about thanks to another lopsided win.
With a convincing 49-7 victory over Honokaa on Friday night, the Wildcats (4-1 BIIF, 5-1 overall) earned a berth in the BIIF Division II championship later this month. Since 2010, Konawaena has not missed out on a chance to play for a title.
“We don’t have to worry about it anymore,” Konawaena quarterback Austin Ewing said. “We can just play football.”
Linebacker Michael Banagan-Brock echoed Ewing’s sentiments, saying the team has continued to gel as the season has progressed.
“We are tightening stuff up and communicating a lot better,” Banagan-Brock said.
Kamehameha-Hawaii (4-1 BIIF, 6-1 overall) earned the spot opposite Konawaena in the title game, defeating Hawaii Prep on Saturday. That set up a possible battle for home field Oct. 8 between the Warriors and Wildcats.
“It takes a little pressure off,” Konawaena head coach Brad Uemoto said. “But we want to get the championship game at home. That is a huge deal for us.”
Since dropping its opener to DI title favorite Hilo, Konawaena’s margin of victory has been 39 points per game. However, that separation isn’t coming early. The Wildcats only have a 33-23 edge on opponents in the first quarter of BIIF games, and are averaging just 6.6 points in the first 12 minutes.
“We have to fix whatever is causing these slow starts,” Uemoto said.
The theme carried over against the Dragons. Honokaa struck first on a 2-yard touchdown run by Paki Akau after a muffed punt, and actually held a 7-6 lead at the end of the first quarter when Konawaena missed a PAT.
But, as usual, Konawaena picked up the pace, reeling off six more touchdowns to end the game.
“We had to fix a few things in the beginning and were able to pull it out,” Banagan-Brock said. “We had to get this win — one way or another. Shout out to Strictly-D.”
Ewing, almost quietly, had a five-touchdown night, tossing four through the air and running in another. His lone mistake was an interception in the red zone that was snagged by Honokaa defensive back Zach Carvalho.
“I was trying to get the ball out of bounds because I had nothing there,” Ewing said. “But it was slippery and I just didn’t get enough on it. I was frustrated.”
Ewing has earned himself a mulligan or two. His touchdown to turnover ratio in the month of September was 25-to-1.
“He is hard on himself,” Uemoto said. “But when we throw the ball as much as we do, interceptions happen. What I’m concerned about is how he bounces back, and he has really done that well.”
That kind of drive to continually improve is a trickle down from the top, and a reason many have the Wildcats pegged as state title contenders. Those are expectations the team acknowledges, but the ‘Cats aren’t looking too far down the road.
“We do peak at scores and see how we stack up in the state,” Uemoto said. “It’s obviously a goal of ours. But Kamehameha is a very good team and we still have Keaau left as well. If we don’t focus on those games, we will never get to see what happens at the end.”
The struggles have been obvious for Honokaa (1-4 BIIF, 2-4 overall), which has dropped four in a row after upsetting Kealakehe in the BIIF opener.
“It’s tough,” Honokaa head coach Noeau Lindsey said. “But we still have two games left, so we will look to the next one.”
The Dragons offense moved the ball with some success in the first quarter, but could not keep up the consistency, mostly due to untimely turnovers.
“We have been bit by the turnover bug these last three games, and it showed up again tonight. The boys are talented, but it’s hard to win games with turnovers” Lindsey said. “But I like the perseverance factor with this team. They play all four quarters.”
With both Kamehameha-Hawaii and Konawaena locking up spots in the Division II championship this weekend, Honokaa knows it won’t be playing past the regular season. But when Lindsey took the job he put a big focus on wanting to build past this season, with the long-term goal of bringing “P.R.I.D.E” back to the program.
“We are trying to get a lot of guys reps and take a look at certain things for the future,” Lindsey said. “The seniors this year understand they are helping build a foundation. We are in it for the long haul.”
Honokaa continues its season against Hawaii Prep next week.