KEALAKEKUA — The final few seconds of the BIIF Division II championship on Saturday night were simply chaos — the kind that only a win-or-go-home game of football can inspire.
With Konawaena leading 27-23 and just 13 seconds remaining, Kamehameha-Hawaii’s Israel Bowden hauled in a long pass from quarterback Kaimi Like at the 1-yard line.
With no timeouts but the clock stopped to reset the chains, Kamehameha sprinted down to the spot. Like snapped the ball, rolled out to his right, tossed it into the end zone, but was picked off by Konawaena defensive back Jordan Kikugawa.
After a kneel down, the Wildcats hung on — just barely — to the four point victory, capturing the program’s second consecutive league title and fifth in the last six seasons.
“It was an emotion roller coaster,” Konawaena head coach Brad Uemoto said. “We can look at all the things we did wrong and they did right to make the game close, but at the end of the day, I’m going to look at the positives and how our kids persevered. I’m so proud of them.”
Kikugawa, like many of the players on the field, was a bit stunned from the Warriors near Hail Mary. But he recovered to come away with the biggest play of the season for the Wildcats — one that had shades of Super Bowl XLIX, between the Seahawks and Patriots, when Malcolm Butler picked off Russell Wilson at the goal line.
“I couldn’t believe (Bowden) caught the ball. But I knew there wasn’t that much time left, so I just stayed ready. I heard the cadence and was able to get the interception,” said Kikugawa, who also had a interception return touchdown in the first half. “It feels good knowing that even though we went through some tough times during the game, our team came together as a family there at the end and pulled it out.”
For Kamehameha, the season is over, but the Warriors left it all on the field, nearly stunning a team that many have pegged as the top DII contender in the state. It’s a hard final huddle to break, but Kamehameha head coach Dan Lyons did his best to let his players know how much he appreciated their effort.
“After a game like this, you just tell them that you love them and you appreciate all the hard work they put in. You feel bad for the seniors,” Lyons said. “I don’t know what the total yards and all those things right now, but I feel like we outplayed the other team tonight. But sometimes you outplay people and don’t win on the scoreboard. It will take us a while to not feel bad about this one, but that’s part of sports.”
Like — just a sophomore — could have spiked the ball at the 1-yard line to let his team time to collect their thoughts. But in the chaos, he took the snap, and tried to make a play. His head coach didn’t hold that against the young QB whatsoever.
“Certainly we are in a position to win the game there,” Lyons said. “I know (Like) will feel bad, but that’s a coaching mistake. We did not prepare for that situation. That’s on us.”
While it might feel like the game was won or lost on that single play, there were plenty of moments that led to the final score.
More than a handful of those came from standout Konawaena quarterback Austin Ewing, who passed for 205 yards and recorded three total touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) in the game.
The longest, and one of the most important offensive plays of the night came when Ewing found his big wide receiver Kamakana Ching down the sideline for 50 yards in the fourth quarter. A play later, Ewing went back to the Ching to give the Wildcats the lead for good.
“We didn’t need to go for the long shot. We were just staying underneath and sticking with the game plan,” Ewing said. “But once I saw Kamakana was on top of his defender, I knew no one was catching him out there.”
Another big play was on 4th and less-than-1 at midfield with just over a minute remianing. If Konawaena picked it up, it almost surely meant game over. The Wildcats did, but a Kamehameha player punched out the ball from Ewing’s grip, giving the Warriors a final lifeline. Even reflecting on the play, Uemoto had no regrets not punting in the situation.
“We were up four points, and I felt that even if we didn’t make, they would have to drive 50 yards for a touchdown,” he said. “In a situation where we have to pick up just half-yard for a championship, I like those odds. But they just made a great play on the ball.”
Kamehameha came out with a different game plan than when the teams met in the regular season on Oct. 8 — a 35-12 Wildcat win.
Instead of relentless pressure, the Warriors dropped more guys into coverage. On offense, running — ironically — the wildcat formation with Bowden proved to be an effective wrinkle.
“We had to adjust. Kamehameha had a great scheme for this game. We expected blitz all week, but they just sat back in coverage,” Uemoto said. “When we went down in the second half, we kept bouncing back. It was a complete win on both sides of the ball.”
The Wildcats now turn their sights on the HHSAA state tournament, which begins Nov. 4 with the first round.
“This win was a stepping stone. We never wanted to look past winning the BIIF,” Uemoto said. “Now we get to go to the state tournament and will do our best to represent this island and this league.”
The brackets are expected to be announced next weekend, when the OIA wraps up its playoffs. For now, the Wildcats campaign for a top seed — which comes with a bye to the semifinals and possible home game in Kealakekua — is over. But regardless of the route, Konawaena is ready to start the trek to a state title game, which the team came just a few points short of last year after a 48-46 loss to Radford in the state semis.
“We are just going to go out, and play whoever is in front of us,” Uemoto said.
