The Wildcats came out of the gate with an aggressive mentality Friday night at Wong Stadium.
Though each of Konawaena’s first three drives crossed into Hilo territory, a bend-but-don’t-break Viking defense thwarted them all on fourth-down attempts en route to Hilo taking an early lead.
The Vikings struck first midway through the first quarter as Kaohu Kaluna found a streaking Kayden Silva over the middle to put Hilo up 6-0.
The rest of the game belonged to Konawaena.
After Kawelu Kaiawe put the Wildcats up 7-6 with his first rushing touchdown of the season, the Konawaena offense displayed the firepower that allowed them to outscore their opponents 144-0 over the first two weeks of the BIIF season.
Keoki Alani quickly settled into a rhythm, delivering strike after strike to receivers Jacob Ah Mook Sang, Abraham Ogata, Zedekiah Anahu-Ambrosio, Landon Daquel-Shimabukuro and Ro’o Satta-Ellis as the Wildcat offense started rolling.
Alani connected on five second-quarter touchdown passes; Ah Mook Sang and Anahu-Ambrosio each caught two, and Satta-Ellis caught one as Konawaena scored 44 unanswered points going into halftime.
Kaluna rarely had much time to throw when the Vikings were on offense, as the Wildcat front seven chased him out of the pocket seemingly every time the Hilo signal-caller dropped back to pass. Konawaena sacked Kaohu three times in the second quarter, the third by Jarom Loku Alani for a safety.
In addition to two touchdowns on offense, Anahu-Ambrosio picked off a pair of Kaluna’s passes on defense before the teams reached halftime.
Alani and Anahu-Ambrosio connected for a third time in the fourth quarter on a scoring strike of more than 90 yards.
A running clock allowed the second half to roll by quickly, with the Wildcats ultimately leaving Hilo with a 51-6 victory to climb to 3-0 in BIIF play. Hilo falls a game behind Konawaena in the BIIF standings at 2-1.
Konawaena is set to travel to Keaau next Friday, while Hilo next plays at Waiakea on Sept. 17.