WAIMEA — Last week, Hawaii Preparatory Academy football played to near perfection on both sides of the ball.
Thanks to another dominant performance on the ground from running back Aipia Alaka‘i — 274 yards and two touchdowns — and a shutout from the defensive unit, Ka Makani cruised to a 33-0 victory over Pahoa to punch its first win of the season.
“After (the Honoka‘a Week 1 loss), we cleaned up some of our mistakes, and we got ourselves to gel again,” HPA coach Lincoln Kalama said at practice Wednesday.
Although it’s early in the season, Ka Makani’s defense has been arguably the biggest bright spot of the team. Allowing just 12 points total and forcing a fair share of turnovers through two games, Kalama will continue to lean on the unit to help put the offense in prime field position.
“(Our defense) has gotten better at staying in shape and being conditioned,” Kalama said of the early-season defensive improvements. “We’re able to attack (easier).”
HPA (1-1 overall) will need to heavily rely on its defense this weekend, as it is set to take on Ka‘u (1-1 overall) at 12 p.m. Saturday on the road. The Trojans deploy a run-first offense led by speedster quarterback Adahdiyah Ellis-Reyes and running back Ocean Nihipali-Session, who played an instrumental role in Ka‘u’s 44-24 win over Kohala last weekend. Kalama maintained that controlling the Trojans’ run game will be key.
“It’s hard to stop teams like that,” he explained. “We just have to make sure to contain the best we can.”
While HPA found its offensive groove last weekend, diversifying the attack is a new objective for Ka Makani in Week 3. Being more aggressive in the pass game, led by quarterback Hayden Kalama, will be a tactic HPA experiments against the Trojans. Ka Makani hopes this will bring a different balance to its offense, making it less predictable.
“We just need to get our passing game going, because our defense has (put us in great offensive positions)” senior center Greyson Shin said.
While HPA’s game plan for this weekend is clear, going out on the field and making it happen is an entirely different factor. Nonetheless, Ka Makani hopes it can carry out its intentions on Ka‘u as another building block for improvement as the season rolls on.
“We just have to execute in the best way possible, and just win the day,” Shin added.