KEALAKEKUA — Konawaena football made sure it opened its 2024 home slate on a high note Friday night against the visiting Hilo Vikings.
The Wildcats blasted Hilo 48-0, as the green and white displayed dominance on both sides of the ball in front of a sellout crowd in their homecoming game.
“The crowd really came out tonight,” Kona head coach Brad Uemoto said postgame. “But our hope is to not get complacent — we just want to come out, play football and earn everything that we have. But overall, it was a very nice night.”
Offensively, the Wildcats had a balanced attack. Running back Hercules Nahale rushed for a game-high 81 yards and two touchdowns, while backfield teammate Jiohvani Soto-Ramos added a rushing touchdown of his own.
In the passing game, Kona sophomore quarterback Keenan Alani completed 20 of his 30 passes for 375 yards and four touchdowns. Thus far in 2024, Alani is at 25 touchdown passes and 2 interceptions in his debut season as a starter.
Alani’s top targets of the evening were Malu Tan and Austin Takaki, who combined for 294 receiving yards and four touchdowns. The star pair also played a strong game in the secondary, as both started at defensive back.
“They’re two great athletes who play both ways,” Uemoto continued. “And when they get the ball in their hands, they’re electric. They’re a huge part of our offense.”
Defensively, Kona frustrated the visitors with its physical front and stingy secondary. The unit combined for three total sacks. It was the team’s fourth shutout of the season — allowing a season average of under eight points per game.
The Wildcats (5-2 overall, 5-0 BIIF) remain in the driver’s seat of Big Island Interscholastic Federation (BIIF) Division I. Kona will be on a homestand for the remainder of the regular season — continuing with a crosstown matchup against Kealakehe at 6 p.m. Thursday in Kealakekua.
Hilo (2-3) will next host Kea‘au on Friday night at Wong Stadium. Junior varsity will play first at 5 p.m.
Turf field debuts
After years of waiting, Konawaena’s newest crown jewel has been showcased to the public.
The Wildcats played their first game on the school’s brand new, state-of-the-art Julian R. Yates turf field in their win over the Vikings — giving the green and white their first non-grass playing facility in the school’s 103-year history. Konawaena also upgraded its lights from mercury vapor to LED, and is also currently working on resurfacing the track that borders the new field. The project broke ground in the spring and was completed over the past week.
The community is thrilled with excitement, but perhaps nobody is more grateful than former principal Shawn Suzuki, who oversaw the school from 2002-2021. For years, Suzuki pushed for a new field beginning over a decade ago, when several O‘ahu schools were gifted turf fields all across their island.
With Konawaena located on the shallow slopes of Mauna Loa, he felt that a field upgrade was long overdue.
“Here we are in Mauka Kona, 1,600 feet up where it’s always rainy,” he told West Hawaii Today in a recent interview. “Pigs are always coming through and digging holes, so pushing for (the new field) was necessary. Especially since we have the only large public football field as you drive south. You have to get to Pahala before there’s another facility you can use.”
Despite years of insisting to the Hawaii Department of Education (DOE), Kona was never approved for the funding. It wasn’t until Suzuki flew to O‘ahu to meet with the DOE when he finally got answers. He learned that O‘ahu schools were getting funding approval from state legislators, not the DOE.
But Suzuki wasn’t ready to give up. He credits former West Hawaii Today writer Bobby Command for bringing the issue to light, as the topic then caught the attention of Senator Dru Kanuha — a Konawaena graduate and Holualoa native himself. Kanuha then pushed for financial allocation to his alma mater, and by May of 2020, $6.3 million of $5.1 billion in capital improvements signed by former governor David Ige was given to the green and white for their new field.
“It was just a matter of being persistent and persevering through the years,” Suzuki said of finally getting the resources for the project. “This community deserved it. It’s something that we needed. It just made sense for the health and safety of our students. Geographically, where we’re located and what we have to deal with as far as the weather…we needed something special for the community.
“Thank you Senator Kanuha and his staff for all of their help. I can imagine that the community is excited about it. I know for a fact that the community is appreciative. (The Konawaena community) has always appreciated the school and its facilities and all of those things.”
While Suzuki has retired since the field’s approval and is now an outsider looking in, he is confident that the new project will not only benefit the football program, but the entire community.
“To me, this field is symbolic of perseverance in our school community,” he explained. “This is ‘we’re not going to give up, we’re going to keep knocking on the door until somebody answers.’ We want them to love each other. We want them to care for themselves and their families. We want them to persevere. That’s what Konawaena is all about.
“Young kids will be able to look at (the new field) and be inspired to play on it one day. I’m confident the school and community will put it to great use. I’m so stoked for the community.”
Coach Uemoto feels the same way, adding that his players have been practicing harder on the new field since it was completed.
“Practices are definitely more upbeat; they’re excited,” he said. “It’s an amazing venue for our boys, and it’s a treat for us every day at practice. The magnitude of our practices have gotten bigger.”
For any Wildcats fans that missed the field’s debut Friday can see it during any of the remaining regular season games, starting with their matchup against Kealakehe this Thursday night.