HANAPEPE — Kapaa High School and Waimea High School football are both headed to the First Hawaiian Bank Hawaii High School Athletic Association state football championships when play starts on Nov. 14.
The Warriors will represent the Kauai Interscholastic Federation at the Division I bracket, and the Menehune will be the KIF Division II representative.
When the two teams met last Saturday, the event was overshadowed by the final game of the Major League Baseball World Series and the finals of the HHSAA Division II girls volleyball state title, which cemented the Central Pacific Bank KIF football championship.
The Warriors put an exclamation point on “championship” by sweeping Waimea, 41-0 in the Junior Varsity matchup, and 21-0 in the varsity play. The victory brought an end to league regular-season play, where the varsity Warriors finished the KIF with an undefeated record.
The Warriors held Waimea scoreless in both the Junior Varsity and Varsity games.
JV Warrior kicker Justin Cortado made 5 of 6 point-after-touchdown attempts, adding the seventh point in all but the last score, which came with 5 minutes and 8 seconds remaining. Kade Stephen connected with Kekona Bactad-Barretto for a 24-yard touchdown pass.
Earlier in the third quarter, Bactad-Barretto added a 30-yard touchdown, increasing the Kapaa margin to 21-0.
A 51-yard pass play from Micah Doctolero to Kyrus Gonsalves opened the second-quarter scoring for the JV Warriors. Following that score, Kawika Kelekoma ran for a 6-yard touchdown just 41 seconds later.
On the varsity turf, Warrior quarterback Kaitin Mundon scored two of the three touchdowns, and Titan Leong did the final honors in the third quarter on a four-yard plunge. Yair Antonio finished the night perfectly in PAT boots and did the extra point kick for the 21-0 final.
According to the HHSAA schedule, Division II championship play begins Nov. 14, with the champions crowned on Nov. 28.
Division I championship play begins Nov. 15, with the champion crowned on Nov. 28 at Mililani High School on Oahu. Division I Open — which has no KIF representation — starts its championship journey on Nov. 21 with a champion being crowned Dec. 5 at the T.C. Ching Complex at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Source: The Garden Island