Hawaiian Electric Game of the Week
Top-ranked Konawaena to open season on Oahu




The top-ranked team in Division II will open its season on Oahu this weekend.

Konawaena, the No. 1 team in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric D2 Power Rankings, will take on seventh-ranked Saint Francis in a non-league game at Leilehua's Hugh Yoshida Stadium Friday night.

The Wildcats, who reached the semifinal round of last year's state tournament, have yet to play a game this season.

"Regardless of who the opponent will be, I think they're more excited to just get back on the field," Konawaena coach Brad Uemoto said.

Uemoto's first season at the helm of his alma mater ended with a back-and-forth 48-46 loss to eventual-state champion Radford.

"The last time we were on the field was against Radford," said Uemoto, who went on to garner All-Hawaii D2 Coach of the Year honors. "It was a high note for our program, a high note for our kids, but they just want to get back on the field and play football again."

The Wildcats are coming off an 11-2 record in 2015, which included a 42-33 win over Damien in the first round of the state tournament — the first in school history.

Two First Team All-Hawaii selections return to lead an offense that averaged nearly 38 points and 384 yards per game in junior quarterback Austin Ewing (2,290 pass yards, 31 TDs, 6 INTs in 2015) and senior wide receiver Reyson "Kamakana" Ching (32 receptions, 630 yards, 11 TDs).

"They have a precision offense that's led by Austin Ewing," Saint Francis coach Kip Akana said. "He's a tough one to handle. He's a playmaker for them, so we know we've got our hands full."

Akana knows all too well the abilities of the 6-foot-1, 175-pound Ewing. The Saints traveled to the Big Island for a non-league game at Konawaena's Julian T. Yates Field last year. Ewing threw two first-quarter touchdown passes in that game — his first varsity start.

"There were times where we thought we had him bottled up and he extended plays and made some passes," Akana said of Ewing, the All-Hawaii D2 Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. "His feet and his arm, that was really the difference in the game."

The Wildcats limited Saint Francis to just 137 yards of total offense, including a mere 69 rushing yards.

"They have a suffocating defense," Akana said. "They're good across the board. That defense played real well against us."

However, Konawaena will be without senior defensive lineman Austin Santos-Johnson (back), a First Team All-Hawaii pick last year. Uemoto said junior slotback/defensive back Jeremiah Casuga-Llanes will also miss the game with a broken finger.

"We have some injuries that we need to fill in for and some spots from graduation that we need to see who is going to fill out, but some good candidates have shown us a lot in camp," Uemoto said. "It just comes down to, in the game, when the lights are turned on, can they still give us that same effort and consistency?"

Saint Francis is searching for consistency of its own following a 31-9 road win over Kauai Saturday.

"We're evolving offensively and our defense was just lights out on Kauai," Akana said. "We knew that we had good returning running backs and good returning skill positions, but we knew that heart and soul is in our defense. They stepped up Saturday and proved to be just that."

The Saints allowed only 145 yards against the Red Raiders and intercepted four passes, including Wembley Mailei's 34-yard pick-6.

Friday's game is Saint Francis' final tune-up before opening the Interscholastic League of Honolulu season against defending champ Damien on Sept. 2.

"We're depending on these two (non-league) games to prepare us for the ILH season, so to get quality opponents in Kauai, and especially in Konawaena, works out real well for us," Akana said. "We'll get a good gauge of where we're at after Friday night."

Akana noted that he and his coaching staff are not focused on the short-term, but rather a chance to play into November.

"We know they're ranked number one and we know where we're ranked, so along with that you can't help but be excited about this matchup, but for myself and my coaches, we made a commitment that we're going to treat it like as a preseason game," Akana said. "Of course, our emphasis and our focus is on the ILH season, so we will be getting looks at our reserve players and at the end of the day, if we can come out ahead on the scoreboard and do the right things, we're going to do just that."

Uemoto said the No. 1 ranking is both an honor and a hindrance for his Wildcats.

"Like I told the kids, the ranking is not going to win you any football games, it's not going to do anything for you between the lines. It is something that you can use to motivate you or something that can essentially decimate you a little bit," said Uemoto, whose team will open Big Island Interscholastic Federation play against three-time defending D1 champion Hilo next Saturday.

"It's good that we got recognized for what our program has become, but it's obviously a target on our back. I try to use it as motivation; that we need to practice and conduct ourselves off the field and in the classroom like we're the No. 1-ranked team in the state," Uemoto said. "The initial feeling was that we were happy and honored and it's sort of faded away a little bit because at the end of the day we have to show up and play football. It was kind of neat, but now it's just a matter of proving it."

Kickoff between the Wildcats and Saints is set for 6 p.m. The game will be live streamed on ScoringLive.com, with Shawn Sueoka (play-by-play) and Michael Lasquero (color commentary) on the call.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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