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Michael Lasquero | ScoringLiveSeptember 2, 2023, 3:50am
Fri, Sep 1, 2023 @ Wong Stadium [ 6:00 pm ]
HILO, Hawaii Island — It took them a little over five quarters of play, but the Hilo Vikings are starting to find their identity.
Before a raucous crowd at Frances Wong Stadium, Hilo overcame a 14-0 deficit before holding off Keaau for its first win of the season, 29-22, in a BIIF Division I game Friday night.
It was a bounce back win for the Vikings (1-1), who dropped their season opener against reigning state and league champion Konawaena last week, 55-8. Hilo was originally supposed to open against Lahainaluna in a non-league matchup three weeks ago, but the devastation of the Maui wildfires wiped that matchup off the table.
"We didn't get to have a preseason because of unfortunately what happened to Lahaina…God bless all the families out there, but we just told the boys on to the next," said first-year Hilo coach John Flores. "The boys fought all the way to the end. That's all I can ask right now."
Quarterback Austin "Boss" Aguiar led the offense for Hilo with 25 completions on 42 pass attempts. He finished with 249 yards and three touchdowns through the air while completing passes to seven different receivers.
"He's a great quarterback, very smart," Flores said of Aguiar. "I'm glad to have him on my side. I've coached him for some years now. He's starting to come into his own now. There's a lot more that we expect to see and now you guys are going to see it."
Keaau (2-2 overall, 2-1 league) took the early advantage with scoring drives on its first two possessions.
But then a switch flipped for the Vikings.
"They just had to settle in," said Flores. "We made some minor adjustments and it worked out for us in the end."
The spark came from putting pressure on the quarterback. Three straight incompletions on the Cougars' third possession led to a punt and the Vikings' first scoring drive of the night.
On fourth down, Aguiar tossed one of this three TD passes to Taizen Sykes on a 9-yard hookup.
Hilo then tallied three second-quarter sacks on Keaau QB Diego Pettypool to stymie the Cougars. After regaining possession, Aguiar and the offense turned to the screen game before cashing on a 6-yard catch-and-run by Kaiwalya Kaneta to tie the game at 14 just before halftime. The drive was also aided by an unsportsmanlike and a defensive pass interference penalty against the Cougars.
Keaau regained the lead on a safety on the Vikings' first play from scrimmage in the second half. The score would hold at 16-14 for majority of the third quarter until Aguiar hit Peyton Pana on a 20-yard jump ball near the sideline. A fackmask penalty against Keaau on the reception led to an untimed down before the fourth quarter. This set up Kadek Kaneta's 40-yard catch-and-run in the left seam to give Hilo the lead for good, 20-16.
Pressure got to Pettypool on the ensuing possession as he forced a throw that led to a 38-yard pick-6 by Ikena Leao to make it a 26-16-game with 10:59 left in regulation.
"Our defensive line, they pressured the quarterback and the quarterback just threw it to the person and I was just in the right place, right time," said Leao.
"It was there for me to take. I had to watch the hook (and) curls (zones), and he just threw it my way."
The Cougars quickly got back in the game on a 12-yard TD run by Charleston Salazar to make it 26-20 with 9:40 remaining in the game. Hilo then went into clock-killing mode before getting a 33-yard field goal from Kolomana Kahanu for the final points with 2:54 left on the clock.
Keaau made things interesting late in the game when they reached the Hilo 4-yard line, but the Vikings stood tall to force a turnover on downs to seal the game.
A tackle for loss by Micah Thome on first-and-goal forced the Cougars' final timeout of the game with 61 seconds left in the game. Pettypool was pressured on second down which led to an incomplete pass in the dirt before a run for no gain saw the clock running with fourth down looming.
Flores ended up calling timeout with 22.3 left to organize the defense.
The message in the huddle was clear.
"When I called that last timeout, I just knew we had to get pressure on the quarterback and get him off of his spot," said Flores.
Pettypool's throw on fourth down was nearly hauled in by Dycein Velasco-Kahele, but Sykes came over over the top at the last second to force the incompletion and seal the Vikings' first win of the year.
"Everybody was doubting us, everyone was saying Keaau was going to win," said Leao. "We just used that as energy and during practice we just used that. We were feeding off that negative energy."
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