Kahale Huddleston and his teammates put the work in through the offseason.
The rewards are arriving already. The senior running back rushed for 244 yards and touchdowns of 26, 79, 68 and 31 yards, and added kickoff returns of 99 and 97 yards for two more scores as Hilo overwhelmed ‘Iolani 62-35 on Saturday afternoon at Eddie Hamada Field.
“Last season was really difficult. The line wasn’t as fast as it is this year. Now the team is a little bit more together. We stick together,” Huddleston said of the Vikings, who suited up just 30 players. “We wanted to prove that we’re strong and competitive, and hopefully this year we win the championship. We’re not as big or strong as some teams, but we have heart. Hopefully, that’ll get us through our games.”
Longtime ‘Iolani coach Wendell Look was impressed.
“He’s very explosive. Very good feel. Get him out in the open field and he’s dangerous. He shredded us,” Look said.
Hilo rushed for 348 yards and finished with 455 yards of total offense. ‘Iolani finished with 104 hard-earned rushing yards on 22 carries, most coming in the later stages of the contest. The Raiders finished with 359 total yards.
Vikings coach Kaeo Drummondo said they left more than 20 players back in Hilo due to a mix of injuries, commitments to other sports and other issues. They suited up 30 players who trained hard all offseason for the hot weather at ‘Iolani.
“The heat started to get to us a little bit. ‘Iolani had some quick scores, and we had some quick scores, so I didn’t want it going back and forth,” said Drummondo, who had his offense slow the tempo in the second quarter. “Kahale has improved his strength and he can run through tackles. Our O-line, we’re going to hang our hat on them.”
Huddleston never seemed to tire, showing a burst with the ball all day.
“Kahale is really fast. He’s always running,” offensive lineman Tilini Livai said. “He’s been hitting the weight room and really pushing himself.”
Relying heavily on Livai and a mobile, punishing group of blockers, Huddleston showed exceptional explosiveness once he got through the trenches. A mix of traps and pulling linemen gave him ample space and time to read every play.
The host Raiders began to reel the speedster in after his first three carries (for 116 yards), but his 99-yard kick return to the house opened the second half, and he never seemed to tire.
That endurance by the Vikings was a key part of the win. The afternoon heat at ‘Iolani climbed toward 90 degrees and what moderate breeze blew through was as warm as a convection oven.
The Vikings, perennial D-I powerhouse of the Big Island Interscholastic Federation, stifled ‘Iolani’s offense early. A sack by Isaac Liu ended the Raiders’ game-opening drive and set up a 26-yard run to paydirt by Huddleston. On the next play from scrimmage, Liu read the play-action and intercepted a Tai-John Mizutani pass for a 30-yard touchdown return.
The Raiders began to move the ball offensively thanks to holding and pass interference penalties on Hilo, but that series stalled, too.
Hilo needed just two snaps to score again. Huddleston pierced the heart of ‘Iolani’s defense and blazed down the sideline for a 79-yard TD. That gave the Vikings a 20-0 lead with 6:43 left in the first quarter.
Mizutani connected with Jonah Miyazawa on a 24-yard scoring strike to bring the Raiders within 13 points with 4:42 to go in the opening quarter.
Hilo quarterback Kaleo Apao then showed tremendous poise, spinning out of the grasp of ‘Iolani pass rushers for a crucial 7-yard gain for a first down to keep the drive alive. On the next play, he found Guyson Ogata open on a post pattern for a 28-yard TD and a 27-7 Hilo lead.
Apao was a defensive back until spring, which makes his development quite unusual. He was an efficient 7-for-9 passing for 107 yards and a TD. He also added 70 rushing yards on 11 carries, running everything from a pick-’em speed option to either side to play-action rollouts and the occasional deep ball.
“We found out where our strengths and weaknesses are,” ‘Iolani coach Wendell Look said. “We’ve got a lot of inexperienced guys. We’ve got young receivers and a young line. If you put Tai on a different team, he’d break all the records. We’ve just got to do a better job of putting our guys in a better spot.”
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