Micah Rapozo’s 33-yard field goal lifted Kapaa over Konawaena, 10-7, for the school’s first Division I state championship on Saturday night at John Kauinana Stadium.

The Warriors averted defeat when Konawaena’s 44-yard field goal try by Nakoa Ige on the final play of regulation fell 1 yard short.

Konawaena then came up empty on its first possession of overtime, and Kapaa came through despite a penalty. On third-and-7, running back Nainoa Simmons made certain he went down to the synthetic turf in the middle of the hash marks to set up Rapozo’s game-winner.

“I put the tee down, look at my holder (Kaimana Chong) and give him the nod,” said Rapozo, a 6-foot-1, 240-pound senior who also played defensive line. “It was cold here.”

Sixty-nine degrees, but no significant crosswinds.

“When we were building up I was warming up on the sideline. In my mind, visualizing,” Rapozo said.

Simmons was on the sideline by then, the entire team holding hands as their field goal unit performed its most important task of the season — and, arguably, in the program’s history.

“It was all up to the Lord,” said Simmons, who finished with 66 hard-earned yards on 22 carries.

Uber-versatile Noah Burkart was another senior with a massive impact, returning a punt 61 yards to pay dirt on the first play of the fourth quarter to break a scoreless battle.

In the end, all the doubters who questioned Kapaa’s move up to Division I a few years back finally have their answer. Tresler, the former UH defensive back, still runs daily. That came in handy in the second half when he had to sprint to the 10-yard line to call a timeout for his defense. His players, however, managed to give him the classic Gatorade shower after the game.

“Bless Micah. That was amazing. He has so much potential. He is such a great kicker. Everybody had confidence in him and he executed. He has such a strong leg, a big leg,” Tresler said. “Our defense came up big all game. That Konawaena team is still amazing. To actually beat them (is) unbelievable.”

Konawaena finished with 324 yards of total offense to Kapaa’s 132.

“That kids are amazing and our coaching staff, my football family, got to give them all the credit,” Tresler said. “Thank you to the HHSAA for giving us the opportunity. Thank you to our principal, my family and our fans for giving their support to the kids.”

The first overtime period had a bizarre twist. On third-and-goal from the Kapaa 5-yard line, Konawaena quarterback Keenan Alani was wrapped up and intercepted by a Kapaa defensive lineman, who then fumbled the ball. Konawaena recovered at its 28.

Ige was wide and left on a 45-yard attempt.

Kapaa drove to the 16-yard line and lined up for Rapozo’s clutch moment.

“We have great coaches and a team that wanted it. We made a lot of mistakes, but at the end of the day, Micah brought it home,” Simmons said. “Konawaena is the best defense I ever played against.”

BIIF champion Konawaena, under longtime coach Brad Uemoto, closed the season 10-3.

For three quarters, the game was on pace to be the lowest-scoring battle in D-I state championship game history. In 2006, Kahuku edged Saint Louis 7-6 in the final. The second-lowest scoring output by two teams was a 20-17 win by Hilo over ‘Iolani in 2019.

The Wildcats drove to the Kapaa 32-yard line on their first series and on fourth-and-7, opted to punt. The ball bounced off a Kapaa up man, recovered by the Wildcats at the 18-yard line, according to the initial ruling by officials. However, after a replay review, Kapaa gained possession of the ball.

The Warriors drove to the Konawaena 25-yard line and stalled. Konawaena’s Armenio Blanco stuffed Kapaa’s field-goal attempt before it was kicked, and the Wildcats took possession at their 35-yard line.

Kapaa QB Evan Daligdig seemed to have an open receiver in Kaiten Mundon on a deep go route, but Austin Takaki hustled back to close the gap and make a leaping interception at the Konawaena 25-yard line.

The scoreless duel continued deep into the second quarter. A short pass over the middle by Daligdig was nearly picked off by linebacker Wyatt Wehrsig, who would’ve had a clear path to the end zone.

Konawaena drove into Kapaa territory late in the first half, but Takaki fumbled after a reception and DB Ryan Peters recovered for the Warriors at their 29-yard line with 30.9 seconds left.

The defensive battle wasn’t entirely flat for the offenses. Kapaa had 115 yards and Konawaena had 116 in total offense by halftime.

The Wildcats opened the second half with an explosion when Takaki broke upfield on a short pass for a 46-yard gain to the Kapaa 7-yard line. It was all backward from there with an illegal procedure, an ineligible man downfield — wiping out a TD pass — and another illegal procedure.

Ige’s 30-yard field-goal try hooked left, and the score remained nil with 9:22 left in the third quarter.

Kapaa had fourth-and-4 from its 47-yard line, but Elias Malapit blew the play up, tackling the punter as he rolled to his right for a 13-yard loss. Konawaena took over at the Warriors’ 34-yard line. The Wildcats drove to the 18-yard line, but Alani’s pass sailed over Takaki, got deflected and was intercepted by Kapaa’s Nash Burkart.

Moments later, Sami Kauvaka picked off an Alani pass and returned it 19 yards to the Konawaena 31-yard line. On the next snap, Daligdig’s deep post throw was snatched by Konawaena’s Aliimalu Tan at the Kapaa 8-yard line.

Burkart then stepped up, hauling in the punt on the Kapaa 39-yard line near the right sideline, then turning the corner on the left side, eluding Konawaena tacklers and racing to the pylon for the 61-yard TD.

The Wildcats drove to the Kapaa 20-yard line. Alani found Tan wide open in the end zone, but Tan dropped the pass. He made up for it with a first-down catch two plays later.

Konawaena drove to the 4-yard line but was flagged for aiding the ballcarrier (Hercules Nahale). On fourth-and-3 from the 4-yard line, Alani tried to run out of the pocket up the middle, but was stopped by multiple Warriors. The right side of the field was wide open.

The BIIF champions got another chance soon enough after Burkart had his shortest punt of the game, a 20-yarder downed at the Kapaa 35-yard line with 5:42 left. Nahale blasted through the middle for a 2-yard TD. Ige’s PAT kick tied it at 7 with 4:09 remaining.

Trent Wong Yuen, playing safety, intercepted a Daligdig pass at midfield with 2:29 left.

With Takaki out of the game due to injury, Konawaena converted on a fourth-and-1 on Jiohvani Soto Ramos’ 2-yard gain. Two plays later, Konawaena called its final time out with 2.5 seconds to play. Ige’s 44-yard field goal try fell just short as time expired, sending the game to overtime.

Kapaa reached the D-II state final four times before breaking through in 2021 with a 61-7 win over Kamehameha-Maui. The Warriors then moved up to D-I and lost to Waipahu, 49-41, in the opening round of the 2022 state tournament.

Last year, Kapaa edged Lahainaluna 29-28 before losing to Konawaena, 37-19, in the semifinal round. Both games were on the road.

Konawaena was bumped up from D-II to D-I in 2021, making room in the BIIF for former 8-man teams Ka‘u, Kohala and Pahoa. The Wildcats lost to top-seeded Lahainaluna in the semifinals, 30-7.

In 2022, the Wildcats won the BIIF D-I title again, then beat Aiea 27-24 in the semifinals. Konawaena then defeated Waipahu 38-28 for its first state championship.

In 2023, Konawaena beat Kapaa 37-19 in the semifinals, then met Waipahu again in the D-I final and lost, 53-28.

Waipahu is now in the OIA’s Open Division.