KEALAKEKUA, Hawaii >> The next time Konawaena’s Brad Uemoto coaches a game at Julian Yates Field, his team will be playing on turf instead of grass.
“I’m going to take a huge piece of it home with me,” he said, patting the grass with his feet after the Wildcats earned one of the biggest wins in school history — a 27-24 come-from-behind victory over Aiea in the Division I semifinals of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA State Football Championships on Saturday night
Nakoa Ige gave Konawaena (10-1) its only lead on the game’s final play when he booted a 20-yard field goal as time expired to set off a wild celebration on the slopes of Mauna Loa.
“I’m so proud of our kids and their resiliency,” Uemoto said. “Underneath it all we knew we were outmatched physically. We didn’t want to talk about it. They’re a big, physical team. Our kids dug deep and did what they had to do.”
Aiea turned the ball over over five times, including twice in the fourth quarter that resulted in Konawaena’s final 10 points that allowed it to earn its first victory in Division I in states and advance to play Waipahu in the final.
“We worked all season and figured out what to do and we finished strong tonight,” said sophomore Zedikaiah Anahu-Ambrosio, who had 12 receptions for 149 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-tying score on a slant from quarterback Keoki Alani with 5:30 remaining.
Na Alii got the ball back and drove the ball near midfield when Eli Uemura popped the ball free from running back Kaimana Lale-Saole. It was recovered by Keawe Navas Loa at the Aiea 46 with 2:40 remaining.
Running back Kawelu Kaiawe, who rushed for 123 yards on 26 carries, ran it six times to get the ball to the 3 to set up Ige’s winning kick.
“Before this game I was thinking to myself it was going to come down to a field goal and I just tried to take my breaths and block out everything else,” Ige said. “After the kick I just saw people running toward me yelling and crying. It felt really good.”
Despite giving up a significant size advantage, Konawaena outgunned Aiea 379 to 285 in total yards and even outrushed Na Alii 160 to 139.
Uemura and Anthony Torres each had three tackles for loss for the Wildcats, who finished with 13 in the game.
Lale-Saole led Aiea with 129 yards on 24 carries, but quarterback Ezekiel Olie finished 19-for-31 for 146 yards with three interceptions.
“It’s hard. We only had two starting linemen. If you look at it, a lot of injuries, and when you get to the championship, you’ve got to stay healthy,” Aiea coach Wendell Say said. “(Kona) is good, man. This team has got some athletes.”
Alani, who threw 41 touchdown passes in eight regular-season game in the BIIF, finished 21-for-38 for 219 yards and two touchdowns with two picks against Aiea (9-4).
“We kind of wore down their front a little bit,” Uemoto said. “We kept playing with that deficit throughout, and like I said, I can’t say enough about their resiliency.”
Aiea marched right down the field on its opening drive, needing just seven plays to go 66 yards with Olie hitting Geronimo Ulgaran for a 16-yard catch-and-run TD for the early lead.
After the teams traded interceptions on consecutive plays by Konawaena’s AJ Blanco and Aiea’s Keoki Stephens, Na Alii pushed the lead to 10-0 on Bryson Boyea Quiton’s 37-yard field goal.
Kaiawe’s 40-yard TD run made it 10-7 after the opening 12 minutes.
The Wildcats were able to move the ball but had nothing to show for it until going for a fourth-and-1 at the Aiea 40 inside the final minute of the first quarter.
Na Alii kept the Wildcats in the game with a bunch of mistakes in a sloppy second quarter.
Aiea tried a fake punt run on fourth-and-6 on its own 41 that went nowhere. Konawaena couldn’t capitalize, as Alani was intercepted by Aizik Mahuka inside the red zone, but Wildcats senior Ro’onui Satta Ellis got it back for the home team when he skied for an interception on a deep ball down the middle intended for Jayden Chanel for Aiea’s second turnover of the half.
Ezra Nahoopii-Makakona took advantage of a short field following a Konawaena punt and scored on a 6-yard TD to push the Na Alii lead back to double digits at 17-7.
Mistakes again derailed Na Alii as Alani on fourth-and-3 found Anahu-Ambrosio, who was able to break multiple tackles and turn it into a 45-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 17-14.
Senior linebacker Anthony Torres, who had three tackles for loss in the first half, forced an Olie fumble on a hit from behind that was recovered by Konawaena.
Ige kicked a 33-yard field goal to tie it at halftime.
Aiea forced a three-and-out to start the second half and scored when Eric Saau scooped up a punt blocked by Chanel and returned it for a TD.
Neither team scored over the next 17 minutes of game time.
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KONAWAENA 27, AIEA 24
At Konawaena
Aiea (9-4) 10 7 7 0 — 24
Konawaena (10-1) 7 10 0 10 — 27
Aiea—Geronimo Ulgaran 16 pass from Ezekiel Olie (Bryson Boyea Quiton kick)
Aiea—FG Boyea Quiton 37
Kona—Kawelu Kaiawe 40 run (Nakoa Ige kick)
Aiea—Ezra Nahoopii-Mak 6 run (Boyea Quiton kick)
Kona—Zedekiah Anahu-Ambrosio 45 pass from Keoki Alani (Ige kick)
Kona—FG Ige 33
Aiea—Eric Saau 11 run (Boyea Quiton kick)
Kona—Z. Anahu-Ambrosio 7 pass from Alani (Ige kick)
Kona—FG Ige 20
RUSHING—Aiea: Kamaka Lale-Saole 24-129, Saau 1-11, Nahoopii-Mak 1-6, AJ Letua 2-3, Jayden Chanel 1-(minus 1), TEAM 1-(minus 4), Olie 3-(minus 5). Konawaena: Kaiawe 26-123, Anahu-Ambros 4-31, Alani 11-5, Armenio Blanco 1-1, Kainalu Villanueva 1-0.
PASSING—Aiea: Olie 19-31-3-146. Konawaena: Alani 21-38-2-219.
RECEIVING—Aiea: Ulgaran 7-45, Chanel 4-40, Titan Figueroa 4-26, Lale-Saole 2-5, Hiki Kim Choy-Keb-Ah Lo 1-24, Noah Spencer 1-6. Konawaena: Z. Anahu-Ambrosio 12-149, Jacob Ah Mook Sang 3-20, Landon Daquel-Shimabukuro 2-25, Abraham Ogata 2-15, Torrance Satta-Ellis 2-10.
