Helmets flew as the Hawaii Prep Academy defensive unit stopped Waipahu's Krypton Taito in last night's 41-16 Ka Makani victory.
Ka Makani march
to victory
Hawaii Prep's army invaded Oahu last night.
An undersized Ka Makani squad roughed up Waipahu 41-16 in the first round of the First Hawaiian Bank State Football Championships at Radford High School.
"Soldiers!" running back Michael Kopra shouted in the victory huddle. "Soldiers!" the rest of the players shouted back.
The victory was the first for a Big Island team in the state tournament after six previous tries, including first-round losses by Hawaii Prep the past two seasons.
Ka Makani (11-2) forced four first-half turnovers en route to a 27-8 halftime lead and earned a spot in the Division II semifinals against Iolani (8-2) at Kunuiakea Field next Saturday.
The impending game against the Raiders thrills Hawaii Prep assistant coach Bern Brostek, an Iolani alumnus and former Los Angeles Rams center, who acts as the team's gravelly voiced drill sergeant.
It sounds as if Brostek won't have a voice left after shouting instructions to his offensive linemen all night.
"No, my voice is in shape from working it out all season," Brostek said. "I have to yell to the linemen, because they're always in the game (going two ways). This is awesome. The kids are playing way above their heads. We're giant-killers, and I hope we can give Iolani a good game."
Senior running back Michael Kopra ran through the Marauders (7-4) for 201 yards and five touchdowns on 32 carries. He kicked five extra points, handled the kickoff duties, had a punt for 55 yards and recovered a fumble on defense.
"We played as a team and that's why we won," said a sweat-soaked Kopra, who led Hawaii Prep to a 10-0 Big Island Interscholastic Federation mark -- the first team to go undefeated in the league since 1966. "We made history, that's pretty cool. It's an amazing feeling, really."
Kopra scored on runs of 9, 3 and 5 yards in the first half and added TD runs of 4 and 3 yards in the second half.
Despite all of Waipahu's first-half mistakes, the Marauders were still within striking distance at 27-16 with 9:54 left in the third quarter. Wide receiver Ryan Winfree caught an Austen Benito pass and escaped a handful of tacklers for a 61-yard TD romp before Krypton Taito ran home the 2-point conversion.
"We got dominated, especially in the beginning," Waipahu coach Sean Saturnio said. "We fell in a hole too early. Still, we made our trademark comeback, but tonight it wasn't meant to be."
Overall, Ka Makani handily won the turnover war 5-1.
Sensing the Marauders were getting too close for comfort, Hawaii Prep beat them back with two long touchdown drives. Kopra's recovery of a fumble caused by Daniel Te'o-Nesheim set up the second one with 7:15 remaining to put the game out of reach.
Brostek, however, wanted to see his troops on the line make one more statement when Ka Makani got the ball back with 6:09 left.
"OK, I want a killer 6-minute drive," Brostek boomed.
And that's what he got as Kopra and Zach Say combined for three third-down conversions to keep the chains and clock moving and enable quarterback Billy Case III to take a knee on the final play.
Say was another potent offensive weapon for Hawaii Prep. He rushed for 52 yards and caught two passes for 52 yards, including a 25-yard TD from Case in the first half. In addition, Say's 74-yard punt return led to the team's third TD late in the first quarter.
"All year long, the kids played like this, level and steady," Ka Makani head coach Tom Goodspeed said. "Unflappable is the best word that fits, because they don't get down and just keep going, like the Energizer bunny."
Kauai 49, Pac-Three 7: The Red Raiders scored five times in the first quarter to cruise to a victory over the Titans.
Quarterback Kekoa Crowell threw four touchdowns in the first, including a 51-yard pass to Kevin Cadiente, and ran in one from 3 yards out.
Crowell finished with 181 yards on 7-for-11 passing. He was relieved by Tron Rule, who completed 11 of 19 passes for 97 yards.
