Resilient Hurricanes Charge Ahead In Face Of Adversity
By Jack Danilewicz
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Josh Hose and Mason Koa. Photo by ReplayImages
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Despite enduring a season with its share of drastic highs and lows, one characteristic of the 2006 Kapolei football team has never wavered - its ability to respond to adversity.
Indeed, upon further review, the Hurricanes’ riveting 17-13 win over Oahu Interscholastic Association Western Division regular-season champion Waianae on Oct. 13 did more than punch Kapolei’s ticket for entry into the post-season. The game also neatly summarized the collective resolve Hurricanes coach Darren Hernandez has always sought from his players.
“The kids were on the brink of calling it a season,“said Hernandez, whose team had lost to Leilehua and Radford in successive weeks. “We had hit rock bottom. To have Radford, which was 0-4 coming in, handle us on our home field the way they did really took the wind out of our sails. It was the first time Kapolei had ever lost a (regular-season) home game.
“We were really pleased with our senior leadership (the following week),“he added.“They just decided that they weren’t going to go out that way - being the first Kapolei team to miss the playoffs. I told them that they had a chance to make history, but that it would be a negative history and they didn’t want that dubious distinction. They had a tremendous week of practice, and we were able to put it all together. They showed a lot of resiliency.”
With Waianae having already clinched the West crown after an impressive five-game win streak, Hernandez thought the Hurricanes would need to play a near-perfect game to give themselves a chance to win in the fourth quarter. On that note, his team came through by committing only one penalty (for five yards), while going the full 48 minutes without a turnover.
Conversely, the Kapolei defense produced three turnovers. As Kapolei opened the post-season with a televised game against Kailua last Saturday night, hoping to extend its season with a win, defense remained a focal point.
“I have to hand it to our defense,” Hernandez said. “They’ve been much-maligned. They’d given up a lot of yardage, and we’d had some missed tackles at times. Our front seven was new when the season started, and we have a couple of 10th-graders playing there, so it’s taken us this long technique-wise (to get up to speed). Coming up with three turnovers against Waianae was huge for our guys.”
Offensively, the Hurricanes have shown the ability to move the ball throughout the season, even making a quarterback change after a pre-season that saw Mason Koa step in behind center.
Koa has more than warmed up to the task, completing 57 percent of his passes for 660 yards and five scores entering last weekend. He’s also rushed for 477 yards, averaging 5.7 yards per carry. Offensively, Kapolei is averaging 266.7 yards per outing as a unit.
“He’s the only quarterback in the state to rush and pass for over 100 yards in a game this season, and he’s done it a few times,“said Hernandez of Santiago.
All-around standout Aaron Santiago, who began the season at quarterback, has missed the last few games with a broken bone in his ankle. His status was day-to-day heading into last Saturday’s game with Kailua. Santiago’s ability to turn a short gain into a huge play has been missed, according to Hernandez.
“Hopefully, he’ll give us a lift if he can play,” Hernandez said of Santiago.
As was the case the previous week, Hernandez was pleased with Kapolei’s work ethic in practice last week. With the Kailua encounter having been moved to a Saturday for television,“it meant an extra day of practice and a chance to get in some extra work,“Hernandez said, adding that the post-season is a “new season.”
“I’ve tried to make sure they understand that even though it was a great win over Waianae, it’s over,” he continued.
“Good or bad, our regular season is forgotten now.We’ll be judged not by what we did last week, but by what we do this week.”
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