Q&A
Vikings, Wildcats to face off Friday night




Arguably the two best football teams in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation will face off this weekend.

Reigning four-time Division I league champion Hilo will make the cross-island trek to play Konawaena, the two-time D2 champion in a highly-anticipated BIIF game Friday night.

The Vikings (4-0 overall, 3-0 league) have scored at least 41 points in every game this year, including a season-high 73 in a 67-point win at Hawaii Prep to open league play on Sept. 26. Since then, they posted back-to-back shutouts over Honokaa (41-0) and Waiakea (54-0).

Senior running back Kahale Huddleston has been a highlight reel, rushing for 548 yards and 12 touchdowns on the year — both state-high marks.

Meanwhile, the Wildcats (3-2, 3-0) have rebounded since an 0-2 start with three straight wins. Since dropping non-league decisions to Kapaa (33-13) and Saint Francis (39-20), they have posted blow out victories over Kealakehe (40-16), Keaau (50-0) and Honokaa (40-7).

Senior quarterback Austin Ewing has thrown for 1,127 yards and 14 touchdowns — which is tied for the most in the state — and just four interceptions.

We caught up with the coaches of both teams a few days before they face off in Kealakekua Friday night.


ScoringLive: Describe your team's current situation in one word.

Kaeo Drummondo, Hilo coach: "Progressing. I think right now what we are is just a work in progress still. We review the film every week and I think you're only as good as your last game you played, and you put the film on and we're very much still a work in progress right now. We're still making so many mistakes and getting in our own way a lot — and it's not necessarily a bad thing — but we can't keep making the same mistakes over and over. So much of it is fundamentals that we can get better at. The film shows we can get better at blocking, we can get better at tackling, we can get better at getting off blocks and then offensively not turning the football over and just not making as many negative plays as we have been making. We're at the half-way point (of the season) pretty much, so we don't really want to be peaking right now, but at the same time we don't want to keep making the same mistakes. We've got to learn from our mistakes and keep progressing and improving."

Brad Uemoto, Konawaena coach: "Scratching. I think we're scratching the surface of finding out what kind of team we really are and I think this Hilo game is a measuring stick — and not even in terms of the outcome, —but it's going to be what our performance is like and if we can stick in there and battle and not quit and play good football against a good opponent. It's going to show what we're capable of in terms of our league and down the season, and if we're good enough to win the league, how we could compete at the state level. On the flip side, if our performance lacks in any area, it's a good opportunity once again for us to readjust our issues and try to move on from that and try to become better."


ScoringLive: What, or who, has been the heart of your team?

Drummondo: "That's a tough one. From the outside of the program looking in, everybody knows about Kahale Huddleston at this point. He's been great for us, not just his production but the way that he works making sure he's on time for lifts, giving effort during our runs and the productivity and the success that he has is just a byproduct of that, but it's also a byproduct of the other guys doing their jobs, so I'm not sure. I can't pinpoint one person or one unit that has been the heart of this team. I think a lot of the success on the field is a byproduct of everybody chipping in and doing their job and doing it when they're supposed to do it."

Uemoto: "That would be … you know what, I'm going to say Chauncey Mariani-Louis. I think Chauncey has sort of come out of nowhere. He was kind of a defensive player for us last year and since the injury to Dominic Delzcruz, he's taken over the full-time running back position for us and he's done a tremendous job as a pass-catching back, as well as rushing for us. I just feel like his attitude and his work ethic every day at practice, not only is translating to the field, but I think is definitely rubbing off on a lot on his teammates and I'm just really proud of how far he has come this season."


ScoringLive: Which game this season has proved to be most beneficial to your team?

Drummondo: "Honestly, at this point so far it's hard to tell. Maybe from a psyche standpoint the Iolani game for our kids. Just the fact coming up winless so many times against Honolulu schools and finally winning proved to them that they can prepare all season, all summer and get on the game and execute against a quality program and quality kids and get back on the plane with that W, so if it's any game at this point, it's that Iolani game just for psyche and mental buildup for the rest of the season."

Uemoto: "I think it was the Saint Francis game. I think we weren't at full strength in terms of academic probation players and we had some injuries, and so we got to see a lot of players come in and try to fill those roles and I think they did a pretty good job in doing that. We battled for a bit in that game and we found out a lot about ourselves and I think it kind of showed what our potential could be, but it also surfaced a lot of issues that we had to correct going into our season and just being able to address the things that we needed to fix going into the season was a big thing for us. It created some kind of urgency for us and I think it definitely translated into the following week against Kealakehe."


ScoringLive: What's your take on this week's opponent?

Drummondo: "Same Kona team, same Kona program. They still got Austin Ewing back there, making a lot of things happen for that team like he has been for the last three, four years. They have athletic playmakers at the wide receiver positions, at the running back position. They're a well-coached program, they operate their system — just like in year past, they do what they do and they do it well. I think Peter (Ewing) and Brad do a great job with their offense. This year they added (former Kealakehe coach) Sam Papalii and he's very experienced and he's been coaching up the defense. They look aggressive like a Kona defensee does and they get after you. Looking at the film, it looks like the same Kona teams they typically have out there. They're efficient in what they do, which is great for us because it forces us to execute. We have to prepare well this week."

Uemoto: "I think Hilo is a very talented team on both sides of the ball. In the past a lot of people focused on their defense. Obviously this year they have a dynamic offense with an exceptional playmaker in Kahale Huddleston, so your focus on Hilo High has to be on both sides of the ball now and it's tough to game plan for Huddleston obviously, because you just can't prepare for speed. Defensively, they're so talented, yet physical and they just create a lot of problems for you and we just hope that we can sort of develop some sort of rhythm to keep drives going against them and hopefully have opportunities to kind of wear them down a little bit, but it's going to be a really big task."


ScoringLive: Being that your teams are in different divisions, how much does winning Friday's game matter?

Drummondo: "To be honest with you, from a preparation standpoint we really approach every game the same way. As a staff we don't differentiate between D1 and D2; It's the next opponent that is up. They present a scheme, they present a certain group of personnel, so we don't really talk about the league and the separation between 1 and 2. They're on the schedule, they're the next opponent up. We need to play the scheme, we need to know the personnel and we need to know what to do to execute. At the end of the week the goal is to be 1-0. That's our mindset every week."

Uemoto: "I think, what I tell the players, is that the Hilo game is more about pride than anything else. I feel like being in different divisions and especially this year with the level that they're playing at, I kind of look at the game as a win-win for us, just because if we can somehow hang in there and beat them it would be a really good feat for us. On the flip side, if we lose the game it's almost as if nobody expects us to win anyway, so we're just going into it with nothing to lose, let the chips fall and line up and play football. I also told them that this game prepares us for the bigger games down the road as well, so playing a quality opponent and being able to play four quarters where every play and every series is magnified, it definitely prepares us for the tougher opponents down the stretch."


ScoringLive: Is there a specific matchup within the game that you feel will be especially important Friday night?

Drummondo: "For us, like any other game, we need to be balanced on offense. We need to be able to run the football and let the run game open up our pass game. This season we're going to be dependent on our o-line to get a push on the line of scrimmage and open up some holes for Kahale and our other backs, and then we need to also be able to have that o-line protect our quarterbacks so that we can be balanced on offense and not be one dimensional, which allows a defense to key on just one thing. Defensively, we've got to limit big plays. Austin does a great job of keeping plays alive with his legs. He causes breakdowns in the secondary and that's a testament to his legs and his skills. We've got to limit those things so we can maximize our chances of being successful Friday night."

Uemoto: "No. I kind of feel like it's basically Huddleston against our entire defense. There's not one particular defensive player that I could say will match up with him. It's going to be a collective effort stopping him. Offensively, the irony with Hilo is there's not one standout player that it's like we can't run to that side, or we can't throw to that side — they're a good group — so we just have to find our opportunities Friday night and see what areas we can take advantage of."


Kickoff between the Vikings and Wildcats is scheduled for approximately 7 p.m. at Julian T. Yates Field.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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