CJ Caraang | SL

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Sat, Sep 13, 2014 @ Nanakuli [ 5:30 pm ]

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Kaimuki

14

Nanakuli

21

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Kaimuki (2-6-0)	0	6	0	8	14
Nanakuli (10-1-0)	0	0	7	14	21

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Kale Kanehailua 203 yd 2 TD

Tevita Lino 131 yd 2 TD

Makaila Haina-Horswill 138 yd

Dathan Lloyd 90 yd

Keanu Momoa 90 yd

Nixon Siona 43 yd 2 TD

The 2014 prep football season saw the Nanakuli Golden Hawks build quite a reputation for themselves as a second-half team.

For good reason.

Nanakuli posted five come-from-behind victories that season, which was highlighted by the program's first league football championship in more than three decades and just second overall.

The first true test for the Golden Hawks came on the second weekend of September, when they played host to a 1-2 Kaimuki squad that was looking to avoid a third loss in as many weeks.

Kili Watson, who is entering his fourth season as head coach at Nanakuli, served under his older brother, Keala, as the team's offensive coordinator at the time.

It was Keala Watson's second season in charge of his alma mater following the retirement of former varsity coach Skippy Lopes. Watson previously was the JV coach before succeeding Lopes at the varsity level in 2013.

"That was definitely a special team," Kili Watson reflected.

"Those graduating seniors were our first players we coached when we took over the JV program, so those were the players that we had a strong connection with, so it kind of started the momentum to where we are at today; we had a strong relationship with those boys," he added.

The season got off to an inauspicious start as the opening weekend was washed out due to the dual threat of hurricanes Iselle and Julio to the state. Consequently, Nanakuli's non-league game against Kapaa that was to take place on the island of Kauai was canceled.

"You definitely want to face the best teams and Kapaa presented a formidable opponent, but unfortunately we didn't get to play that game," Watson reminisced.

But the lack of an out-of-conference tune-up seemed to do little to hinder the Golden Hawks, who opened up league play with lopsided routs in each of their first three Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II contests.

After a 39-6 thrashing of Kalaheo, Nanakuli beat up on Roosevelt and Waialua by scores of 49-13 and 43-14, respectively, to set-up their clash with Kaimuki. A win over the Bulldogs would keep the Golden Hawks in a three-way tie for first place with fellow-unbeatens Pearl City and Radford.

"I'm sure in the lead-up to the game there was a lot of us as coaches just reiterating the things that we normally go through: playing tough on defense, playing smart on offense," Watson said.

Watson remembers wanting to utilize senior running back Makaila Haina-Horswill to control the tempo of the game.

"We were kind of hoping to go in staying conservative, keep it on the ground and run the ball with Makaila, but Kaimuki was able to shut down our run in the first half and we were forced to kind of go through the air, but fortunately enough we had some weapons in our receiving corps," Watson said.

Quarterback Kale Kanehailua, who finished 15-of-28 passing for 203 yards with an interception, got the Golden Hawks on the board with his feet late in the third quarter.

The Kanehailua TD run was set-up by a defensive turnover when defensive back Nakanaela Kipi recovered a fumble by the Bulldogs' Billy Masima to halt a 12-play Kaimuki drive.

"That season, in almost every game, the offense kind of took some time to get going and build some momentum to get the ball rolling, but I do remember our defense coming out and playing lights out every game. The defense was full of studs that year and a play like that was huge because of the momentum change that it provided us," Watson said.

Watson recalled some non-verbal communication with his quarterback just before the scoring play on fourth-and-goal.

"I remember seeing that hole with Kale and I remember talking to him about it, so when he gave me a signal that the ends were biting on the previous play and that was one of those times where you kind of put the ball in his hands because he was calling for it," Watson said of Kanehailua, who ran for 10 TDs on the year.

Watson said his brother and offensive line coach, Keahi, remembered the play for a different reason.

"He remembered yelling at the o-line because I think we scored on a naked (bootleg) with Kale and our o-linemen were celebrating because of it, but he was yelling at them, ‘why are you celebrating? We couldn't run a zone play because you guys aren't blocking, so we had to run a naked, so why are you guys celebrating?,' " Watson chuckled. "He was getting on our guys to get their feet in the ground and get some good blocks."

But it was mostly through the air that Kanehailua and Nanakuli found success in the second half against Kaimuki.

Just a few minutes after his TD run, Kanehailua connected with wideout Brandon Sevellino on a 21-yard scoring strike to break a 7-all tie. It was Sevellino's only reception of the game. Clifford Cunningham's PAT gave the Golden Hawks a 14-7 lead with 10:18 left in the fourth quarter.

However, the Bulldogs cut the Nanakuli lead to 14-12 with 1:38 left to play on Tevita Lino's 5-yard TD pass to Nixon Siona. Furthermore, a personal foul against the Golden Hawks after the play moved the football to the 1-yard line for the try and Dathan Lloyd ran in the two-point conversion to even the score at 14.

"We had a couple of touchdowns called back earlier in the game, too," Watson chimed in. "I'm sure we hounded the kids the following week about penalties."

Nanakuli got the ball back with about 90 seconds remaining. Watson reflected upon the scenario.

"(Keahi Watson) remembered vividly what happened that (game-winning) series," Kili said. "We had the single side receiver, Clifford Cunningham, on our sideline and we were telling Kale to throw the hitch, but first down he didn't throw it, second down he didn't throw it and then (on third-and-10) he threw a prayer to Keanu (Momoa) to pick-up the first down. After we reset the downs, Kili said he remembers me yelling at him, ‘Kale, throw the hitch!' "

Kanehailua heeded his coach's directions and connected with Cunningham on a short comeback route against soft, zone coverage and the receiver turned the short reception into a 50-yard scoring play to put Nanakuli back ahead with 52.5 seconds left to play.

"I think the surprising part about it is that we had Makaila in the backfield and that was his year, I mean, I think just about every game he would rush for 150, 175 (yards), so it was reassuring that when they shut down the run, we were still able to utilize our weapons in the passing game," Watson said.

Momoa had game-highs of eight receptions for 90 yards, Cunningham posted three catches for 65 yards and Isain Wong added two grabs for 20 yards.

Haina-Horswill finished with 138 rushing yards on 16 carries and the Golden Hawks ran for 187 of their 390 yards of total offense.

Defensively, junior linebacker Randy Manewa led the way with a game-high 13 tackles.

"I think it definitely showed the team that we can do it because the previous year we did mediocre, so for the returning seniors I think that game was an eye-opener for them as to the level that we can play at, but I do remember a lot of games that year we had to rally back in the second half," Watson said.

The Golden Hawks went unbeaten in league play to finish with a perfect 8-0 mark. They won their first 10 games of the season despite having to erase second-half deficits in five of their final eight contests, including both OIA D2 tournament games (a 20-14 win over Kalani in the semifinals, followed by a thrilling 37-36 victory over Pearl City in the title game just six days later).

"We would yell at the boys to stop doing this to ourselves and that we had to come out stronger in the first half, but they liked giving the coaches heart attacks," Watson joked. "There was a lot of squeezing butt cheeks at the end of games, but I think that the boys really did build off of those big-game type situations. They like being the underdogs or something, they like fighting back from being overlooked."

The Golden Hawks, who saw their season end at 10-1 with a 42-20 loss at Kamehameha-Hawaii in the first round of the state tournament, were not overlooked in all-star voting.

Manewa was selected by league coaches as OIA D2 Defensive Player of the Year and was one of seven Nanakuli players named all-league first team. Keala Watson was tabbed as Coach of the Year.

In the All-Hawaii selections, Manewa earned first team recognition, as did Haina-Horswill — who averaged 9.0 yards per carry and totaled 1,433 rushing yards and 19 total TDs on the year — and offensive lineman Kalae Wong. Another offensive lineman, Lyle Tuiloma, was a second team selection.

"We remind the team that they kind of laid the foundation for all of the upcoming teams and so I'm glad that we've got players from that team returning to come help with practices — guys like Lyle Tuiloma, Randy Manewa, Isain Wong — just having them around the team is a great reminder of what they accomplished and as coaches we get a chance to reflect on the time we had with them and remind ourselves why we do what we do and why we love the sport," Watson said.

Watson's love for football — as he expects it is with most coaches — is perhaps evident now more than ever before.

"It's probably the same amongst all of us, we miss the sport, we miss building the rapport with the kids, so it's goes beyond the sport. I miss having those conversations and communicating with and mentoring the boys, but my view (on the COVID-19 pandemic) is that we want to be real cautious about it," Watson said. "We want to be sure that our health and safety comes first as a priority and as much as we'd love to return back on the field, we want to make sure that we're doing it the right way."