Konawaena quarterback Lii Karratti makes a pass attempt in a interleague contest against Iolani. ScoringLive file photo

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Nanakuli quarterback Chazz Troutman tries to escape the Radford pass rush in the OIA White division title game. ScoringLive file photo

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In a season of firsts, the Nanakuli football team would like nothing more than to reach yet another new level this weekend.

The surprising Golden Hawks finished as runners-up in the Oahu Interscholastic Association White Conference, earning them their first state tournament berth and a trip to the Big Island, but they are hopeful for a return trip to Aloha Stadium next weekend.

"So far, this season has been great. This is ground that we've never been to," Nanakuli coach Skippy Lopes said. "The players are kind of down, because they wanted to win the OIA, but this is a second part of the season, where we're all 0-0 and going forward."

Nanakuli (6-4), which lost 21-6 to Radford in Friday's OIA White title game, visits Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion Konawaena in a first-round game of the First Hawaiian Bank/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II State Championships Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Wildcats' Julian Yates Field.

Konawaena (9-4) is looking for its own breakthrough of sorts. The Wildcats are 0-3 all-time in the state tournament and have yet to reach the semifinal round.
 
"You know, the Big Island doesn't have a great history of winning after winning the BIIF and in order to do something after that, we would have to overcome the mystique of playing an off-island team and be able to play them tough and I think these kids are game to do that," Wildcats coach Cliff Walters said. "We just hope that their attitudes are such that they're not just satisfied with winning the BIIF, they want to go a little further."

The winner of the game will play tournament no. 2 seed Lahainaluna (8-1) in a semifinal game at Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium next Saturday.

Nanakuli, whose four losses have come against Kalaheo, Kaiser and Radford (twice), barely qualified for its own league tournament. The Golden Hawks beat a winless Waialua squad in the final week of the regular season to earn the fourth - and final - spot in the OIA White Tournament.

Despite having drawn top-seeded Kaiser in the semifinal round, Nanakuli rallied from a 21-0 deficit with four second-half touchdowns to pull off the stunning upset. The following week, the Golden Hawks took a 6-0 lead in the title game, but allowed 21 unanswered points by Radford in failing to win their first OIA crown since 1983.

The catalyst for Nanakuli's success all season has been junior quarterback/defensive back Chazz Troutman. The 5-foot-9, 150-pound Troutman doubles as the trigger-man on the Golden Hawks' option offense and is the last line of defense at safety on the other side of the ball. Whatsmore, he returns kickoffs and punts on special teams.

"He's my man that don't come off the field," Lopes said of Troutman, who has passed for 612 yards and rushed for 522 more.

Troutman has lots of help at the skill positions in running back Brandon Felisi (457 rush yards) and 6-foot-4 receivers Joseph Shelton - who doubles as the punter - and Lansen Liki.

Lopes admitted he knew "nothing" about the Wildcats, but remained confident.

"If you prepare your team, it shouldn't matter who they play. They should be prepared for whatever they bring out on offense or defense," Lopes said. "I'm going to try and find out what they do, but we're going to do the same thing we've been doing these last two weeks against Kaiser and Radford."

Lopes said stopping key rushing attempts will prove pivotal the rest of the way.

"Defensively, if we stop the run, we'll be all right," Lopes said. "Against Radford, that's what killed us; Even though they didn't gain big yardage on their running plays, they made it when it counted."

Konawaena, however, has thrown the ball with great success thus far this season. The Wildcats, winners of their last nine, are led offensively by quarterback Kahoalii Karratti (2,392 pass yards, 36 pass TDs, 3 INTs) and receivers Domonic Morris (685 receiving yards, 12 TDs) and Kenan Gaspar (576 receiving yards, 8 TDs). Running back John Kamoku (744 rush yards, 18 TDs) averages an astounding 12 yards per carry and leads the team in scoring (121 points).

Walters point to linebackers Mikey Rabara and Evyn Yamaguchi as his big impact players on defense.

"We have a great linebacking corps and that's our strength," Walters said. "The problem is on the Big Island, everybody in Division II passes - in Division I they all seem to run - so we've basically seen pretty much pass all year, which is difficult when we go against a team that runs."

The Wildcats have only lost one game on the gridiron this season: a 43-40 season-opening loss to Iolani on Oahu back on Aug. 11. However, they were forced to forfeit each of their next three games - all victories - due to the use of an ineligible player.

"We've had an up and down season, to say the least," Walters said. "Our last two games, we've narrowly won those games and we've got two real good opponents over there who are making it really tough on us and we've just happy to be able to represent the Big Island."

Walters said while taking on a team from Oahu is a bit concerning, playing in front of a home crowd should help ease some nerves.

"We're a small team, we're a little bit worried about playing an Oahu team first because of size and our size is quite small," Walters said. "We're a small school of 600 and we're a rural community, but it's a lot more comfortable to play at home for any team.

"Because our kids don't get off the island very much, it's obviously more comfortable playing at home and our field has a good history," Walters said. "We have good fans, really strong fan support, and that's the thing I like about playing at home."

The fact that he and his players know little about the Golden Hawks worries Walters very little, if at all.

"The problem we have for us is trying to win the BIIF is a difficult enough task not to have to worry about someone else at this point, but they only get 11 guys on the field - same as us - they lace their shoes up one at a time - same as us," Walters said. "Our boys are game and they're willing to fight to whatever they have. They're a little bit estranged to this situation, but they're happy to be there."

The game will be the second state tournament contest in as many days on the West side of the Big Island. In a Division I first-round game Friday night, Farrington plays at Kealakehe - just about 13 miles North of the Konawaena campus - along the Kona coastline.

"It's going to be awesome to have two games back-to-back at home," Walters said. "We get to watch a lot of football, which is great for the Pop Warner programs and the development of those programs. It's two Oahu teams coming over and that's really a big deal to the Big Island kids."