There are many individuals I could write about in the first paragraph of this story, which is going to be a kind of wrap-up of the Kapaa Warriors’ amazing football season.
Kapaa, lit up by the stadium lights, are Kauai trailblazers, the first football state champions from the Garden Isle.
Ahh, but that was a little bit of a trick. We’re already in the second paragraph and the first person I choose to mention is Dennis Fujimoto. He’s known as the Happy Camper on Kauai. That’s the name of his column in The Garden Island newspaper. He’s been an indispensable staffer for a long, long time, first as a photographer and then adding more and more writing duties as the years have gone by.
Why mention Dennis first? Well, he’s been shooting KIF football for a long, long time. That “indespensable” term is not made up, either. The prevailing wisdom in this world is that everybody is replaceable. Well, it’s usually true. Even Dennis. But I can tell you from first-hand knowledge that what you’re going to get in his place will never match up.
Who’s going to go to the bon dances and the government proclamations, to ALL the youth sports from Pop Warner to gymnastics, to Little League, to all the KIF sports from football to basketball to bowling and more, to the airport to greet the youth teams coming in after winning national or regional championships. Who’a going to go to the Terno Balls, Miss Kauai pageants, elections. I could go on and on.
And I will go on just a little bit more about Dennis. On Dec. 22, the day the Kapaa Warriors beat Hawaii Preparatory Academy 51-0 in the Division II state semifinals, Dennis was not at the game on Oahu at Farrington’s Skippa Diaz Stadium.
Instead, he took a picture at Walmart in Lihue, where more than 50 keiki were treated to a holiday shopping spree. They could get whatever they wanted, up to $125. The kids hailed from five Kauai Pop Warner Associations, the Lilioukalani Trust, Kamehameha Schools and other agencies catering to social services. It was put together by Teddy Arroyo, a Kauai High football assistant coach and a president of the Kauai Pop Warner Association.
And then, when Kapaa captured the island’s first state championship on Dec. 30 — 61-7 in torrential rains against Kamehameha-Maui, also at Farrington — Dennis again did not make the trip.
Here’s how he put it in an email to me that I read the next day: “While you’re fighting the elements with coach Michael Tresler and the Kapaa Warriors, I’m stuck here with a different kind of line, a last-minute food distribution made possible by a late donation of more than 150 hot meals to the King’s Chapel in Hanamaulu, and Rizal Day (a national holiday in the Philippines) that not too many people attended because of the weather.”
And later on, toward the end of the email, he wrote: “Covering that game would have been the ultimate holiday gift.”
OK, so the man just can’t do enough for the community, as I mentioned just a bit earlier.
And the next day, Dennis also wrote the football championship game story for the paper based on his interview with Tresler and stats provided by the Hawaii High School Athletic Association, and he used photos submitted by Manny Henriques, a Kapaa guy who was at the game.
Small newspapers are almost always short-staffed and the Garden Island is no exception. I know. I worked there with Dennis from 1989 through 2000.
“It was me, the editor (and one other person) trying to put the paper out,” Dennis added about later that championship night. “So definitely not going … to Farrington. ”
I would have loved it if Dennis had been there at the game, too, seeing him and his big-gun camera at such a big moment in Kauai history, getting drenched on the sidelines together.
But it was not to be.
Watch Kapaa’s state championship victory celebration and the hoisting of the koa trophy in the two videos below:
Tommy Cox Wearing The Ol’ Green Instead Of The Red
One Kauai person of note was definitely at that game — Tommy John Cox, who was a red-clad Kauai High standout first baseman in baseball and offensive lineman in football in the 1990s.
Nowadays, Cox is the principal at Kapaa, where the school’s main official color is green. Bedrock Sports caught up with him for his thoughts on the championship.
“This is huge, not only for the Kapaa community, which has been waiting for this, but I think for the island as a whole and it’s so good to bring one home,” Cox said.
And about the offensive linemen that were instrumental in the team gaining 477 rushing yards, he added, “There’s some big boys and they’ve been working hard all season. They put in the work and it’s paying off in the postseason. We’re all proud of them for what they’ve been able to do.”
What a huge offensive line it is, too: tackles Kawika Rogers (6-foot-6, 300 pounds) and Santana Hernandez-Martinez (6-1, 220), guards Koa Kanakaole (6-4, 310) and Lono Aki (6-5, 420), and center Maximus Merseberg (6-0, 300).
Watch that offensive line push the pile in the video below:
In high school, Cox’s playing weight was 280, but he beefed up to 330 while playing at Dana College in Nebraska.
Asked if he thought Kapaa could or should move up to Division I since the Warriors won the D-II state title so handily, Cox said, “We’ll see. I think we’ve got to keep being competitive at the D-II level and only time can tell. That would be a a good goal for us to play at that level.”
Cox also said it was likely that the KIF will at least discuss the possibility of moving up in classification.
The Efferevescent Dan Ahuna Is One Of Mike Tresler’s Assistants
An added bonus for Kapaa: Dan Ahuna is one of Tresler’s assistants, although I believe it is in an unofficial capacity.
In the 1990s, Ahuna starred for the Kauai Cowboys semi-pro team. What a player! He was the go-to wide receiver. Not only did he find open space and seams, he also was pretty much unbeatable on contested balls, always coming down with it in a crowd or leaping high above a defender to haul in passes.
Ahuna played running back for the University of Hawaii in 1988 and ’89, and in that last season caught 25 passes for 263 yards and two TDs and rushed 18 times for 164 yards and two more TDs.
Nowadays, Ahuna is an Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee for Kauai and Niihau.
Amazingly, Ahuna was out of college when he played for the Hawaii Pono’i All-Stars in the 1994 Hula Bowl collegiate All-Star game against a team of college All-Stars at Aloha Stadium — and he caught a 15-yard TD pass from another former UH player, Garrett Gabriel.
I remember watching that game on national TV while sitting at Rob’s Good Times Grill in Lihue, thinking, “Wow, Dan Ahuna, a Kauai semi-pro player is IN the Hula Bowl.”
Ahuna almost always has a smile on his face and he came up and hugged me after Kapaa’s state championship victory as I muttered, “Congratulations.”
A little later, I said, “I want to take a picture of the offensive line and he immediately started gaterhing the big boys for me, calling out: “Offensive line!”
And sure enough, I got the shot. (Boy, I wish Dennis was there to take it).
Ahuna also said something that I will always remember. In the midst of the celebration while gathering those offensive linemen, he asked the players, “Do you know who this is?”
But this was no time for introductions, and I laughed inside that he would say something like that, but it really was a great tribute. After all, I was a “Kauai” guy, covering KIF and semi-pro football throughout the 1990s, and so Ahuna was recognizing me for that.
I was there at Aloha Stadium (after moving to Oahu to take a job at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin) in the early days of the state tournament, rooting on whatever Kauai team came across the ocean to make an appearance.
In 2001, Waimea put in a particularly strong effort, dropping a 21-7 decision to Kahuku in the Division I semifinals.
Within the last 10 years, I’ve flown to the Garden Island for a handful of state football games at Vidinha Stadium, where the Kauai team usually won. As an unbiased reporter, I wasn’t rooting, but wishing both teams well. Haha, especially the Kauai team.
While making those trips, I would usually run into the die-hard Kauai sports people like: Tommy Rita, the mastermind behind a lot of Waimea football success back in the day; Jon Kobayashi, the former highly successful Waimea football coach who is now the KIF football coordinator; and Gordon Muramaru, a former Kapaa High baseball coach who was a member of the 1980 UH baseball team that made it all the way to the College World Series championship game.
One year, Marisa Bonilla, a former Kauai High athlete and UH football ball girl, was at the front gate collecting tickets. She is part of a huge sports family on the Garden Isle.
All of these people and many, many more, I’m sure, are cherishing this title Kapaa won for the whole island.
Although I’ve lived on Oahu for 21 years, Kauai — where I lived for 10 years — will always hold a special place in my heart. It’s where I met my wife. Also, my brother, who moved there in 1983, six years before me, lives there with his wife. And his daughter, now living in San Francisco, is a Kapaa High graduate.
And so yes, this was a very memorable victory for me, too.
Kapaa Went A Super Long Time Without A KIF Championship
In the years I was on Kauai, Kapaa took the KIF title only in 1989. In 1990, Waimea reclaimed the title it had won in 1988, and then Kauai High broke through in 1991. But then it was ALL WAIMEA from 1992 through 2002.
Kapaa’s Warriors didn’t win the league championship again until 2011, a span of 22 years between titles.
Here are just a few comments from fans taken from various places on Facebook:
>> “So Proud of The Kapaa Warriors Football Team. I am Blessed To have seen My Sons Grandsons and now My Great Grandson Playing as Warriors.” — Sweetie Lopez
>> “I think anyone who went through all those long football years is smiling today.” — Rita De Silva (Great-grandmother of Cijay Baltazar, a sophomore center for the Warriors, and a staunch Kapaa supporter whose sons, grandsons and nephews also played at the school)
>> “I’ve been waiting 60 years for this. I remember when we were in high school and we almost always got third place in the Kauai league.” — Glenn Ching
>> “I really cheered Kapaa from my heart through high school! I believed in our team! I remember one night when I was going to drive to Isenberg Field in Lihue and my dad said to me, “Sally. Why do you keep cheering on a team that never wins?” — Sally Morgan Brecht
And this win was super sweet for Henriques, too. His dad, Eugene Henriques, was the Kapaa athletic director from the 1960s through the mid-1980s.
“I go way back,” Henriques told Bedrock Sports. “Back when my father was AD, it was a part-time job with very little pay. He was also a business teacher for a very long time. I think Kapaa started playing football in 1944 and did not win a KIF championship until 1976. We were known as the doormat of the league for a long, long time. There was always good-sized athletes, but we did not have enough cohesiveness as a team to succeed.”
Henriques contributes to The Countdown, a Facebook page focusing on Kauai sports.
One of the offensive linemen mentioned previously, Kawika Rogers, and some of his classmates made it their goal to be the first state champions from Kauai
“This means the world to us,” he said. “I’ve been playing with these guys since I was in the fifth grade. Ever since then, we told ourselves that we’re going to win a state title and we were going to be the first to bring it home. We were going to be the ones, all my brothers.”
KIF Teams Got Close To Football State Championships A Lot
Since the state tournament began in 1999, Kauai teams made it to the semifinals 14 times — with eight trips to the final — before this year:
>> In 2003, Waimea lost 17-13 in the D-II semifinals to Damien, which wound up losing 9-7 to Aiea in the title game.
>> In 2004, Kauai lost 29-20 to eventual D-II champion Campbell in the semifinals.
>> In 2006, Kauai lost 33-20 to King Kekaulike in the D-II title game.
>> In 2007, Kauai lost 35-21 to eventual D-II champion ‘Iolani in the semifinals.
>> In 2009, Kauai lost 24-17 to ‘Iolani in the D-II title game.
>> In 2010, Kauai lost 14-0 to eventual D-II champion ‘Iolani in the semifinals.
>> In 2011, Kapaa lost 17-13 to eventual D-II champion ‘Iolani in the semifinals.
>> In 2013, Kauai lost 17-7 to Kaiser in the D-II title game.
>> In 2014, Kapaa lost 29-24 to eventual D-II champion ‘Iolani in the semifinals.
>> In 2015, Kapaa lost 30-16 to Radford in the D-II title game.
>> In 2016, Kapaa lost 21-14 to Lahainaluna the D-II title game.
>> In 2017, Kauai lost 13-10 to eventual D-I runner-up Damien in the semifinals
>> In 2018, Kapaa lost 34-32 to Lahainaluna in the D-II title game.
>> In 2019, Kapaa lost 21-10 to Lahainaluna in the D-II title game.
Happy Kapaa Resident Suggests A Matchup Against Kahuku
Les Drent, a farmer in Kapaa, was thrilled that Kapaa brought home the koa trophy, and he had an interesting suggestion in a recent email.
“I’d like to see Kapa’a play Kahuku. Can you arrange that?” Drent wrote.
The easy answer is no. But I can put it out into the atmosphere. Perhaps Sterling Carvalho, the coach of the Open Division state champion Red Raiders (10-0), could do something like that for a nonleague game next year. Carvalho, Kauai High’s starting quarterback in 1991 and ’92, played against Kapaa many times in his high school career and he is well aware of the strength of football on the island.
With Kapaa, Lahainaluna and Konawaena and Hilo and now Kamehameha-Maui (and in the past, Baldwin) doing so well in D-I and D-II at the states, maybe there is a place for more meaningful interleague and inter-island matchups in the future — another way, aside from the state tournament, to sh0wcase the outer island powers.
It would have taken a lot of things to go the right way for Kapaa if the Warriors were to have a chance against powerhouse Kahuku had the teams met this season. But just like on the national stage, you don’t know what will happen until you try it.
Right now, the setup we have at states with the Open Division, D-I and D-II is working well. But, the guess here is that the elite division (the Open) is going to shrink soon. There is talk that some teams who have struggled in the top tier will move from Open to D-I next season.
That highest division only had 10 teams during this regular season, with four making states. What if all the teams who have struggled in the Open (Leilehua, Farrington, Kapolei and Waianae) all move down? Would six total teams (three from ILH and three from OIA) be workable?
Due to COVID-19, the OIA-ILH regular-season scheduling agreement that was in place for 2018 and 2019 was not in effect this year. Most likely, it will be back in 2022 with some changes.
With all of those things in mind, Bedrock Sports Hawaii plans to ask around to see what the stakeholders — the coaches and administrators — think should happen. Hopefully, they will want to talk about whatever the possibilities are for creating the best format for the players in 2022.
Malafu’s Night Will Be Remembered For A Long Time
If Kapaa makes it back to states next year, can Solomone Malafu come close to doing what he did on the big stage in 2021?
The dude, otherwise known as a 6-foot-1, 225-pound stud, had four touches from scrimmage — all touchdowns and 152 yards rushing. He added six 2-point conversion runs on six tries.
It was an amazing thing really, especially those conversions. It was like at the neighborhood ballpark with the strongest boy holding the football and saying, “Stop me, but only if you can,” or more simpler, “You can’t stop me.”
Solomone Malafu was off the races for one of his four TDs. (Image credit: Manny Henriques).
A memorable moment came with less than 3 minutes to go when a Kapaa fan shouted toward the bench, “Finish it.”
Tresler looked right at that person and then looked down at linebacker/running back Connor Payomo and mentioned something to him.
All of a sudden, Payomo put his helmet on and stood up to go into the game. In addition, Malafu took a few extra seconds to find his helmet and went back in, setting up in the wildcat formation.
Payomo, Malafu and that particular offensive lineup hesitated a bit before they went in, since the team was up by so much. But the coaches told them: “These guys (coming out of the game) have some years left.”
Malafu took the snap, went to the right and scored on a 43-yard run with 2:25 remaining. At first he lined up for a seventh 2-pointer, but Tresler decided to insert his kicker, Kamalei Gonsalves, instead, who put it through the uprights for the Warriors’ final point to make up for the try he missed after the team’s first TD.
One more interesting thing about Malafu: He is only a junior so he’ll be back next year.
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Click the link below for Bedrock’s Kapaa Football Team Page.
More from BedrockSportsHawaii.com:
Bedrock Names New Year’s (And Christmas) Football Players Of The Week
WATCH: 11 Videos Of Kapaa’s 61-7 D-II State Championship Victory Over Kamehameha-Maui
Solomone Malafu And O-Line Lead Kapaa To The Garden Isle’s First D-II Football State Championship
