STATE FOOTBALL PREVIEW: Waimea at Honokaa

Star-Advertiser sports writer Paul Honda previews every game in this weekend’s First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Football State Championships.

Division II

Waimea (7-2) at Honokaa (10-1), Saturday, 7 p.m.

Longtime Honokaa coach Fred Lau says his team is the smallest in the BIIF, but that didn’t stop the Dragons from winning the league’s Division II title.

Now, Honokaa (10-1) will host a state-tournament game on campus for the first time when Waimea (7-2) visits on Saturday in a Division II semifinal matchup of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA State Football Championships. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Lau was a coach for some of Honokaa’s best teams. In 2009, the Dragons won the BIIF, but had to host its state-tourney game at another field.

“We didn’t have the seating, so we played Farrington at Kealakehe,” Lau said.

The community pushed for adequate seating at Honokaa’s field, and there is now a 900-seat covered bleacher area where a hill once stood along the sideline. The project was completed in 2020.

The Menehune of Waimea bring a long, proud history. Waimea is back in the state championships for the first time in decades. With Kapaa representing the KIF in the Division I state tournament, a first for the league, runner-up Waimea qualified for the D-II bracket.

Waimea stunned perennial power Kapaa early in the season, 7-3, and nearly won the KIF title outright, losing in the finale, 3-0.

Last week, Waimea steamrolled Kaiser, 48-7, in the opening round. Like King Kekaulike, Waimea operates a double-tight end version of the wing-T, but unlike Na Alii, the Menehune have been going strong with the old-school offense for around a half-century.

“We’re just really happy things went our way. We’ve been on the sidelines so long,” said coach Kyle Linoz, a 1991 Waimea graduate. “We’ve been running the wing-T since the really old days, even in the youth leagues, the JPS program (Hanapepe Cowboys), I would go down with my staff and help them in the spring. The verbiage is the same.”

Waimea threw the ball just twice against Kaiser. They have a spread formation, but going under center with the wing-T is their bread and butter.

Senior RB Aukai Emayo (5-7, 160) rushed for 230 yards and three TDs on 26 carries against Kaiser.

Waimea’s defense will face another throwback offense at Honokaa. Longtime coach Fred Lau Sr. studied the spread option when his son, Fred Jr., played at Hawaii.

RB Bruce Reinbolt, a 5-10, 190-pound sophomore, has rushed for more than 1,100 yards, Lau Jr. noted. SB Micah Acdal (5-4, 140) has accounted for 800 yards.

Up front, left guard Sam Akau (5-8, 200) and right guard Kupaa Langan (5-10, 175) lead the way.

The defensive unit is a core of speedy playmakers from defensive ends Xander Tabucbuc (5-5, 150) and Mo Kamai (5-10, 170) to linebackers Tallin Cazimero (5-6, 160) and Uhane Mock Chew (5-10, 170).

“He is the rock of our defense,” Lau Jr. said of Mock Chew.

Safety Aka Spencer moved over from QB this season.