Kapa’a rises to the top of the Division I mountain in high school football

In 2021, the Kapa’a football team made history by bringing home the program’s first state title with a 61-7 win over Kamehameha-Maui in the Division II state championship that year.

Three years later, the Warriors got it done in a higher ‘weight class.’

Micah Rapozo’s field goal from 33 yards out in overtime gave Kapa’a its first D1 football state crown as the Warriors edged Konawaena, 10-7, in the First Hawaiian Bank Football State Championship Saturday night at Mililani’s John Kauinana Stadium.

Special teams also provided the Warriors’ only points in regulation with Nash Burkart’s 50-yard punt return followed by Bear Miller’s PAT to break a scoreless game with 11:41 left in regulation.

The low scoring game with no offensive touchdowns by his squad was right in the wheelhouse of Kapa’a coach Mike Tresler, a Kauai high alumnus and former University of Hawai’i defensive back.

“Oh man, that was amazing,” said Tresler. “That’s my kind of game, right? Special teams and defense. We didn’t score an offensive touchdown and we won a championship.”

It was the second title for the Warriors (9-2) under Tresler, whose team took steps to get there after winning the D2 crown in 2021.

In 2022, Kapa’a lost in its first-ever D1 state tournament game and in 2023 the Warriors reached the semifinals before falling on the road to Konawaena.

“We’ve been working for this since January and all that work is paying off now,” said Burkart.

“After that loss to Kona, losing those seniors in my last game with some of my best friends, it really — it just means so much to us and this team and the seniors on this team because we’ve been working for this forever and all that work just paid off.”

Tresler’s defense also held Konawaena’s high-powered offense, which was averaging over 45 points a game into the contest, to a season-low in scoring.

Even though the Wildcats outgain the Warriors in total offense, 324 to 132, they failed to turn them into points as Konawaena only converted on one of its five trips to the red zone, which came on a 2-yard run by Hercules Nahale with 4:09 left in regulation.

“You know what they say, offense wins games and defense wins championships, so all that just paid off now,” senior Burkart, who also plays defensive back.

The game-winning kick was also a redeeming moment for Rapozo, who had his first field attempt of the night blocked from 41 yards out in the second quarter.

“I would say I hesitated,” Rapozo said. “The snap was high so that kind of drew me back and I hesitated on stepping forward, so that was all me. I should have stepped forward quicker, so yeah, that was pretty much all me on the first attempt.”

Despite the miscue, Tresler knew Rapozo would come up clutch at the end.

“He had to fix up his timing — because that was a timing issue when we got blocked, the first one — but I’m so happy for him. He deserves it, he deserves the opportunity; that was huge,” Tresler said.

Burkart added that the special teams success can be credited to preparation.

“It just went perfect because every day we practice that — before practice is special teams and after practice is special teams — so we really prepare for those moments so I think that we were really prepared for that moment and that pressure of the game because we really practice that, so it really paid off,” Burkart said.

The Wildcats (10-3) were playing in their third straight D1 title game and was seeking their second championship after winning their first one in 2022.