Waimea Menehune seeking third football state title in four years

The Waimea football team is on the verge of a dynasty.

After a one-year absence, the Menehune are back in the First Hawaiian Bank Division II Football State Championships after a thrilling 27-26 semifinal win over Roosevelt at Hanapepe Ballpark Saturday afternoon.

Waimea built a 27-7 lead early in the second half before holding off a furious comeback by the Rough Riders to reach the team’s third state final in four years when they take on Kamehameha-Maui on Nov. 28 at Mililani’s John Kauinana Stadium.

“Total team effort,” said Waimea coach Kyle Linoz. “We played 3-deep on both sides of the ball today. We knew how good of a team Roosevelt was and if we didn’t bring everything we got and be perfect, we wouldn’t have a shot against them. Hats off to our kids, they got the job done.”

With both teams scoring four touchdowns apiece, it was a gutsy 2-point conversion stop that helped seal the win for the Menehune.

After scoring their third unanswered touchdown of the second half with two minutes to play in regulation, the Rough Riders (11-2) elected to go for the win instead of forcing overtime. Waimea got a great jump on the snap, forcing Roosevelt quarterback Kaeo Bush to scramble for his life before a throw into the end zone was broken up Kalawaia Martins.

“Bring the house and tighten your coverage and let it roll, and that’s exactly what I told them in the huddle,” Linoz said of the defensive gameplay on the 2-point try.

“One play, no tomorrow and thankfully it went our way.”

The nail-biting win also snapped a three-game losing streak by the Menehune as Waimea recorded its first win since Sept. 27 to improve to 4-5 overall.

While not an impressive record, It’s a result of circumstance. The Kauai Interscholastic Federation just has three football members which features a triple round-robin schedule between the three teams. Three of Waimea’s losses have come to reigning Division I state champion Kapa’a, who will try to defend its crown in the Division I final that follows the Division II championship game.

“I think this one is especially special because we have two games in the championship games out of three, and there’s only three teams in our league,” Linoz said.

“Just to show over and over again how much good football we have here on Kauai, not just the coaches doing their jobs but we have tremendous athletes out here. It’s good for them to show what they got at this stage. It’s special and unique that a three-team league has two guys in the championship. We’re proud of that.”

Waimea also dropped a 21-0 contest to Kauai High in the midst of its three-game losing streak, a team who denied a state tournament appearance to the Menehune a season ago.

“We take it not as losses but as learning lessons,” Linoz said. “Coach Mel Purcell (at Kauai High) and his staff is awesome. Coach Mike Tresler (at Kapa’a) and his staff is next level. We call them the juggernaut out there and we call Kauai High the big bad red wolf, so anybody can win on any day.”

Kickoff for the Division II state championship game is slated for 4:00 p.m.