Off and running: Switch to wing T pays off for Na Alii
King Kekaulike finds itself in state title game after finding offense that fits
PUKALANI — It was a decision that was thwarted by COVID and didn’t come to full fruition until this season, but my oh my, has it paid huge dividends.
The King Kekaulike High School football team has won five games for the first time since 2009 this season — Na Alii were 4-55 since the beginning of 2014 prior to this year — and finds itself in the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Division II state championship game vs. Waimea on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Mililani High School.
It was the decision to go exclusively to the wing T offense this season, switching from the spread, that has made the difference for Na Alii (5-6).
King Kekaulike is in the state final for the second time in school history and first time since Na Alii became the first Neighbor Island football champion in Hawaii history in 2006.
Chris Porter, the team’s offensive coordinator, is a 1999 graduate of King Kekaulike, the first graduating class ever for the school. He was also a member of J.W. Kenton’s coaching staff in 2006.
“There’s a lot of pride there, it’s been a long time since we’ve been in this situation,” Porter said. “As a player, you always dream about being in these situations. I was fortunate enough to be a part of the 2006 coaching staff, but, yeah, there’s a lot of pride with this, with this team, this community.”
Porter tells this team about the 2006 team that also ran the wing T offense with standout running back Shannon Kamakaokalani leading the way.
“There’s a lot of similarities to
that (2006) team, individually, as a team, the way this season kind of has gone, the ups and downs,” Porter said. “‘Make your path,’ you know what I mean? ‘That team is that team, but let this legacy be your legacy.’ ”
Porter said that the thought process for going to the wing T — an offense that is run-heavy and features misdirection plays in the backfield — dates back to a 2021 scrimmage with Molokai in November when Na Alii were in the midst of an 0-6 season.
Molokai is a member of the Maui
Interscholastic League eight-player ranks and had no games to play in the 2021 season due to other MIL eight-player teams being unable to muster enough players because of issues related to the pandemic.
King Kekaulike was the only taker when Molokai coach Mike Kahale started looking for anyone that might be willing to play.
The Farmers unofficially came out on top of that scrimmage, and it opened eyes for Na Alii.
“I believe it was after the Molokai scrimmage, (head coach) Tyson (Valle) kind of just came to myself and coach Dwayne (Yamaguchi, the defensive coordinator) and said, ‘I think it’s time we make the change,’ ” Porter said. “For me, I was a part of that J.W. coaching staff, I’ve seen what that offense can do. I just felt like that offense fits Upcountry, that offense fits us.”
The middle of Na Alii’s offensive line reads: guard Nui Crozier, 6foot-4, 410 pounds; center Kimo Moniz-Kekumu, 6-0, 350; and guard Wesley Wright, 6-1, 275.
“Amazing, it took us 16 years in the making just to get over here, I’m so excited,” Wright said. “Oh my god, I’m so excited.”
Junior quarterback Kalelepono Wong (5-11, 185) rushed for 732 yards on 88 carries — No. 2 in the MIL — and a league-high 11 touchdowns in the MIL regular season. Tysin Zackious (5-6, 150) ran for 583 yards and four TDs on 119 carries, No. 3 in the MIL, and Kalani Pu‘u (5-7, 170) was No. 5 on the MIL rushing list with 432 yards.
Wright smiles when asked about blocking in the wing T for the small, quick runners behind him.
“It’s really fun and they’re my best friends,” Wright said. “So, I’ve got to support the boys, got to block for them so we can get scores on the board.”
Wright shakes his head when it is pointed out that he is the smallest of the middle three blockers that are key to the wing T attack.
“Yeah, yup, I do feel really small actually,” Wright said.
Moniz-Kekumu said he loves the wing T attack as well.
“Oh, it’s lots of fun,” MonizKekumu said. “It’s an attitude type of offense, you know? You’ve got to want it, you’ve got to want to smash the guy that’s in front of you. So, it’s key that we can do that for our running backs so they can put scores on the board.”
With Wright and Crozier on each side of him, Moniz-Kekumu said: “It’s amazing, like, I’m pretty confident in our team, but just knowing that those two guys are right by my side, we’re ready to go — it feels good.”
Valle said that size was a big part of the decision to go to the wing T, a thought process that began prior to COVID after attending a coaching convention that stressed using offensive and defensive plans that suit the personnel on hand.
“It’s something that we looked at for a few years,” Valle said. “We actually saw it at the Glacier Clinic in Vegas that we attended (in 2020) — that’s kind of what sparked the idea. I went in just kind of just sat and just listened to what they were doing.
“Then we were kind of going back and forth about it and last year we started to dabble into it towards the ending of the year. Then this year, when I talked to Coach Chris, I said, ‘Hey, are we doing this or not? We gotta made the decision.’ Then as a staff, we decided we’re all in on this, we’re going to do it this way. And that’s kind of where it started to form itself.”
It added up to 1,868 yards rushing and 277 yards passing in the eight MIL regular-season games — 87 percent of Na Alii’s yards come on the ground.
Na Alii opened the season with a 21-10 loss to Waimea, then blasted out of the MIL blocks with wins over Baldwin and Kamehameha Maui.
Then came a 1-5 stretch when Crozier was out with a knee injury for much of that time before they rebounded with a 28-25 MIL playoff win over Kamehameha Maui and a convincing 20-0 win over Nanakuli last week — they limited the Golden Hawks to just 16 yards in the first half when the issue was decided by three rushing touchdowns by
Ahe Sumibcay, Zackious and Pu‘u.
“After the first round with Kam, you know, we started to see the injuries coming through — it really hurt us and affected us,” Valle said. “But it also kind of gave us a heads up, saying that, ‘Hey, this is kind of something we need to expect throughout the season.’ And just make sure that we have a backup plan for that in the future.
“We were able to get these guys healthy, they worked a lot with the trainers, did a lot of rehab. Even if they didn’t want to do rehab, we were pushing them for rehab because we knew we needed them back. … Now, look where we are.”
■ Robert Collias is at rcollias @mauinews.com