KEA‘AU — In the 2000s, it was common to see the Kea‘au Cougars competing with the top football teams in the BIIF. While the Cougars fielded a few mediocre teams after their initial run of success, Kea‘au has recently been on the upswing competing with Konawaena over the past couple of years in the island DI championship game.

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KEA‘AU — In the 2000s, it was common to see the Kea‘au Cougars competing with the top football teams in the BIIF. While the Cougars fielded a few mediocre teams after their initial run of success, Kea‘au has recently been on the upswing competing with Konawaena over the past couple of years in the island DI championship game.

The head coach during the Cougars’ recent resurgence was David Murray, and as they say, success breeds opportunity. Murray had an opportunity during the offseason to take the head coaching job for the Utah Islanders, a prep program designed to give talented football players who need to work on their academics the opportunity to do so while playing the equivalent of a junior college football schedule.

The top offensive and defensive performers for the Cougars, quarterback Trusten Gomes, and defensive lineman Damien Fronda, joined Murray in Utah — leaving behind some big holes for the Cougars to fill. Graduation and transfers have also drastically affected the makeup of the team, and the remaining coaches and players have a lot of work to do in order to get back to where they have been the last couple of years.

Nainoa Kalahiki is stepping up to fill the head coaching position for the Cougars after serving as defensive line coach under Murray. He admits that most people would call this a rebuilding year, however, there is a lot of pride among the Cougar coaches and players and they plan to put in the hard work and compete on the field every game.

“We have to keep building with the younger guys,” Kalahiki said of Kea‘au’s season goals. “Our returning starters will lead the way, but the sophomores who got experience last year as freshmen will be the backbone of the team.”

With only four starters returning from last year’s team, the Cougars will have a lot of underclassmen in starting roles. Luckily, there is some returning experience on the offensive line, including the coach’s son, Aunoa Kalahiki.

“I am gonna have to be more vocal, do more teaching and be a good leader for them,” Kalahiki said of his senior-year expectations.

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Returning All-BIIF First Team offensive lineman Jordan Mamoa-Mekuli is looking forward to being a role model for the younger players, both on the field and inside the classroom as they work towards winning football.

The quarterback position is always a key to the success of a football program, and with the graduation of Gomes, the Cougars were looking for someone to step up and take the reins. With no experienced back-up in place, the Cougars will look to converted receiver Shayden Randall to lead the team at quarterback and grow into the position as the season progresses. Randall,

who sat out last season, has Cougar football in his blood — with dad Kaulahea Randall on the coaching staff and brother, Sean Randall, who graduated in 2024 and plays for Santa Rosa Junior College.

The Cougars opened up the 2026 football season Aug. 8 by hosting the Honoka‘a Dragons. The Dragons showed up with an experienced coaching staff and players with something to prove after nearly upsetting the Kamehameha Warriors in last year’s BIIF DII championship game.

The stiff competition and terrible weather conditions made it difficult for Kea‘au’s young offense to get anything going, while the Dragon running game was able to control the game when Honokaa was on offense.

Honoka‘a head coach Matty Moniz and the Dragon got scores from Kage Yadao, Chrys Coelho, Austin Vincent, Kiakahi Lindsey and Harold McGurn on the way to a 34-0 victory.

The Cougars were slated to face Lahainaluna this weekend, but the game was canceled due to the impending storms.

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They will return to the field against Waiakea on Saturday morning in Hilo.

See the paper in the coming weeks for more BIIF football features.