KEALAKEKUA — No. 10 state-ranked Konawaena football is itching to get back to the big stage.

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KEALAKEKUA — No. 10 state-ranked Konawaena football is itching to get back to the big stage.

A year ago, the Wildcats clinched their fifth consecutive BIIF championship and played in the HHSAA Division I state semifinal, falling to OIA powerhouse Kailua at home. By Kona’s lofty standards, the season fell short of expectations, as the Wildcats failed to reach their fourth consecutive state championship game under 12th-year head coach Brad Uemoto

But with the new season in full swing, the Wildcats are eager to flip the script and get back to the state title game. And this time around, Uemoto believes they have the pieces to do it.

“We’re just going to have to keep getting better every week,” he told the paper at a rainy Tuesday practice at Julian R. Yates Field. “It’s just going to be a challenge for us, regardless of who our opponents are.

“We just got to get better at practice from Monday through Thursday, and we gotta be our best opponents throughout the week. We’re going to have to adapt and adjust.”

Kona opened the season last weekend to measure itself against a tough mainland opponent in Truckee, who beat the Wildcats in 2025 in Kealakekua. It was only right for Uemoto’s squad to return the favor in Lake Tahoe.

Kona shut out the Wolverines in a 24-0 win, clinching its first win against a mainland opponent in program history.

“Traveling to the mainland and all the adversities that come with that, plus the 6,000-feet elevation in a hostile environment, it was definitely good to start off with a win,” Uemoto said. “It was great just being together as a group for a week morale-wise … it was like a long-extended camp.”

“We did good for our first game,” senior star pass rusher and defensive captain Zane Fujihara-Fa‘avesi added. “We got some things we can fix, and hopefully we’ll be more ready (for our conference opener).”

All-conference quarterback Keenan Alani led the charge for the winners, throwing for 297 yards and three touchdowns on an impressive 11.6 yards per attempt.

Alani, now a senior, has had an impressive career as Kona’s signal caller — throwing for over 5,000 yards, 72 touchdowns and just 14 interceptions across two full seasons as the starter. Now a veteran in the locker room, Uemoto expects Alani to have more of a voice among the team in his final season.

“He’s a lot more mature this year,” Uemoto said of Alani. “He knows the offense a lot better, but we need him to be able to be the guy to handle adversities, especially with the younger guys on the field.”

Alani threw one touchdown each to senior Anakin Punihaole, junior Justice Charity and budding young star LaMichael Bronson — who is a freshman. Punihaole led all receivers with 97 yards.

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Sophomore Ka‘el Johnson, who led the Wildcats in receiving yards with over 700 in 2025, is also expected to be a top target of Alani’s. Another freshman receiver, Kailewa Silva-Kealoha, will also see targets.

“We have eight guys that we can rotate in,” Uemoto said.

Compared to last season, the Wildcats have much more depth now. Rostering just 26 players in 2025, Kona had multiple players on both sides of the ball. Now, the team has 40 players and more flexibility to lean into its depth — which will only help as the season progresses into November.

Kona won’t just have a strong passing game, however. The team is returning its two starting backs from 2025 — senior Kainalu Alves and sophomore Shayden Domingo, who combined for nearly 1,500 yards last year. With Alves being a shifty, slippery runner and Domingo more of a downhill, power back, the pair compliment each other well in the backfield.

“They have two different running styles, which is always good,” Uemoto said. “And they also have that experience. They played in some big games, and that’s going to be a deep group for us.”

The team’s offensive line is more of a question mark due to youth and inexperience, but Uemoto has been pleased with the unit’s progress over the summer.

“We’re young at O-Line, but they’ve worked all offseason,” he said. “We knew that was going to be a bit of a weak point for us, but they’ve worked hard and started early with our coaches, so they’ve been growing fast. Once we put pads on, they made a lot of strides very quickly, so we’ll continue to test them.”

The Wildcats have always been strong on the other side of the ball, and that should be no different in 2026. Allowing under 10 points per game against BIIF opponents a year ago, Fujihara-Fa‘avesi and company want to continue to build on that dominance.

And after shutting out Truckee, it’s safe to say that the Wildcats are off to a good start in that regard.

“Our expectations are high,” Fujihara-Fa‘avesi said of the defense. “We want to do even better than we did last season and aim even higher.”

Kona will spend the rest of the week practicing before its conference opener against Kamehameha-Hawaii on Sept. 3 in Kea‘au. After moving up to BIIF Division I, the Warriors are expected to be the Wildcats’ biggest threat to the BIIF crown.

Like Kona, KSH is strong on both sides of the ball and has a potent offense — rostering elite playmakers such as quarterback Kahekili Makekau, running back Dallas Enriquez and receivers Chaseton Wong and Chanse Kaaua-Long.

All in all, the game should be an interesting clash of talent.

“Kamehameha is going to be one of the better teams in Division I,” Uemoto said. They have a bunch of weapons. (Having them in DI) is good overall for the league.”

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Wildcats BIIF schedule

• 9/3 at KSH

• 9/11 Kealakehe

• 9/18 Kea‘au

• 9/25 at Hilo

• 10/2 KSH

• 10/9 Hilo

• 10/23 at Kea‘au

See the paper all season for continued coverage.