Kaʻū News Briefs Sept. 24, 2024

Trojan quarterback Adahdiyah Ellis-Reyes in a file photo. He set new records in Honoka'a last Friday.
Photo by Mark Peters

 

QUARTERBACK ADAHDIYAH ELLIS-REYES SET NEW SCHOOL RECORDS when the Kaʻū football team traveled to Honoka'a last Friday night to take on the Dragons. He will receive recognition on statewide KHON Channel 2 television coverage this week called Cover 2.

    Ellis-Reyes and the Trojans played very hard throughout the game but ended up losing 64-32, reports Assistant Coach Mark Peters. Even with the loss, Ellis-Reyes achieved another epic career best performance to lead the Trojan team. He carried the ball 40 times for a total of 351 yards and 4 touchdowns. The 40 carries in a game ties the school record held by Zach Kai. The 351 yards sets a new school record in 11 man football (Bobby Pilanca-Emmsley had 400 yards or more 3 different times in 8 man football).

Adahdiya Ellis-Reyes nabs a catch in a game against
 Hawai'i Preparatory Academy. File photo by Mark Peters

The 351 yards rushing was found to be the 4th best ever in Hawai'i state high school history for 11 man football. Peters notes that "Diyah also completed 10 passes for 216 yards and one touchdown. Diyah's 567 yards of total offense sets a new school record for 11 man football. On defense, Ellis-Reyes also led the team with 6 tackles including creating a fumble by ripping the ball from a Honokaa ball carrier."
Peters comments, "What an amazing performance by Diyah. He is such a great player who represents our community every week on the field and is one of the best players on the Island. But, he did not accomplish this by himself. A lot of players helped him achieve this success with their blocking and catching. We have a great mix of some experienced players and some young players getting exposed to football for the first time."
Head coach Conner Norton states, "While this was not the outcome we were looking for, I was very proud of the way our team played hard for the whole game and continued to improve." This week, the Trojan football team will travel to Kea'au to play the Pahoa Daggers on Thursday night.

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KAʻŪ BEAT KEA'AU IN GIRLS VARSITY VOLLEYBALL on Tuesday on the road, in three sets. The scores were  25-22, 25-22, and 25-22. JV lost 20-25 and 15-25.

    Kaʻū travels to Christian Liberty on Saturday, Sept. 28 and again to LCPCS/SIS on Monday, Sept. 30. Ka 'Umeke comes to Kaʻū on Saturday, Oct. 5. Kaʻū travels to Hilo on Saturday, Oct. 12 and again to

Pahoa on Monday, Oct. 13. Kamehameha comes to Kaʻū on Wednesday, Oct. 16, followed by Big Island Interscholastic Federation playoffs.

    Coach is Josh Ortega, Assistant Coach and JV Coach is Sarah Ortega, Trainer is Moses Whitcomb and Athletic Director is Jaime Guerpo.
    The varsity team is comprised of Mckenzie Decoito, Leahi Kaupu, Jezerie Rose Nurial-Dacalio, Kiara Ortega-Oliveira, Jazmyn Navarro, Aubrey Delos Santos-Graig, Alajshae Barrios, CaLiya Silva-Kamei and Zia Rae Wroblewski.
    The JV team is comprised of Deijah Cabanilla-Nogales, Lily Dacalio, Christy Girl Grohs, Megan Pierpont, Kalesha Hashimoto, Alazae Forcum, Wailea Kainoa Haili-Barawis and Dhaylee Cabreros.

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PROMISING CONTINUED SERVICE TO REMOTE AREAS, HAWAIIAN AIRLINES' NEW CEO Joe Sprague notes that he comes from Alaska, which like Hawai'i has both islands surrounded by water and remote inland islands of people who live in the wilderness and depend on air travel. He told Hawai'i Public Radio that serving both Alaska and Hawai'i isolated communities "gives both companies, I think, a very special sense of purpose, and that's a positive and really powerful, I think, uniting factor for the two carriers."

Sprague is already familiar with Hawai'i, having run Alaska Airlines Hawai'i division. Alaska Airlines completed the purchase of Hawaiian Airlines last week. It is taking on $900 million of Hawaiian Airlines debt and paying an additional $1 billion to own the company. It is acquiring wide body jets and international flights. More wide body jets are under construction at Boeing in Seattle where Alaska Airlines is headquartered.

Alaska also promises to keep most of Hawaiian's 6,000 union employees, and many of the 1,400 non-union employees. For those Hawaiian Airline employees whose jobs are duplicates of some of those held by Alaska Airlines employees, there will be some eventual layoffs, but all employees will be retained until at least the end of this year and there will be severance packages and efforts for retraining for jobs both inside and outside the newly merged airline, according to statements by Alaska Airlines.

    Alaska Airlines also announced it will keep the Hawaiian name and free distribution of pineapple orange juice to passengers. Its CEO Bin Minicuci called the merger "pro consumer and pro competitive." He noted that Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines are both more than 90 years old and each have good name identities expressing the history and culture of the special places they serve. He said both names mean a lot to the residents of Alaska and Hawai'i.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar. See upcoming events, print edition and archive at kaunews.com. Support this news service with advertising at kaunews.com. 7,500 copies in the mail and on stands. 

September 2024, 5,000 in the mail, 2,500 on the streets.