CLOSING THE BOOK: Waialua Bulldogs

The Waialua Bulldogs have not hit a historical low just yet, going 0-9 this season after an 0-8 year in 2017. The Bulldogs have lost 18 in a row since winning the OIA Division II in a thrilling one-point win over Waipahu in 2016. The losing streak still has seven games to go to match the 25 in a row from 1996-98 under Harold Tavares and George Watanabe. It took Chico Cappello four years to dig out of the hole.

There were improvements for the 2018 team, however. The offense averaged more than a touchdown a game after last year’s 4.3 ppg effort. There were no bright spots on the defensive side, as the 2018 crew, due partially by the problems on offense, allowed 42.1 points per game which is worse than the 41.6 yielded last year. It was only slightly better than the program-worst 42.3 points per game allowed by Norm Chow‘s Bulldogs in 1971.

2018 BEST PERFORMANCES

Passing

Justyce Lacar led the offense from under center, coming a long completion short of a 1,000-yard season. Kyler Dicion had more than 100 fewer attempts than Lacar but matched him with three touchdowns. Lacar had the biggest performance of the season in Waialua’s opening game against Pearl City, putting the ball in the air 47 times and completing 29 for 247 yards and a touchdown. He never threw for more than 163 yards again but he was the first Waialua quarterback to flirt with 250 yards in a game since Tevesi Toia achieved it against Waipahu in 2016 in the last game the Bulldogs have won.

Rushing

The Bulldogs ignored the run game in 2018 with no player who wasn’t a quarterback getting more than 10 carries. Jonah Baker was the team’s rushing leader, but he got carries in only two games and gained 17 yards on six attempts. The philosophy seemed to change in the last game against Pac-Five, as Justyce Lacar had the season’s top rushing performance with 25 yards on 12 carries. 2018 was the second straight season the Bulldogs failed to have a rusher gain more than 30 yards in a game.

Receiving

The land of Burton Coloma had another breakout receiver this year, with Kai Hoekstra grabbing 30 passes for 553 and three scores to go down in history as the program’s top receiver in 2018. Dylan Yadao was right there with him, grabbing eight more balls but 200 fewer yards and one fewer TD. For one magical night against Kaiser, Hoekstra made a run at one of the oldest records in the Hawaii Prep World database when he victimized the Cougars for eight catches for 172 yards and two touchdowns.

That effort put him fifth on the school’s single-game yardage list but well short of Coloma’s 247 receiving yards against Leilehua in 1974. It was still the best receiving game for the school in almost a decade and made him the school’s outstanding offensive player this year.

Defense

Even with the program’s struggles with keeping opponents off the scoreboard, one thing has to make veteran guide Lincoln Barit smile: The unit improved drastically from the beginning of the season. The Bulldogs best defensive showing was probably in its last game, when it dug in on a sloppy field and held Pac-Five to two touchdowns in a loss. Waialua allowed just 21.3 points over its last three games after giving up 42 points or more in five consecutive games.

HEAD COACH
>> Lincoln Barit is 42-97-1 in 16 seasons.

STAT RANKINGS
>> QB Justyce Lacar finished fifth in Division II in passing yards.
>> WR Kai Hoekstra led Division II in receiving yards.
>> WR Dylan Yadao finished seventh in Division II in receiving yards.

KEY UNDERCLASSMEN IN 2018
>> WR/DB Dylan Yadao, QB Justyce Lacar, LB Titus Fulava, WR Kai Hoekstra, DB Bronson Ventura, DB Justin Lorenzo.

FINAL TEAM STATS