‘Just blessed’: Kapolei’s Amisone helps Hurricanes to inaugural DII flag football title

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - It’s a silver anniversary to remember for Kapolei High School. In the school’s 25th year, its flag football team captured the inaugural Division II state title last weekend — the school’s first football title in school history. It was a lopsided, 77-19 rout of Maryknoll orchestrated by senior quarterback Taimane Amisone, who tossed 8 touchdowns in the win. The last time a Hurricanes football team scored at least 70 points was on the tackle side, a 70-0 win over Kealakehe in 2022. Leading the charge then was Tama Amisone, Taimane’s older brother. Older brother Tama, now playing at San Jose State, got to watch his sister make history. “Everyone knew him as the quarterback for Kapolei and how he’s a dual threat and stuff, so carrying that on means a lot for me,” Taimane Amisone told Hawaii News Now. “My brother always tells me good luck, and after the game, he always talks about it, and he actually came to our state championship game.” It can be a daunting task to play the same position as your sibling, but that wasn’t apparent to Taimane’s coaches. “As far as pressure, she never had pressure,” Co-head coach Brad Hewahewa said. “She just completely controlled the whole offense and made things happen.” It was an up-and-down season for the Hurricanes after falling to Kalaheo in the OIA championship. Kapolei went into states unseeded, but fought their way to the top. “I feel like we’re blessed with girls that just are ballers and they just wanna play,” co-head coach Fran Aki said. It was a complete buy-in from the entire team, who struggled in the sports inaugural season, going 2-3. “During the off-season, I know a lot of them joined the club, and they’re all putting in the work off-season, and it showed this season,” Amisone said. With just three seniors on the roster, this Championship run is setting the path for years to come. “They’re setting up this program for future success,” Aki said. “So they’re actually leaving behind a legacy of the starting point of this program.” “I feel so fulfilled and just blessed that I got to share something with everyone,” Amisone added. Kapolei ended the season with a 7-6 record.