#Maui Interscholastic League

Kamehameha Maui had 11 senior starters play their final high school game on Friday, including the school’s all-time leading rusher Zedekaiah Campbell, college-football-bound offensive lineman Pa’u Spencer, and defensive leader Kolt Kaho’ohanohano.

Together, one of the most prolific running back tandems in the state led the Warriors to a 37-18 win over sister school Kamehameha Hawai’i in a semifinal of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Division II tournament on Saturday night.

Iapani “Poncho” Laloulu and Fa’anu Ma’o were always close growing up, Laloulu on O’ahu and Ma’o on Maui, but they grew closer as Ma’o’s mother, Failagi Laloulu Ma’o, battled breast cancer that first hit her in 2017 when Fa’anu was 9 years old and Poncho was 13.

The Warriors are taking the “college bowl” approach, spending the four weeks before the state tournament studying film, lifting weights and getting healthy before they play a semifinal game in the state tournament on Nov. 22.

Saturday night’s second-place finish felt different than 2007, 2012 or 2014 when Seabury Hall was also the Division II state runner-up; the Spartans fought back from two sets down to force a fifth set that came down to the wire before bowing to Kapa’a of the Kauai Interscholastic Federation.

Lahainaluna saw its remarkable Maui Interscholastic League record of 17 straight trips to state football tournaments come to an end with Saturday’s result.

Kurt Suzuki, a 2001 graduate from Mauiʻs Baldwin High School, will become the first MLB manager from Hawai’i when he takes command of the Los Angeles Angels.

The Warriors rolled to a 27-7 win over Lahainaluna on Friday night at Kana‘iaupuni Stadium to clinch another trip to state with a 3-0 record in the second round of Maui Interscholastic League play — they were already the first-round champions in Division II with a 4-0 record.

Archer Fabrao will participate in her fourth state tournament that runs Oct. 27 and Oct. 30-Nov. 1 after the Warriors clinched their 21st consecutive state tournament appearance with a 25-12. 25-20, 26-24 win over King Kekaulike on Tuesday. 

The 41-year-old Donan Cruz was named an assistant coach for the University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball program that he has battled for the last four years as head coach at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. 

The Warriors took another impressive step towards showing everyone who’s boss in Maui high school football with a 49-28 win over Baldwin on Friday night at Kanai’aupuni Stadium.

The first state high school surfing tournament will take place next year at Ho’okipa Beach Park, a nod to the three-decade effort of Maui’s Kim Ball to finally make the official state sport of Hawai’i also a state high school sport.

Gov. Josh Green joined Rep. Sean Quinlan, Olympic gold medalist Carissa Moore, Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) Surfing co-coordinator Kim Ball, student athletes and members of our surfing community to celebrate the announcement that surfing will become an official interscholastic state championship sport beginning in Spring 2026.

Kamehameha Maui out-gained Lahainaluna 375 yards to 83. The domination started from the get-go as the Warriors had 139 yards in the first quarter while limiting Lahainaluna to minus-9 yards total in building a 14-0 lead after 12 minutes of play.

In the first overtime game in King Kekaulike High School football history which dates to 1995, Kanoa Kuailani scored on a 5-yard touchdown run to end a 34-28 win over Baldwin at King Kekaulike Stadium. Kuailani, a 6-foot, 190-pound junior, entered the 2024 season as Na Ali’i’s starting quarterback, but missed the rest of the season after being injured in the first Maui Interscholastic League game against Baldwin.

Lahainaluna kicks off Maui Interscholastic League play with a victory behind 480 rushing yards, while Kamehameha Maui trounces Maui High that was without its starting quarterback, starting running back and standout wide receiver due to injuries.

Zedekaiah Campbell became the Warriors’ all-time leading rusher with a three-touchdown, 159-yard performance.

“The rivalry is definitely real,” King Kekaulike head coach Tyson Valle said about fellow Upcountry Division II team Kamehameha Schools Maui. “We got our eyes on them and they got their eyes on us.”

The offensive explosion broke numerous records, including the King Kekaulike High School record for points scored and the prep football record for total points in a game on Maui.

After losing 27 seniors, the defending champion Lunas will look to a new crop of rising leaders to lead them back to the state tournament. Baldwin and Maui High will have something to say about that.