Lunas Bounce Back With Win; Sabers, Warriors Lose

By Fred Guzman

Lahainaluna again played well on the defensive side of the ball and showed marked improvement on offense on Saturday for a 26-6 prep football victory over Keaau of the Big Ilsand at The Imu.

Typically, the Lunas used a heavy rotation of ball handlers as 10 different players were credited with at least one carry during the non-league game.

Things didn’t go nearly as well for two other MIL teams who played on the road over weekend.

On Friday, Kapa’a dominated all aspects of the game in defeating Kamehameha-Maui 36-0.

On Saturday, Maui High suffered a 21-7 loss at Waiakea.  The Sabers jumped out to an early lead on Totauhe Lotulelei’s 1-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, but Waiakea rallied on three scoring runs by Nuu Ayala, including a 77-yard scamper.

Defending MIL Division-I champion Baldwin will make its debut with a 7 p.m. game on Friday against visiting Edison of Orange County at War Memorial Stadium.  Former UH great and San Francisco 49ers standout Jesse Sapolu is an assistant coach at Edison, where his sons played prep football.

The MIL regular season kicks off on Saturday, with the Lunas playing host to King Kekaulike at 1:30 p.m. and Maui High facing Kamehameha-Maui in a 7 p.m. game at War Memorial.

A pair of OIA powerhouses flexed their muscles at the expense of top teams from the private-school ILH over the weekend. Top-ranked Kahuku posted a decisive 13-3 win over No. 8 Kamehameha, which fell to 0-2 for the season, and No. 5 Farrington crushed No. 7 Iolani 42-7.