Hawaiʻi-Washington State football game brings together former Kamehameha Maui teammates

When the University of Hawaiʻi football team takes the field at Washington State on Saturday, it will be a landmark moment for Kamehameha Schools Maui with its 2020 graduates Karsyn Pupunu and Kapena Gushiken playing on opposite sides of the field.

It will be the first time the Upcountry private school will have two former teammates play against each other in a game at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, the highest in college football.

Pupunu is a wide receiver for the University of Hawaiʻi and Gushiken is a defensive back for Washington State.

“It’s going to be awesome, me and Kapena, we put in a lot of work over our high school years and just to see it all pay off and come full circle, and be able to go versus each other, it’s just going to be amazing,” Pupunu said Tuesday. 

Kamehameha Maui head coach Ulima Afoa said he will be watching Saturday’s game on television, which begins at 9:30 a.m. HST on The CW Network.

Afoa coached for 18 years at San Diego State and two more years at UH before settling in at KSM in 2016 when Pupunu and Gushiken were ninth-graders.

“I’m always happy that our kids have been driven enough to work at trying to get into those positions because playing at a Division I college is not an easy feat, takes a lot of hard work,” Afoa said. “So, I take a big sense of pride in the fact that they worked at it and have achieved part of what their dream was.”

The Cougars are 5-1 this season, with Gushiken playing a significant role all year. He has 27 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and an interception. Last season, he played in all 12 games and had 36 tackles and a memorable 88-yard interception return for a touchdown against UCLA.

The Rainbow Warriors, on the other hand, have struggled at 2-4. Pupunu plays on all of UH’s special teams and has two catches this year for 33 yards. He has seven catches for 104 yards and two tackles in his 3-year UH career.

The pair of former teammates have not talked much since May when they worked out together several times on Maui. But they expect Saturday to be a display of how far they have come since their days on the Pukalani campus.

Both have found their way to their current schools through the transfer portal. Pupunu attended Weber State, a Football Championship Subdivision school in Ogden, Utah, in 2020, but did not play before transferring to UH for the 2021 season, when he redshirted. 

Gushiken played at Saddleback Junior College in 2021 and 2022 in Mission Viejo, Calif., before finding his way to Pullman, Wash., where he has become a starter at nickel back.

“Kapena was always an athlete … This guy was really fast, he was super athletic, he could jump high, he could move around a lot,” Pupunu said. “I think it was when he got to juco (junior college) that people really started to realize that.”

Gushiken remembers talking to Pupunu about their college options when they were at Kamehameha Maui.

“We would talk about me going to junior college and him going to Weber State, but shoot, we could have never predicted us playing against each other four years later,” Gushiken said. “We could have never predicted that. I think that’s crazy that it’s about to happen.”

He also said this limelight helps put the Maui Interscholastic League “on the map.”

“It goes to show that the people who poured into us as athletes, it’s starting to come to light,” Gushiken said. “With everything being said, it’s going to bring more attention to Maui.” 

Pupunu said that he watched film on Gushiken on Monday evening and his friend stood out among the Cougars’ secondary.

“One thing I found out really quickly is that he’s aggressive. He comes down on the blocking when we have to block him. He’s very physical and like I said that speed just shows up on tape,” Pupunu said.

Gushiken said his old friend will see a much different player than the skinny 17-year-old who used to cover Pupunu in practice in Pukalani.

“I’m a completely different player compared to what he remembers me as, I think,” Gushiken said. “That’s just how I feel. I’m excited for them to come to Pullman. I don’t know if they are going to be ready for this 50-degree weather. I’ve adapted, I’ve already had to adapt. So, it’s going to be up to them if they are ready to play in that cold weather.”

Pupunu agrees, saying professional football could be in Gushiken’s future. 

“Shoot, I think Kapena’s a dog, I think he’s developed for the next level, I think he’s ready and able to do that as well,” Pupunu said.

Gushiken said he got better going against Pupunu in high school.

“He was definitely always our best receiver on the team, if not the best, one of the best on the island,” Gushiken said of Pupunu in high school. “We would battle every day. It’s really crazy to think back about it because it was such a long time ago. 

“We made each other better, for sure. … Him being a wide out, me being a corner (in high school), I think we sharpened each other every day.” 

If they line up across from each other, Gushiken said, “I hope they get a picture of that. I want to have that one.”

Kamehameha Maui has produced other football players who have competed at the top level in college, including Brigham Young University’s Walter Kahaialii (2006 graduate), University of Nevada at Las Vegas’ Keahi Raikes (2007), Eastern Michigan’s Bryan Pali (2008) and Oregon’s Keloni Kamalani (2009).

Saturday’s matchup is a rare occurrence anywhere in Maui Interscholastic League history. Jordan Pu’u-Robinson, a Washington State defensive end, and Mana Rosa, an Oregon State defensive lineman, faced each other in games in 2009, 2010 and 2011 — both were teammates at Baldwin High School. 

Pu’u-Robinson also played fellow Baldwin grad John Lotulelei, a linebacker, when Washington State took on UNLV in 2011.

“We actually did face each other on one special teams’ rep,” Pu’u-Robinson, now a UH assistant coach for defensive ends, said of his matchup with Lotulelei in a 59-7 Cougars’ win. “It was awesome, we hit each other and then we gave each other a hug after the play and went back to our sideline.”

Pu’u-Robinson said the experience for Pupunu and Gushiken will be special, especially if they do line up across from each other on Saturday.

“It’s also just great to represent Maui,” Pu’u-Robinson said. “Obviously, it’s a smaller island where you don’t get a ton of Division I players. So when they get to play each other on that next level it’s a great representation of the island itself.”

Maui is on Pu’u-Robinson’s recruiting map for UH and he keeps an eye on the Maui Interscholastic League with the help of several former teammates who are now high school coaches here. Pu’u-Robinson has seen some players leave the island to play football at other high schools, which sometimes works to their advantage and sometimes does not.

Pu’u-Robinson did a home visit for 2024 Kamehameha Maui graduate Frank Kahoa Abreu, a wide receiver who is gray shirting this season and is set to join the UH program next season.  

“I have a lot of eyes on that island … so I get a lot of great feedback on who is doing well and who isn’t,” he said. “There’s a lot of talent there.”