Monday Morning MIL: Lahainaluna, Kamehameha Maui claim state football berths

Lahainaluna and Kamehameha Maui made key defensive stops to clinch the Division I and II state berths, respectively, in a pair of championship games over the weekend that showed off the depth of Maui Interscholastic League football.

The Lunas beat Baldwin 7-3 on Friday at King Kekaulike Stadium in a game that was decided in the final minute by a goal-line stand by Lahainaluna’s defense, sending the Lunas to their 17th straight First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA state berth, the last four coming in Division I. 

Lahainaluna’s Kahi Magno punched the ball away from Baldwin quarterback Antone Sanches on a play that began at the Lunas’ 2-yard line. Lahainaluna’s Mau Montgomery recovered the ball on the 1 with 31.8 seconds to play.

“Definitely, without a doubt, this was the toughest one,” Lahainaluna coach Dean Rickard said of the latest state tournament berth. “I told you it was going to be a battle and it really turned out to be. It was fought in the trenches, it was won in the trenches for us. And at the same time, hats off to Baldwin, their staff and especially their kids, because they came and played their hearts out.”

Prior to the fumble, it appeared Sanches had scored as he dove into the end zone, but Rickard called timeout just before the snap.

“I couldn’t get (the referees’) attention, so I had to run on the field before they got the snap off. … We were fortunate,” Rickard said. “We could regroup our kids and we told them they have to dig down deep, this might be the last time. And it happened in our favor and we’re grateful for that.”

Baldwin finished the season 6-3 overall, 3-2 in MIL D-I play, while the Lunas will enter the state tournament with a 6-4 overall record, 4-1 in MIL D-I. The Bears were 1-22 over the previous three seasons.

“Their future is bright and I think for the MIL it’s only going to be much tougher from this point on,” Rickard said. “We’re getting to that point where everybody is going to be on equal terms and now everything comes down to the offseason. That’s what football is in the MIL.”

Baldwin scored first on a 38-yard field goal by Jordan Carbonell in the second quarter and the Lunas immediately responded on the next possession, taking the lead on a 49-yard touchdown run by Kyle Thomas.

Max Kushi led the Bears with 85 yards on 21 rushes, while Sanches had 78 yards on 21 carries. 

The game was a defensive gem — Baldwin was limited to 198 total yards of offense, while Lahainaluna had just 147 yards of offense.

“Amazing, I’ve been saying it for years, that (Lahainaluna) is the class of the league and if you want to be the best you have to beat the best,” Baldwin coach Cody Nakamura said. “We didn’t have enough tonight, so we’ve got to regroup and try to come back next year. … We’re extremely proud of the boys, extremely proud of the seniors.”

In the second championship game on Saturday, Kamehameha beat King Kekaulike 34-17 at War Memorial Stadium to claim the MIL Division II state berth. 

Defense was also the key to the Warriors’ win — three takeaways in the third quarter led to 14 points that helped turn a 14-10 game into a 27-10 lead for Kamehameha Maui. The first was a fumble recovery by Niuhi Howard that led to a 1-yard touchdown run by Kaonohi Casco, and Logan Andrade intercepted a pass by King Kekaulike quarterback Kingston Goliday and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown. Anthony Sardine also recovered a fumble, but King Kekaulike’s defense stopped Kamehameha Maui on downs.

Kamehameha Maui was the only team in the MIL to beat all five other teams in the league and the Warriors will enter the state tournament with a 7-3 overall record. Coming off a state runner-up finish last season, the Warriors are likely to receive a bye into the state semifinals on Nov. 23.

King Kekaulike forced the D-II title game with a 16-14 win at Kamehameha Maui last week.

“That was our goal at the beginning of the season and our kids basically took care of business and did what they needed to do,” Kamehameha Maui coach Ulima Afoa said. “Those turnovers helped us. … Last week was a wake-up call for everybody.”

Afoa didn’t hesitate on what the goal is now. Kamehameha Maui lost last season’s D-II state final 31-28 to Waimea.

“The goal is to win it, win it all,” he said. 

King Kekaulike recovered from a 1-3 start to finish the year 5-5.

“I said it all year, mistakes will kill any team and that’s what happened to us tonight, turnovers, fumbles, interceptions,” King Kekaulike coach Tyson Valle said. “This team finished hard and that’s kind of what I was looking for in the end, just to finish.”

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CROSS COUNTRY: Seabury Hall boys second, girls third at state meet

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The MIL champion teams from Seabury Hall led the way for the league at the Honolulu Marathon/HHSAA state cross country meet at Keōpūolani Park on Saturday morning.

The Spartans boys, behind the fourth-place finish by senior Micah Brighton, were second in the Division II standings with 53 points, 14 behind champion Hawaii Baptist Academy. The Maui High boys finished ninth in the D-I standings, while Baldwin was 14th.

The Seabury Hall girls took third in the D-II team standings after a rare three-way tie in which the top three teams all ended up with 43 points based on the finishes of their top five runners. Hawaii Prep won on the tiebreaker, which takes into account a team’s sixth runner, and Hawaii Baptist was second, leaving the Spartans third.

Seabury Hall’s Isabella Grossman, a sophomore, was the top MIL finisher among girls, in sixth place.

The Maui High girls finished 13th in the D-I standings.

State individual titles were won by Moanalua’s Sadie Krueger and James Millare.

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GIRLS VOLLEYBALL: Baldwin, Seabury Hall both finish fifth

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MIL D-I champion Baldwin said goodbye to eight seniors with a fifth-place finish in the New City Nissan/HHSAAA state tournament with a win over Kamehameha Hawai’i on Saturday at the Cannon Activities Center in Lāʻie.

The Bears were a state final four team a year ago, but saw their state title hopes dashed by a 25-19, 25-13, 26-24 loss to eventual state champion Kamehameha Kapālama in the quarterfinals.

In D-II, MIL champion Maui Prep went 0-2 in the state tournament and runner-up Seabury Hall finished fifth with a sweep of Damien on Saturday.

HJI’s “Monday Morning MIL” columns appear weekly on Monday mornings with updates on local sports in the Maui Interscholastic League and elsewhere around Maui County. Please send column ideas — anything having to do with sports in Maui County — as well as results and photos to rob@hjinow.org.