Monday Morning MIL: Kamehameha Maui routs Roosevelt, advances to D-II state final

The Kamehameha Schools Maui football team chose a great night to score 60 points for just the second time in school history.

The top-seeded Warriors excelled on offense, defense and special teams to roll to a 60-26 home victory over Roosevelt in the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Division II semifinal on Saturday night at Kana’i’aupuni Stadium in Pukalani.

The win sends Kamehameha Maui to the D-II state championships game against Kaiser this coming Saturday at 4 p.m. at Mililani High School on Oʻahu. It will be the third state final in four years for the Warriors, who are seeking their first state title on the gridiron.

“That’s what you worked all year for, what you work for in the offseason,” Kamehameha Maui coach Ulima Afoa said. “We try to overcome all of the distractions and all of that and just play.”

His team scored three touchdowns by special teams, three via the run, one on a pass and one on defense. KaydenYap also made two field goals.

“Those are the kind of games you work for, enough to where you can get everybody into the game,” Afoa said. “It was a good night for us tonight.”

But now they have to prepare for “a hell of an opponent” in Kaiser, to which Afoa said: “We’ll be ready.”

The only other time in school history the Warriors cracked the 60-point plateau was in a 64-24 triumph over King Kekaulike on Oct. 19, 2018.

“Oh, they’re a great team, awesome, and they’re the No. 1 team for a reason, man,” Roosevelt coach  Kui Kahooilihala said.

The Warriors scored on a blocked punt less than 4 minutes into the game and added an 18-yard touchdown run by Zedekiah Campbell 87 seconds later after another punt miscue by the Roughriders.

Kamehameha Maui senior linebacker Kaiwa Ho blocked the first punt of the night by Roosevelt and Anthony Sardine Jr. recovered the ball in the end zone to give Kamehameha Maui a 7-0 lead with 8:03 left in the first quarter.

Campbell’s touchdown run came one play after a bad snap sailed over punter Ioane Kamanao’s head. Another bad punt snap by the Roughriders led to a 45-yard field goal by Yap to make it 17-0. And, after the Warriors’ defense made a stop on downs, Campbell rambled 48 yards on the next play to push the lead to 24-0.

Roosevelt would not get closer than 17 points the rest of the way, but the Warriors would have more highlight reel plays. The Warriors made it 30-7 on a 12-yard pass from Kolten Waikiki-Caldeira to Frank Abreu and Tevyn Apo scored on an 89-yard kickoff return to make it 37-13 at halftime.

To start the second half, Apo returned the opening kickoff 90 yards to increase the advantage to 44-13.

“That’s amazing and God bless him, you know what I’m saying?” Afoa said of the two touchdown kickoff returns by Apo, a 5-foot-8, 160-pound junior. “He deserved it. He worked for it.”

Apo, who now has four kickoff returns for touchdowns this season, gave large credit to special team coach Kevin O’Brien and teammates.

“I just have to give a big shout out to all my blockers, they create lanes that are just magical,” Apo said. “I could just see the end zone from like 50 yards away. It’s really a pleasure to be behind them.”

After a 44-yard run by Kaikea Hu’eu pushed the lead to 54-19 late in the third quarter, the Warriors’ final score came on a 49-yard interception return by Kolt Kaho’ohanohano with 11:09 to play.

In the end, the Warriors dominated the numbers on the ground, outrushing the Roughriders 242 yards to 23, while Roosevelt piled up 370 yards passing to 12 for Kamehameha Maui. The Roughriders passing yards came primarily after falling behind 24-0 at the end of the first quarter. 

Hu’eu finished with 124 yards rushing on nine carries, while Campbell had 10 rushes for 121 yards for the Warriors.

Kamehameha Maui standout senior defensive back/wide receiver Nohi Casco missed the game with a knee injury, but Afoa is hopeful that he will be back for the final game of his prep career.

Afoa was adamant his team will be ready for the state final — depleted by COVID in 2021, the Warriors lost 61-7 in the championship game to Kapaʻa; last season they lost 31-28 to Waimea.

“We’re tired of coming in second,” Afoa said. 

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SOCCER: Stellar college career ends for King Kekaulike grad Teani Arakawa

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Teani Arakawa, a 2021 King Kekaulike High School graduate and two-time Gatorade State Player of the Year for Na Alii, finished her standout college career on Saturday in San Diego, Calif., when her University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo team lost 2-1 to Point Loma Nazarene University in the second round of the NCAA Division II Tournament.

Arakawa’s combined career in high school and college is one of the all-time best for a Maui Interscholastic League women’s soccer player. 

She leaves Hilo with its program’s single-season records in points, 34, and assists, 10. Both were set this year. She also is Hilo’s career leader with 30 goals and 81 points.

She was the PacWest Conference Player of the Year in 2023 and 2024 and a league champion last season. This year, the Vulcans finished 14-3-3 and won their first ever NCAA Tournament game, 3-1 on Thursday over Concordia Irvine.

Arakawa started her career at South Dakota State University where she started nine of the 22 games she played in for the Jackrabbits, tallying five goals and four assists. One of her goals was the only tally in a 1-0 win over the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa.

Arakawa helped the Jackrabbits to the Summit League Tournament championship with an appearance in the NCAA College Cup first round. She was named All-Summit League Second Team and Summit League All-Newcomer Team.

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.