Kamehameha Maui has ‘unfinished business’ as it seeks first state football title in third try

With the state championship game in their sights, the theme at Kamehameha Schools Maui football practice this week has been pretty simple: Finish the mission.

The Warriors will play for the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Division II state football title at 4 p.m. Saturday at Mililani High School against Kaiser. It is Kamehameha Maui’s third appearance in the D-II state championship game in the last four years, but the Warriors are still seeking their first state title on the gridiron.

“We’ve been here twice before this, left with some unfinished business, so we’ve got to figure out how to bring that big trophy home,” Kamehameha Maui coach Ulima Afoa said at practice Monday.

The Warriors reached their first state football final in 2021 with a 48-24 win over Kaiser in the semifinals. Several Warriors tested positive for COVID prior to the 2021 final and they were beaten by Kapa’a 61-7. Kamehameha Maui again made the state final last season and came up short to Waimea 31-28.

Some of the unfinished business for the Warriors will come with recent football alumni in mind. 

Kale Spencer was the unquestioned leader of the 2021 team and is now a standout volleyball player at Long Island University — his younger brother Pa’u Spencer is a 6-foot-3, 295-pound junior offensive lineman for KSM who has received a scholarship offer from the University of Hawai’i.

“It would mean the world,” Pa’u Spencer said of what a state title would mean for him, his brother and others who have come before him. “I mean, I think I’ve been blessed to get to go on to the next level. And I think this will just kind of put the cherry on top and kind of culminate all the past four classes since my brother’s class.”

Pa’u Spencer mentioned several other players who left KSM without a state championship ring, including quarterback Makana Kamaka-Brayce, wide receiver Frank Abreu and Kanekoa Maielua-Kekiwi — all three are now in college football programs.

“I think this is just getting revenge for the past two, three years,” Pa’u Spencer said.

Afoa said that the plan to finish this week is a basic message that he has been sending to KSM players since he took over the program in 2016.

“We talk to them all the time about, ‘Hey, just finishing on a good note,” Afoa said. “That’s one of the things that we emphasize, is just finish the play, finish doing what you’re supposed to do, make sure that when you start something, you finish it.”

Last week the top-seeded Warriors played a complete game in a 60-26 win over Roosevelt. KSM scored three touchdowns on special teams, including 89- and 90-yard kickoff return touchdowns by Tevyn Apo — the longest two kickoff returns in the 21-year history of Division II in the Hawai’i High School Athletic Association. The Warriors also scored three touchdowns on runs, one on a pass and one on defense.

The Warriors dominated the ground game last week with running backs Kaikea Hu’eu and Zedekiah Campbell combining for 245 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries.

Senior linebacker Rusty Ako-Nataniela has played in the two previous state championship games for the Warriors and feels a personal need to win on Saturday.

“This year I worked the hardest with everybody, building relationships with the boys, my teammates, my brothers and seeing me crave it, seeing them crave it, this season has really been different,” Ako-Nataniela said.

Ako-Nataniela said the former KSM standouts are on his mind as well.

“This whole entire season, my dedication was to them,” he said. “I worked with them since my freshman year, all of those guys, they’re all great players, great brothers of mine — it would mean the most to me if I could win it for them.”

Kaiwa Ho, a senior linebacker, also played in both of the state finals that the Warriors have come up short in.

“To start off, I’m so grateful to have this wonderful team and these wonderful coaches,” Ho said. “A lot of underclassmen, but they have stayed so true to the sport and they’ve always backed each other up. Just a great team effort, offensively, defensively.”

Ho said he will leave all his emotions on the field in his final football game — he plans to attend trade school after graduation in May. All the former Warriors he has played with will also be on his mind Saturday night. 

“We’ve been here in this same situation so many times and just to finally be confident in our team now and know that they’ve set our program up to just continue and keep going,” Ho said. “I just have so much appreciation for all of our alumni and all of those people.”