Monday Morning MIL: Lahainaluna runs past King Kekaulike; Kamehameha Maui routs undermanned Maui High

Offensive lineman David “Sola” Kauvaka enjoys watching his blocks turn into holes for his teammates at Lahaiunaluna High School to run through.

Kauvaka had a prime time view Friday night as Kyle Thomas, Ezekiel Opunui and six other Lunas rushed for a whopping 480 yards in a 48-21 victory over King Kekaulike at Sue Cooley Stadium.

While the Divison II Na Ali’i haven’t beaten the Division I Lunas since 2004, now a span of 35 games — this Lunas win wasn’t exactly expected. They entered the game with two lopsided losses to non-league opponents, while King Kekaulike was 3-0.

The Lunas now are 1-0 in Maui Interscholastic League, while Na Ali’i fall to 1-1 in league play.

In Saturday’s MIL game, Division II Kamehameha Maui trounced Division I Maui High 42-0. That result leaves the defending Division II state champion Warriors 2-0 in MIL play, while the Sabers fell to 0-2.

All the games in league play count as the season is divided into two rounds where each team plays four games. If there are different round winners in either division there will be a playoff game for the division state tournament berth on the Nov. 7-8 weekend.

The tone of Friday’s game was set with lightning-strike proficiency by the Lunas early. On their first three plays from scrimmage, Opunui rambled 37 yards, Thomas went 68 yards and Opunui raced for another 67 yards — all for touchdowns — to give the Lunas a 21-7 lead less than 7 minutes into the game.

“It always makes me proud to see those guys run after they see me open gaps,” said Kauvaka, a 6-foot-3, 290-pound junior who already has a football scholarship offer from the University of Idaho. “And then I get to see them run right behind me, go by me, and score touchdowns.”

Lahainaluna head coach Dean Rickard said the play that sprung the running backs loose for the first three long touchdown runs is a combination of basic plays with a decision to be made by sophomore quarterback Leka Rosenthal. The running backs come down the line of scrimmage and the offensive linemen block defensive linemen at an angle to create a crease for the ballcarrier.

“Basically it’s a variation of a fly sweep,” Rickard said. “We kind of show a trap and a fly at the same time. It’s a read by our quarterback, whether he wants to take (the ball) or not.”

Thomas said the play is called “Green and yellow. It’s just outside runs. It’s one of my favorites.”

Thomas ran the ball 20 times for 227 yards, including touchdown runs of 68, 45, 9 and 5 yards. Opunui ran the ball seven times for 141 yards and the two early touchdowns.

Thomas had an 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in a 41-21 loss to Waiʻanae of O’ahu on Aug. 8, although he only ran the ball once from scrimmage for 7 yards in that game.

“I’m normally playing defense all the time, but it feels good to finally show what I got on offense,” Thomas said.

Kauvaka, for one, is happy to see Thomas get the ball.

“Really brings a special warmth to my heart, really warms it up, to watch him do his thing,” Kauvaka said of Thomas. “He’s electric.”

Rickard said that the 20-point loss to Waiʻanae and 52-0 loss to Kapolei of O’ahu on Aug. 16 are now in the rearview mirror with the start of Maui Interscholastic League play. The Lunas face Maui High on Saturday at King Kekaulike Stadium.

The Lunas plan every year is to perfect their wing T, misdirection plan on offense and the first three plays Friday show they are implementing the plan well.

“All we ever tell guys is execution is going to be a key factor, and everybody pick up their assignments, everybody attach themselves (to a defender),” Rickard said. “Just as long as you attach yourself to somebody you will give a better chance of success in any play that we run. It just happened to work out for us.”

Rickard admitted that he had never seen a start quite like the three plays that added up to 172 yards and three touchdowns to begin any Maui Interscholastic League game in his three-decade career as a football coach at the school. 

“It was a total shock for us,” he said.

The Lunas ran their streak of state tournament appearances to 17 years in a row with a dramatic goal-line stand in the final minute of a 7-3 MIL Division I championship playoff win over Baldwin last fall.

Thomas said the win over King Kekaulike shows the Lunas are on track to go for their 18th straight state tournament berth after the two lopsided non-league losses.

“We weren’t worried, but I know everyone else was worried about us,” Thomas said. “But we all knew that we still had it in us.”

King Kekaulike will host Baldwin (0-1 MIL) on Friday.

“Lahainaluna is tough, they have a tough running game. They came with kind of their old-school stuff, which was kind of interesting to see, but yeah, tough team,” King Kekaulike head coach Tyson Valle said. “I don’t think we need to reset anything that we’re doing. We showed at times we can move the ball. We just gotta wrap things up defensively.”

The Warriors were businesslike in their win over the undermanned Sabers. Zedekaiah Campbell scored on the opening play of the game, with a 95-yard kickoff return to make it 7-0 just 15 seconds into the game. 

Campbell added a 1-yard scoring run; quarterback Kekoa Keau-Davis had a 71-yard scoring run and a 5-yard scoring pass to Bruce Beltran; Nakoa Pau had a 3-yard scoring run; and Xander Pagan had a 35-yard touchdown run.

“Businesslike has been our approach all year,” Kamehameha Maui head coach Ulima Afoa said.

Maui High was missing starting quarterback Kahlen Boteilho-Dougherty, standout wide receiver Jonah Cariaga and starting running back Micah Barut, all due to injuries. Cariaga is expected to be back this week, while the other two are doubtful to be back this week.

“Once again, that’s what we’re looking for is guys coming out and competing,” Maui High head coach Pohai Lee said. “They did the best they could, but again, Kamehameha is a good team, well coached, they move around well, and they are physical, very physical.”

“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.