Monday Morning MIL: Kamehameha Maui’s rising stars look to come back strong after two consecutive state titles

MILILANI, O‘AHU — As Kamehameha Schools Maui romped to its second-straight Division II state football title on Friday night, sophomore quarterback Kekoa Keau-Davis took the field with his senior teammates for the last time.

In the backfield was senior Zedekaiah Campbell, the school’s all-time leading rusher. On the line of scrimmage were three senior offensive linemen, including college-football-bound Pa‘u Spencer. On the other side of the ball was defensive leader Kolt Kaho‘ohanohano, who had a game-high nine tackles and two key interceptions in the title game.

But despite the loss of 19 seniors, including 11 starters, the Warriors’ future still looks bright.

“We have a great amount of weapons, we have a young team,” Keau-Davis said between receiving lei from well-wishers after the Warriors’ 48-24 win over Waimea at Mililani High School. “We’re losing a lot of seniors, but we also have a lot of young people who are going to step up next year.”

On offense, the Warriors will welcome back Keau-Davis; running back Xander Pagan, a sophomore who joined Campbell as a 1,000-yard rusher this season; sophomore wide receiver Loea Asuega-Stark, who caught a touchdown pass in the state final; sophomore center Jeremiah Kea; and junior left tackle Kukauakuewa So‘o. 

Junior running back Nakoa Pau also returns after he ran for 455 yards and five touchdowns as the third option rushing the ball this season. Keau-Davis completed 98-for-166 passes for 1,363 yards, 19 touchdowns and just five interceptions and rushed for 422 yards this season for the 11-1 Warriors.

The Warriors became the first Maui Interscholastic League team to ever produce two 1,000-yard rushers in the same season when Campbell went from 999 to his school-record 1,015 on the final carry of his career, a 16-yard touchdown with 1:48 to play. Pagan had reached his total of 1,004 earlier in the game.

“That was very important,” Keau-Davis said. “We all talked about it in the huddle, just to get (Campbell) that last yard to get the 1,000 yards.”

The offensive line of Spencer at right tackle, Keanu Reyes at right guard, Kea at center, Isaiah Lani at left guard, and So‘o at left tackle were key to the success of the team that ran for 252.1 yards per game and passed for 117.3 yards per game. Spencer, Reyes and Lani are seniors. 

“I had a lot of fun this season,” Keau-Davis said. “It was easy because all the linemen in front of me and all the running backs just made my job easier.”

The defensive starters returning for Kamehameha Maui include junior defensive end Frank Kapohai Abreu, who had five tackles, a quarterback sack, 1.5 tackles for loss, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry in the state championship game; junior defensive back Anthony Sardine Jr., who had seven tackles against Waimea; junior defensive back Tali Buenconsejo; sophomore defensive lineman Kalewa Pascua; junior defensive lineman Eli Mossman; and junior linebacker Aukai Phillips, who finished with seven tackles against Waimea.

“It’s honestly a blessing that we can come back and do this again,” Phillips said. “It’s an honor to play with these boys. I have felt like that for awhile, since my freshman year. It’s just a honor, I love it.”

Keau-Davis is looking forward to the next couple seasons with himself and Pagan in the backfield and the likes of Pau and Abreu, who also often lines up at tight end, back next year.

The Menehune beat the Warriors 31-28 in the 2023 Division II state championship game. Kapohai Abreu said that the chance to get a measure of revenge was special — his older brother Frank Kahoa Abreu, now a freshman tight end at the University of Hawai‘i was injured and unavailable to play in that game.

“That one felt special, especially losing to them my freshman year,” Kapohai Abreu said, adding that he was going to tell his older brother “Hey, you couldn’t do it, so I had to do it for you.”

Kaho‘ohanohano said leaving a legacy for Kamehameha Maui was on the minds of the 19 seniors on Friday night. 

“To just be able to cement ourselves in history, for the school, for the state, it definitely feels awesome to be a part of that,” Kaho‘ohanohano said. “We definitely have some good guys coming up next year to continue on this legacy that we started.”

Kaho‘ohanohano added, “This team’s not done yet. We definitely can make some more things happen next year.”

Kapohai Abreu said Kaho‘ohanohano will be missed on defense.

“That guy is a dog, man,” Abreu said. “I’m going to leave it at dog. We’re going to miss him.”

Pagan, one of the stars who will return next year, dedicated this season to Suzanne O, the Maui police office shot and killed in the line of duty in August. O was Pagan’s stepmom, and he affectionately called her “auntie.”

“I love her a lot and I know that she’s happy to see me succeed down here,” Pagan said. 

Pagan moved up from junior varsity last season to take a major role on a defending state championship team.

“It was different to come to varsity from JV,” Pagan said. “I didn’t really think that I’d play that much, but when I did go in and get my reps I would showcase my talent and show what I could do.”

Pagan had a game-high 221 all-purpose yards on Friday and finished the season with 14 total touchdowns, including a 92-yard kickoff return on Friday that gave the Warriors a 20-12 lead. 

“They should have watched film on me and known not to kick it to me,” Pagan said. “It felt great to return it up the middle. I’d like to thank my kickoff return team for the beautiful blocking.”

Pagan pointed to the fact that Kamehameha Maui ran off 11 straight wins after a season-opening non-league loss to Damien. The Warriors are 15-1 against MIL opponents and 20-4 overall over the last two seasons, both of which ended with state championship trophies in their hands.

“We’ve set a really high standard,” Pagan said. “Being from Maui, being D-II, everybody probably doubted us coming off our loss to Damien in our preseason game. But we built as a team, we worked as a team, we did what we needed to come undefeated and win this state championship.” 

Campbell, who is leaning towards Indiana Wesleyan University to continue his career, said he will miss playing for this Kamehameha Maui team.

“It’s going to be interesting to see what they do next year because we’re kind of losing our size, but they have a lot of good guys coming back,” Campbell said. “I can’t wait to see what they are able to do without us seniors. … Just passing on the torch, excited to see what Xander and the boys can do in the future.”

“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.