#football

Kamehameha Maui had 11 senior starters play their final high school game on Friday, including the school’s all-time leading rusher Zedekaiah Campbell, college-football-bound offensive lineman Pa’u Spencer, and defensive leader Kolt Kaho’ohanohano.

Together, one of the most prolific running back tandems in the state led the Warriors to a 37-18 win over sister school Kamehameha Hawai’i in a semifinal of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Division II tournament on Saturday night.

Iapani “Poncho” Laloulu and Fa’anu Ma’o were always close growing up, Laloulu on O’ahu and Ma’o on Maui, but they grew closer as Ma’o’s mother, Failagi Laloulu Ma’o, battled breast cancer that first hit her in 2017 when Fa’anu was 9 years old and Poncho was 13.

The Warriors are taking the “college bowl” approach, spending the four weeks before the state tournament studying film, lifting weights and getting healthy before they play a semifinal game in the state tournament on Nov. 22.

Lahainaluna saw its remarkable Maui Interscholastic League record of 17 straight trips to state football tournaments come to an end with Saturday’s result.

The Warriors rolled to a 27-7 win over Lahainaluna on Friday night at Kana‘iaupuni Stadium to clinch another trip to state with a 3-0 record in the second round of Maui Interscholastic League play — they were already the first-round champions in Division II with a 4-0 record.

The Warriors took another impressive step towards showing everyone who’s boss in Maui high school football with a 49-28 win over Baldwin on Friday night at Kanai’aupuni Stadium.

Kamehameha Maui out-gained Lahainaluna 375 yards to 83. The domination started from the get-go as the Warriors had 139 yards in the first quarter while limiting Lahainaluna to minus-9 yards total in building a 14-0 lead after 12 minutes of play.

In the first overtime game in King Kekaulike High School football history which dates to 1995, Kanoa Kuailani scored on a 5-yard touchdown run to end a 34-28 win over Baldwin at King Kekaulike Stadium. Kuailani, a 6-foot, 190-pound junior, entered the 2024 season as Na Ali’i’s starting quarterback, but missed the rest of the season after being injured in the first Maui Interscholastic League game against Baldwin.

Lahainaluna kicks off Maui Interscholastic League play with a victory behind 480 rushing yards, while Kamehameha Maui trounces Maui High that was without its starting quarterback, starting running back and standout wide receiver due to injuries.

“The rivalry is definitely real,” King Kekaulike head coach Tyson Valle said about fellow Upcountry Division II team Kamehameha Schools Maui. “We got our eyes on them and they got their eyes on us.”

The offensive explosion broke numerous records, including the King Kekaulike High School record for points scored and the prep football record for total points in a game on Maui.

After losing 27 seniors, the defending champion Lunas will look to a new crop of rising leaders to lead them back to the state tournament. Baldwin and Maui High will have something to say about that.

Maui High beat Kealakehe 21-6 on Saturday at King Kekaulike Stadium, Baldwin beat Hilo 17-13 on Friday at Wong Stadium on Hawai’i island, and King Kekaulike beat Honoka’a 9-7 at Honoka’a on Saturday. Lahainaluna travelled to Wai’anae and got beat 41-21 Saturday night, while Damien Memorial School beat Kamehameha Maui 33-17 at Kana‘iaupuni Stadium on Friday.

Kaholi Krau, the first Mauian to attend the elite IMG Academy in Florida for more than one year, has returned home to play football and make up for lost time with his family.

The league will use the eight-game, two-round system to determine Division I and Division II state tournament berths after two seasons of unbalanced schedules were needed due to the Aug. 8, 2023, fires and the expansion to a six-team league that included Moloka’i in 2024. 

Kamehameha Maui, Maui High and King Kekaulike all have more than 50 athletes out for spring football practice, numbers rarely seen in the Maui Interscholastic League for the voluntary workouts.

The decision granting another year of NCAA eligibility to former junior college players has allowed Moloka’i graduate Uso Seumalo and Kamehameha Maui graduate Kapena Gushiken the chance to play this fall at Kansas State and Mississippi, respectively.

The Maui Interscholastic League will field nine teams in the first season for girls flag football. The state is set to have 58 teams compete in the sport this spring.

Pohai Lee takes reins of Sabers football program after being head coach for Baldwin High School from 2015 to 2021.