#Lunas football

Zedekaiah Campbell became the Warriors’ all-time leading rusher with a three-touchdown, 159-yard performance.

He is a man of few words, a deep thinker.

Of all the things the Lahainaluna High School football team accomplished in 2016, understanding the truth about hard work and the amount of effort it takes to set a goal, make a plan, and execute on task week after week, will undeniably serve as their legacy.

The Lahainaluna High School used a balanced attack on offense, defense and special teams Friday to claim the school’s first state Division II football championship since the small-school tournament was organized 14 years ago.

The last time a pair of Neighbor Island teams played for the state Division II football championship, King Kekaulike High School returned to the Valley Isle with the winning hardware, knocking off Kauai in the 2006 final at Aloha Stadium, 33-20.

Despite all the different looks and personnel moves Maui High School utilized, none could change the outcome of Saturday’s “Big Game” against cross-town rival Baldwin High School.

Baldwin High School’s backup running back Daniel Corpuz rushed for 99 yards and two first-quarter touchdowns to help the Bears preserve a 19-13 victory over Lahainaluna Saturday night in an otherwise meaningless Maui Interscholastic League football game at War Memorial Stadium.

While the Lahainaluna High School football team has enjoyed some outstanding individual efforts this season, none compares to the team effort the Lunas have demonstrated in September.

It might as well have been the painful exercise of finding the pea in the three shell game.

Kapaa High School’s Kurt Napoleon threw for one touchdown and ran for another to lead the visiting Warriors of Garden Isle over Lahainaluna on Saturday, 21-0.

At Lahainaluna High School, defense wins championships. Saturday night the school’s football team rode the coattails of its defensive unit to claim yet another Maui Interscholastic League Division II championship, sneaking by a stubborn Kamehameha Maui team 14-10 at War Memorial Stadium.

Lahainaluna High School co-head coach Bobby Watson had a good feeling about Saturday’s game with Kamehameha Hawaii.

Four years ago, Lahainaluna High School kept six freshmen on its 44-player varsity roster.

The Maui High School football team will have to travel to Aloha Stadium and top-seeded Lahainaluna will host, but not at its new stadium on campus.

The 2013 Lahainaluna High School football team is one win away from matching the school’s record 11-game win streak from 1997.

As good as the Lahainaluna High School football team played Friday night, it wasn’t perfect. But it was darn close and perhaps as good as we’ve seen a Maui Interscholastic League team play in October.

The Lunas put forth another stellar performance Friday night, building a 23-0 lead at halftime en route to a lopsided 37-7 victory over Maui High.

This time, it was Lahainaluna High School’s offense — not its signature defense — that set the tempo and ultimately lowered the boom on Baldwin, before a crowd of more than 8,000 at War Memorial Stadium on Friday.

Good football teams can overcome mistakes, penalties and other miscues.

The Lahainaluna High School football team utilized its first-round bye Saturday to notch its eighth shutout in 13 games, this time against a high-powered offense from Vancouver, British Columbia.