Peter Caldwell | SL

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In case you didn't notice, the elephant in the room wears red. As in, Kahuku red.

The Red Raiders went big in Friday night's commanding 28-0 home win over fourth-ranked Waianae, utilizing their iron-fisted jumbo formation that is ever-so-appropriately known as the "elephant package."

The ground-and-pound attack helped Kahuku plow its way to 242 rushing yards and three of its four touchdowns against the Seariders.

Six different players recorded at least one carry for the Red Raiders, led by Harmon Brown's 17 carries for 85 yards and Elvis Vakapuna's 14-carry, 68-yard effort.

Brown and Vakapuna did much of their damage on direct snaps out of the wildcat, with a wall of 10 blockers just ahead of them.

It was a breakout game for Vakapuna, a senior running back who played at Utah's Bingham High last year.

"The o-line opened the holes really well," said Vakapuna, who scored the Red Raiders' first two touchdowns Friday on runs on 10 and nine yards. "Moving from Utah, the elephant, I didn't really know what it was, so seeing it actually open up, it was very fun."

The offensive line bulldozing the way for Brown, Vakapuna and company is made up of Vili Fisiihi (5-10, 260), Marcus Lombard (5-10, 276), Terauparaha Elkington (6-5, 330), Inoke Vimahi (6-4, 265) and Siliva Toelupe (6-0, 305), along with tight end/H-back Aliki Vimahi (6-2, 275) along with fullback Steven Lombard (5-11, 250).

The steadiness of the run game — Kahuku averaged 5.5 yards per rush — necessitated just 11 pass attempts from freshman quarterback Sol-Jay Maia, who completed five of them for 37 yards. None of his completions were longer than 13 yards. He was not intercepted.

"They did a really good job of doing their assignments," safety/running back Kesi Ah-Hoy said of the offense. "They just did their jobs. Alignment, assignment and executed and they did a really good job today."

The Red Raiders held the ball for long periods of time, and in doing so, kept a Waianae offense that entered the game averaging 228 rushing yards per game, off the field. They did not commit a turnover in the game.

Although it ended with a missed field goal, Kahuku's first possession of the night took seven minutes and 41 seconds off the clock. It drove 41 yards on eight plays in 5:05 to open the scoring with Vakapuna's first score, a 10-yard run with 40 seconds left in the first half.

After Waianae punted away on its first drive of the second half, the Red Raiders marched 66 yards in 12 plays, highlighted by a 9-yard Vakapuna touchdown run. That drive took 8:10 off the game clock.

"That's what we're looking to do," Kahuku coach Vavae Tata said. "It brings back the classic Stanford football: smash-mouth. On offense, eat the clock; on defense, get the ball back to the offense."

The defense did just that, shutting down the Seariders to the tune of 19 rushing yards and 27 yards of total offense.

The Seariders had the ball for just 14 minutes and seven seconds to 33:53 for the Red Raiders.

None of Waianae's eight drives sustained more than six plays and it did not run a single play in Kahuku territory.

Linebacker Sioeli Naupoto made a team-high seven tackles, including one for a loss, and recovered a fumble caused by Ah-Hoy on a sack of Waianae quarterback Jaren Ulu in the fourth quarter.

Ah-Hoy added three tackles and a sack, linebacker Miki Ah You had five tackles and defensive lineman Aleki Vimahi also notched a sack in the decisive victory for the Red Raiders.

There was only one word necessary for Tata to describe his defense's performance Friday: "Phenomenal."

Phenomenal, indeed.