Konawaena airs it out to reach third straight Division I title game

Rayden Aoki | SL

The Wildcats are heading back to the 'ship.

Aliimalu Tan racked up 191 receiving yards and three scores in Konawaena's 45-20 win over Leilehua in the semifinals of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Division I state football championships.

The 5-foot-9 sophomore racked up nine receptions on 16 targets, and his three touchdowns came on pass plays of 40, 22 and 28 yards each.

"We just had to execute, shout to the O-line for the blocks and my senior wideout Austin Takaki, who taught me everything I know," said Tan of his performance.

Fellow sophomore Keenan Alani threw for 359 yards and five scores, his first 300 yard effort since Sept. 27 against Hilo, where he passed for 370. The aforementioned Takaki had six grabs for 96 yards and a score and Hercules Nahale add 90 yards on 27 carries.

Konawaena built a 24 point lead after one quarter of play, before Leilehua finally stopped the bleeding with a scoring play from Bennett Strobel to Talon Tarpley to make it 24-7.

The Wildcats went scoreless in the second, but Tan and Alani connected for scores at the 7:57 and 3:27 marks of the third to make it 38-7 in favor of the home squad.

"Really they all can, but Malu just has exceptional speed, so when the ball is in his hands he's just so dynamic and so is Austin," said Konawaena head coach Brad Uemoto. "There's no special formula to it, just getting the ball to them."

Leilehua rallied in the fourth, as Strobel engineered two scoring drives, one capped by a 23 yard strilke to Romeo Tubon at the 11:12 mark and the final scoring play a 31 yard pitch and catch to Kyrin Rivera-Galbraith with 4:13 in regulation.

The final score of the game came on a 4th and 13 play for the Wildcats with 1:05 left, when Armenio Blanco found Elias Malapit for an 18 yard connection on a bad snap on a field goal attempt.

"It was we're taught to do. When it's a broken play, just get open, but yeah, lucky play," said Malapit.

Konawaena's defense made it a point to take away the threat of the run and in particular Cameron Keeve, and it showed, as Leilehua was held to just 37 rushing yards as a team. Keeve had 16 carries for just 64 yards, breaking a streak of four contests where he averaged nearly 197 per.

Malapit led the way on defense with eight total tackles with 2 1/2 tackles for loss and a sack, part of 11 TFLs and six sacks as a team. Takaki had an interception in addition to his offensive stat line.

"Defensively they made plays, they were all over the field being aggressive and I'm super proud of the defense and how they played," said Uemoto. "They set the tone for the game."

The Wildcats will face off with the Kapaa, a 55-33 winner over Damien. The Warriors are in their first ever Division I state title game, and the first state final since they won a Division II crown in 2021.