MILILANI — The Kailua Surfriders etched their names into the history books Friday night. 

Isaiah Keaunui-Demello's late 23-yard touchdown pass to Tayvin Kahele and Keoki Cypriano's interception in the final seconds lifted Kailua to a 13-9 win over Kapaa in the title game of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Division I Football State Championships. 

A crowd of about 4,000 fans at John Kauinana Stadium saw the Surfriders (12-3) lay claim to their first state title at the expense of the defending champion Warriors (8-2). 

Kailua, the No. 9 team in the ScoringLive Power Rankings, closed out the season by winning their final 10 games, which was capped off with its very first appearance in a state championship game. 

"This feeling is surreal. We just made history," said Keaunui-Demello, one of 32 seniors for the Surfriders. 

"This is Kailua's first ever state championship, so just to do it with my teammates, who I called brothers, it's amazing, it's a blessing and I'm just proud of them," he added. 

Kailua saw its 2024 season end at the hands of the Warriors with a 38-12 loss in the first round of the state tournament. Avenging that loss was very much on the minds of the Surfriders Friday night. 

"Last year we lost to these guys. We knew we had the talent to get there, but we really just needed to put it together, so I think envisioning it all and just really trusting the process and just going to the drawing board every week, it just feels incredible. It feels amazing but I want to just say we envisioned this moment," said Cypriano, a senior linebacker. 

Kapaa broke a 6-all tie two plays into the fourth quarter when Yair Antonio knocked through a 22-yard field goal — his third make of the night. Despite sputtering offensively for much of the night, Kailua had an answer on its ensuing drive. 

The Surfriders put together a 14-play, 95-yard drive that took 7:35 off the clock and culminated with Keaunui-Demello's 23-yard touchdown pass to Kahele. The drive consisted of seven runs and seven pass plays and included a pair of third-down conversions — a 2-yard run by Marquez Mellor and a 13-yard pass from Keaunui-Demello to Benjamin Honebein. 

"In the first half Kapaa held us beyond the 50-yard line — we didn't get past the 50-yard line I don't think once — so their defense came prepared but knowing that our season was on the line, the state championship was on the line, we had to dig deep. We couldn't put our heads down, we had to keep our chins up and just make an outcome happen. Our defense gave us an opportunity to get the ball back and we just had to score and that's what we did," said Keaunui-Demello, who was a perfect 7-for-7 passing for 75 yards on the go-ahead scoring drive. 

Wong credited his offensive players for remaining patient despite the lack of production through three-plus quarters. 

"I mean, it didn't look pretty at times, but this offensive line is gonna keep coming at you and coming at you and then we started busting some nice runs and what it did was it loaded the box and we were able to single up some of our best athletes," Wong said. 

Keaunui-Demello completed passes to five different pass-catchers on the drive. His final completion resulted in the go-ahead score. On the scoring play, Kahele was able to separate from a pair of defenders and made a sliding catch near the right sideline in the end zone. 

Keaunui-Demello said Micah Sua was the other option on the play, but his pre-snap read dictated that the ball would go Kahele's way. 

"I could trust Micah, I could trust Tayvin, but I seen the mismatch on Tayvin and I seen him (run) a great route and I just delivered the ball," Keaunui-Demello said. 

Wong explained how the success of the run game — Mellor carried seven times for 30 yards on the go-ahead drive — opened up some passing lanes for Keaunui-Demello and the receiving corps. 

"You've got to pick what you're gonna do. Are you gonna stop the run, or are you gonna stay out of the box because if you go out of the box and defend them, then we're gonna run it up inside and I feel that we just held on and we just stayed the course. We didn't panic, staff didn't panic and we made that call on the last drive," Wong said. 

Over the course of the possession, defensive standouts Cypriano and Honebein rotated in, primarily as blocking backs. 

"Those are two of our best athletes, hammers," Wong said. "We just pounded it all the way down and threw that ball when we needed to throw it."

After Kahele hauled in Kailua's lone offensive touchdown of the night, Desmond McMaster tacked on the extra point to give the Surfriders a 13-9 lead with 3:31 remaining. 

Kapaa began its final drive at its own 44-yard line after a 32-yard kickoff return by Alakai Pigao-Mundon. After two third-down conversions, the Warriors eventually penetrated inside the Kailua 10-yard line. After quarterback Kaitin Mundon was stopped for no gain on a run play up the middle on second-and-5, Kapaa called its third and final timeout with 30 seconds to play. 

Out of the stoppage, Mundon threw a jump pass over the middle, but it was intercepted by Cypriano at the 5-yard line and he returned it 43 yards to near midfield. 

"He didn't as intent on keeping or giving the ball up so seeing that we dropped back a little bit and I knew Jonah (Sua) was to my left and I knew I could just drop back to my right and the ball just came right to me and I mean, can't really say more than that," Cypriano said of his sixth interception this season.

Wong recalled the conversation in the huddle during the timeout. 

"When they called timeout we came together and we talked about the jump pass and that's what they did. We knew that if it came down to a play, or maybe a two-point conversion, that we would converge a lot on the run — which we did, the guys did that — but we told the ‘backers to stay back because (of) the potential for a jump pass and (Cypriano) listened, he paid attention to detail, stayed back, came away with the pick, sealed the game and we're state champs," Wong said. 

Keaunui-Demello kneeled the ball on the final play of the game to run out the clock and ignite the Surfriders long-awaited celebrated. 

"We worked hard every week during the season, offseason, in the weight room, in the film room, on the field, off the field, in the classroom and it's an amazing outcome for us," Keaunui-Demello said. 

Kapaa coach Mike Tresler tipped his cap to Cypriano for coming up with the game-sealing pick. 

"It's execution, right? It was there, it was open. We coach it to throw the ball to the back of the end zone where no one else can be there and nobody else was. We threw it a little short and their linebacker made a great play, he's a great player and that's the difference. It comes down to a couple plays, they made that play to win the game, so that's the way it goes," Tresler said. 

The night began with a big play by the Surfriders' special teams unit. Micah Sua fielded the opening kickoff five yards out of the end zone and went untouched down the left sideline for a 95-yard return for touchdown. The PAT, however, was blocked, but Kailua jumped out to a 6-0 lead just 15 seconds into the contest. 

Kapaa got on the board with a 26-yard field goal by Antonio late in the first quarter and tied it at 6 with his 35-yard field goal about three minutes into the second stanza. 

The score held through the third quarter until Antonio converted his third field goal of the night 46 seconds into the fourth quarter to give Kapaa its lone lead at 9-6. 

"The word of the game though was special teams. They got that touchdown and that was the difference. You can't do that in these big games, so all the credit to Kailua," Tresler said. 

Unlike the time the teams faced off a year ago, when the Warriors ran for 204 yards, Kapaa tallied 110 rushing yards on 39 carries this time around — an average of 2.8 yards per attempt. 

"I would say loading the box (was key), but also keeping it balanced in the backfield. Keeping guys just active in the backfield because we know these guys can do both — they're, of course, a run-heavy team so loading the box was important — but I think another big part was just staying awake, keeping the (defensive backs) active and just being ready to make a play and that's what happened," Cypriano said. 

Tresler's squad drew only three penalties for 20 yards, while the Surfriders were flagged 10 times for 82 yards by comparison. 

"We pride ourselves on being disciplined, but he who makes more mistakes, loses the game, right, so we weren't as disciplined. We made more mistakes than they did, so hats off to them and they won the championship," Tresler said. 

Keaunui-Demello finished 11-of-17 passing for 119 yards with one interception. Mellor registered 18 carries for 88 yards. 

Pigao-Mundon tallied 19 times for 67 yards. Mundon was 6-of-12 passing for 85 yards with a pick. 

Bryden Sugai-Salvador led Kapaa defensively with six total tackles, including one sack. 

Shaison Hosino-Marquez made nine tackles, including one for a loss, to pace Kailua's defense. 

Kailua, the OIA champion and No. 3 seed in the state tournament, was coming off of a 24-7 win at Konawaena Saturday. It improved its all-time record to 4-5 in state-tournament games. 

Kapaa, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, was seeking its fourth overall state title and second straight in D1. It was playing in its seventh state final — all since 2015 — and had won seven straight games entering Friday. 

The Warriors, who were coming off of a 31-26 win over Damien last week, fell to 13-9 all-time in state tournament games.