MANOA — Seventy-six south, represent. 

Zayne Pasion caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Brayden Medeiros in overtime to lift Campbell to a 26-23 walk-off win over Kamehameha for the second state title in school history Friday night. 

A crowd of 10,131 spectators at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex saw the Sabers (9-3) end a 21-year drought since their last crown with a thrilling victory over the Warriors (5-5) in the title game of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Open Division Football Championship. 

Campbell completed an unlikely run to its first state title since 2004, when it won the Division II crown. It finished fourth in the final regular season standings of the Oahu Interscholastic Association and third in the league tournament. Two weeks before its ultimate triumph Friday, Campbell pulled off an upset of top-seeded Kahuku in the semifinals of the state tournament. 

"Man, winning itself is something inbred in me and I just put it in our athletes and I don't want to wake up; I sometimes gotta pinch myself," Sabers coach Darren Johnson said. 

The Sabers were 0-6 all-time in Open Division state tournament games prior to this season. They were making their first appearance in the Open state final. 

"They waited so long," Medeiros said of the Campbell fans that remained after the postgame awards ceremony. "Every year we always came up short, but this year we didn't come up short so it's a great feeling and they're gonna celebrate back with us, for sure."

It is the first state championship for Johnson, a longtime prep coach who has had stints at his alma mater, Kahuku, as well as Kailua and Kaimuki over the years. 

"Frick, I love winning. I love winning. I don't love competing, I love winning and our kids know that because I can be a real ass after a loss. I'm sorry for my language, but they endure a lot, they really endure a lot," Johnson said. 

Campbell pulled ahead one play into the fourth quarter on Tainoa Lave's five-yard touchdown run off right tackle. The extra point was blocked to keep the Sabers' lead at 13-10 after the 10-play, 80-yard drive. 

Kamehameha's next possession ended with an interception by Shaison Kupukaa, which gave Campbell the ball back with 8:01 to play. On the very next play, Medeiros faked a handoff to Brystin Sansano, then launched a deep ball over the top of the defense to Nathaniel Teleaai, who beat his defender down the middle of the field and went untouched for a 55-yard touchdown. Mitch Lifto added the point after to stretch it to a 20-10 lead for the Sabers with 7:53 to play. 

The Warriors cut it to a one-score game with Tyler Fujimoto's 22-yard field goal from the left hash to cap a 16-play, 78-yard drive with 3:49 remaining. 

After the Sabers went three-and-out on their next possession, Kamehameha put together a 10-play, 75-yard drive that included five first downs, including a pair of third-down conversions. One play after Mana Forges scrambled for a 14-yard pick-up to move the chains on third-and-2, he then threw a short pass to his left to Hayzen Botelho, who broke a tackle then stretched the ball across the plane of the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown with 14 seconds left. 

Kamehameha called a timeout before it sent Fujimoto out for the game-tying PAT, which he knocked through the uprights. 

Campbell ran out the final nine seconds of regulation to send it to overtime. 

The Warriors began the extra period on offense. Running back Nainoa Melchor was dropped for a three-yard loss by Chaesten Eliu on first down. Forges threw a nine-yard pass to Botelho on second down, but his third-down throw was out of tight end Taimane Purcell's reach and went through the back of the end zone. Fujimoto marched out for the 31-yard field goal, which he converted from the right hash to give his team a 23-20 lead. 

Lave aligned at wildcat quarterback for the Sabers' first two plays of their overtime possession. He ran for a seven-yard gain to the right side of the field on first down, then lost three yards on second down. On third-and-6, Medeiros was reinserted at quarterback. He took the shotgun snap from center then threw a pass toward the right side of the end zone for Pasion, who got behind the defensive back and hauled in the game-winning catch. 

"It was just ‘bean top', just throw it up to either (Kupukaa) or Zayne, those are two good tall guys and we just trust them; I trust both of them. All year they don't get the recognition they deserve — a lot of them they think they're underdogs — so I just had to throw it up to one of them and one of them caught it for sure," Medeiros said. 

Pasion was confident once he heard the play call. 

"I was just looking at Brayden and I just telling him, I was like, ‘Eh, if we need a big play, let me know,' " Pasion said. 

Johnson credited Medeiros for coming through in the clutch despite being on the sidelines for the Sabers' first two plays from scrimmage in overtime. 

"Everybody has a calling and that's their calling and everything they did it worked for us and it helped us prevail in the end. I wouldn't want to do it again because it might not work, but it worked and sometimes you get lucky and you need luck," Johnson said. 

Pasion said his team felt an urgency to put the game to bed in the first overtime period. 

"Oh yeah, we had to end it now, but you know what, Mitch, our kicker, he's a great kicker, I love him and even though he's a great kicker, we knew we had to put the nail in the coffin and end this game," said Pasion, who finished with three receptions for 45 yards. 

The Sabers opened the scoring early in the second quarter. On third-and-11, Medeiros was pressured as he threw but found a wide-open Brystin Sansano up the left seam for an easy touchdown. The scoring play was set up by a 55-yard punt return by Lave. 

Fujimoto booted a 53-yard punt that took a few bounces before Lave picked it up, much to the surprise of several Warriors in the area, then found a seam up the right sideline for a 55-yard return. Medeiros found Sansano three plays later for the touchdown. 

However, Kamehameha answered in the form of an eight-play, 58-yard drive that culminated with an 11-yard Melchor touchdown run. The drive was twice extended by costly personal foul penalties against the Sabers, the first for roughing the passer on third-and-23, and the second for illegal hands to the face — which negated an interception in the end zone. 

Fujimoto tacked on the extra point to knot it at 7-apiece with 6:41 left in the second quarter. 

After the Sabers' ensuing drive ended with a punt, the Warriors orchestrated a 10-play, 46-yard drive that took up the final 2:44 of the half and concluded with a 25-yard Fujimoto field goal to give his team a 10-7 lead at the break. Five plays into the drive, Forges hit Jayden Braun on a crossing route under Campbell's two-deep zone coverage and Braun turned it into a 25-yard pick up to penetrate the red zone. 

Medeiros completed 11 of his 15 passes for 151 yards. He was sacked three times but was not intercepted. 

Lave finished with 82 all-purpose yards, as did Sansano. Lave, a San Diego State-commit, also tallied 10 ½ tackles, including one of Campbell's eight tackles behind the line of scrimmage. 

Medeiros had high praise for Lave, the Sabers' bona fide leader all season long. 

"Tainoa, he's the guy; this team follows him. He's been here for four years, starting every single year and just to win it for his senior year, it means a lot," Medeiros expressed. 

Campbell ran 21 fewer plays from scrimmage than Kamehameha and was out-gained 284 total yards to 233. 

"Some parts (we) slowed down a bit, but we stuck to what we knew and that was just giving the ball to our playmakers," Lave said. 

Johnson spoke of his team's resiliency against the Warriors, who were seeking their third state title and first since 2009. 

"We just keep playing hard. I keep telling the coaches, ‘don't worry about the referees, they're gonna call what they call, just keep coaching our kids, keep coaching our young men.' They did that and for the first time our young men listened because we wouldn't be where we are tonight (otherwise) and from day one and last January this was our ultimate goal and we finally got it."

Johnson disclosed he was initially hesitant about the play call that produced the touchdown in OT. 

"The last play of the game, I wanted to call something different, (but) my (offensive coordinator) said, ‘we got it,' and I trusted it and I believe in my OC and in all my coaches and I just went with it and I just trusted my guys," Johnson said. 

Lave said that the work toward the 2025 season began not long after the previous one ended. 

"Just all the hard work and dedication that we put in this season … the week after we lost to Saint Louis (in the 2024 state semifinals) we were back in the weight room and the work just started from there and it led to a state championship," Lave said. 

Kamehameha coach Kaeo Drummondo disclosed that he briefly thought about going for the potential go-ahead two-point conversion after the late touchdown in regulation. 

"We had a thought there to go for two and just try to end the game," Drummondo shared. 

Ultimately, Drummondo had confidence in his squad — particular the defensive unit — going into extra time. 

"I felt good. I mean, put our defense on the field to end the game, (but we) just never executed well enough and that's football. The kid (Medeiros) threw a good pass and the receiver (Pasion) got over the top of our defense and caught the ball and we came up short," he lamented. 

Drummondo shouldered some of the blame in the aftermath of the final result. 

"I love this group. I mean, that's what makes it a lot more painful is because this is a spectacular group, the type of group that you don't get every year and I just feel for them because we never coached well enough to get them over the hump tonight and that's the bottom line and it's sore," Drummondo said. 

He added: "Our kids battled and they showed the same character that they showed all year. We went down 10 (points) in the fourth quarter, (but) they didn't fold. (Campbell) just made one more play than we did, so hats off to them. They had a good game plan, their kids executed their game plan and they're state champs. It's nice to be here and play, but it's sore to lose."

Melchor ran for 102 yards on 24 carries and Forges finished 15-of-33 passing for 129 yards. Forges threw one pick and was sacked twice. 

Evan Cazimero tallied 7 ½ tackles and Kalei Harbottle came up with six tackles, including two sacks for the Warriors' defense. 

Kamehameha, which held each of its last two opponents to 10 points apiece, had won four of its last five games since a 1-3 start to the season. 

The Warriors were making their first appearance in an Open Division state final.