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Kalani Takase | ScoringLiveNovember 9, 2024, 2:00am
Fri, Nov 8, 2024 @ Farrington [ 7:30 pm ]
KALIHI — Kahuku took a different path this fall, but it ultimately led to a familiar place.
Matai Fuiava threw three touchdown passes to three different receivers and Kahuku rode a dominant defensive effort to a 33-15 win over previously-unbeaten Campbell Friday night.
A near-capacity crowd of more than 2,500 fans packed Farrington's Edward ‘Skippa' Diaz Stadium at Kusunoki Field and saw the second-ranked Red Raiders (8-4) deny the top-ranked Sabers (9-1) their first OIA championship since 2008.
Instead it was Big Red that claimed the public school league's Open Division crown, its first since 2022. It is Kahuku's record-30th overall OIA title in program history.
"I'm just grateful that our players and our coaches are just dedicated all year long and to win an OIA championship just shows that they have the reward for their hard work all offseason. I'm very proud of them and proud of my coaches and players," Kahuku coach Sterling Carvalho said.
Friday's result was in contrast to Campbell's 21-13 win over Kahuku at Carleton E. Weimer Field when the teams faced off in the final week of the regular season. That loss fueled the Red Raiders in the 20 days in between meetings against the Sabers.
"I mean, the worst part was we lost on our senior night so we definitely took this game as a game of the year for us, but (we're) never satisfied. We've got two more games left and states tops everything else," Kahuku senior defensive lineman Ben Roberts said.
The Oct. 19 game was Fuiava's first as a Red Raider. He had arrived on the north shore just days prior after a highly-publicized transfer from national power St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.). He completed 12 of his 27 passes that evening for 174 yards and a touchdown.
Fuiava said the first Campbell game versus Friday's face off felt like night and day in terms of his own comfort level.
"Oh man, a lot more prepared (this time). The first time we played them, I think I only ran about five plays and then the break, or the bye week and the Mililani game I was able to get into the playbook and open up the playbook a lot more," said Fuiava, who finished a modest 8-of-15 passing for 162 yards Friday night.
Fuiava was especially clutch on third downs. He completed five of his six passes on third down, including all three touchdowns. Two of Fuiava's TD passes were 60-plus yards — a 62-yarder to Bodhi Kaanga in the second quarter and 65 yards to Aiden Manutai late in the third.
Fuiava expressed his appreciation of his defensive teammates, for the job they did against Campbell's explosive offense that is spearheaded by quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, the state's all-time leader in passing yards.
"I gotta give this whole game to the defense. They held the best team to 15 points and man, they kept getting us (on offense) back on the field even though we weren't doing as good as we should have, but I give it to the defense," Fuiava said.
The Sabers were held season-lows in both points and total yards (199). They entered the game averaging nearly 47 points and 435 yards per contest.
Sagapolutele was limited to 239 yards through the air on 19-of-33 passing and one touchdown. Four sacks and 10 total tackles for loss resulted in minus-40 yards rushing for Campbell, which converted on just one of 10 third downs.
Roberts, who recorded a pair of tackles behind the line of scrimmage, stated that much of the defensive game plan hinged upon Kahuku's linemen and linebackers applying pressure on Sagapolutele.
"Last game (against Mililani) we focused on putting Kini McMillan in an uncomfortable place to throw, because we know that these quarterbacks can throw, but it's hard for them to throw while the pressure is coming to them, so all we're trying to do is make them uncomfortable, throw the ball where they don't like throwing the ball, especially rolling out and stuff," said Roberts, a 6-foot-2, 230-pound defensive end committed to the University of Nevada-Reno.
Campbell capped its first two possessions of the game with field goals by Jadyn Parker of 40 and 33 yards to take a 6-0 lead after the first quarter. Carvalho noted that keeping Sagapolutele and co. to just three points per scoring drive and not seven was pivotal.
"If we force them into field goals, our defense is doing their job. You know, you cannot stop (Sagapolutele), you just can kind of contain him at times and that's what our defense did. They made big plays, (Campbell) was able to move the ball, but our defense at the end of the night, they stood tough, they stood tall," Carvalho said.
After Manoa Kahalepuna got the Red Raiders on the board with his 28-yard field goal a few minutes into the second quarter, Tainoa Lave pulled down an over-the-shoulder pass from Sagapolutele for a 17-yard touchdown to give Campbell its largest lead at 12-3.
Kahuku answered with Fuiava's 62-yard TD pass to Kaanga, who was left wide open after busted coverage in the Campbell secondary. Kaimana Carvalho ran in the two-point conversion to pull the Red Raiders within 12-11 with 5:49 left in the first half.
The score held until Parker knocked through a 36-yard field goal to stretch the Sabers' lead to 15-11 with 3:47 until the fourth quarter.
Fuiava's 65-yard TD pass to Manutai — who got behind his defender on a deep post pattern — with 12 seconds left in the third quarter put Kahuku ahead for good.
Although Fuiava completed just eight passes, he did so to six different receivers.
"I just trust all my guys and I had to distribute the ball and give them all chances," Fuiava said.
Kahuku padded its lead with an 18-yard Malosi Fiatoa touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. A few minutes later, Fuiava hit Carvalho for an 8-yard TD pass to convert a third-and-goal situation. The scoring play came three plays after Campbell's Aisiah Paogofie failed to convert a fake punt from his own 3-yard line when his pass out of the punt formation fell incomplete.
Sabers coach Darren Johnson, who had just used a timeout prior to the turnover on downs, said the call to go for it did not come from the sidelines.
"We didn't run a fake punt — it wasn't called by us and it's gonna get corrected in practice," Johnson disclosed.
After Kahalepuna tacked on the extra point, Kahuku extended its lead to 31-15 with 5:41 to play. An errant long snap over Paogofie's head on a punt a few minutes later went out of the back of the end zone for a Red Raiders' safety to close out the scoring.
"We made some mistakes. Hats off to (the Red Raiders), they won the game tonight. We made critical mistakes, now we gotta go back and fix that for the next game," Johnson lamented.
While the Sabers struggled in their biggest game to-date this season, the Red Raiders rose to the occasion like so many of their teams of the past have done at this point in a season.
"Every year you have a new team. This is a young team, somewhat inexperienced, especially on the offensive side. Our defense was patient with us all year long by staying stalwart and our offense is now coming to its own, our special teams also is coming to its own and now we're just playing great football as team," said Carvalho, who has coached Kahuku to four league titles.
After they were thumped in lopsided non-league losses to national powerhouses Bishop Gorman and Mater Dei, the Red Raiders were edged by both Mililani and Campbell in narrow regular-season defeats. They were seeded third behind both the Sabers and Trojans in the four-team OIA bracket.
"I mean, my whole life I've been preparing for this moment to come," Roberts said. "Just watching all the older guys, like Liona Lefau, Leonard Ah You, all those guys really set the tone for us, so all we're trying to do is just keep that tradition going."
One tradition synonymous with Kahuku football is a punishing run game. Although the Red Raiders ran for only 60 yards Friday, they had logged just six carries for minus-1 yard in the first half. Carvalho said being able to run the football in the second half led to more opportunities for Fuiava to throw the ball downfield.
"Yeah, I mean, that's what we do. If we can run the ball, the deep passes will be open for us and in the fourth quarter especially our o-line and our running backs, they owned it and they was able to finish the game," Carvalho said.
Conversely, Campbell had 144 yards by halftime, including 143 passing by Sagapolutele, but the Red Raiders clamped down defensively and allowed just 95 second-half yards by the Sabers.
"Our offense was able to put up points, our defense was able to play in front and we just played relaxed and we just executed the game plan well," Carvalho added.
Both teams had already punched their ticket to the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA State Championships. Kahuku will play either Kapolei or Mililani, while Campbell will meet ILH champion Saint Louis in the other semifinal of a doubleheader at John Kauinana Stadium Friday night.
Fuiava, for one, fully expects to see the Sabers once more come state tournament time.
"It was a great feeling to be able to beat them and get our revenge, but hey, it's not over. We're gonna see them in states again — we all know that — so we can't be satisfied with this little OIA championship, we gotta get states," Fuiava said.
Campbell was seeking its third OIA championship. Both of its previous titles came at the Division II level in 2004 and 2008.
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