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Kalani Takase | ScoringLiveNovember 9, 2025, 7:49am
Sat, Nov 8, 2025 @ Farrington [ 7:00 pm ]
KALIHI — A game of inches, indeed.
Kahuku made a game-saving defensive stand at the goal line in the final seconds to turn back upset-minded Kapolei and escape with a 12-7 win at Farrington's Kusunoki Field at Edward ‘Skippa' Diaz Stadium Saturday.
A crowd of more than 3,000 fans on a rain-drenched evening saw the Red Raiders (8-3), ranked No. 1 in the ScoringLive Power Rankings, successfully defend their OIA Open Division title at the hands of the second-ranked Hurricanes (7-5), who were seeking their first league championship.
By comparison, it is Kahuku's record 31st OIA crown. It is, however, its first under Nihoa Pule, who took over on an interim basis after the dismissal of former coach Sterling Carvalho in late March.
"I think it's a testament to our community, our parents (and) definitely our support staff," said Pule, who was a longtime assistant for the Red Raiders under several different head coaches.
"Us as coaches, we coach, (but) we got a lot of guys behind the scenes that really do a lot for this program and with these parents, just trusting us that we're gonna stay the course. I know it looked rocky at the beginning — it still looks rocky at times — but our kids are able to stay the course because they come from a good, wholesome community that trusts the process," Pule said.
It certainly looked rocky for Big Red for much of Saturday night's title game. Kahuku trailed for much of the contest and never held a lead until there was four minutes and 26 seconds left to play. In fact, it finished with just 98 yards of total offense and ran only 41 plays from scrimmage — an average of 2.4 yards per play.
Quarterback Troy Mariteragi completed only six of his 17 pass attempts for 43 yards and was intercepted thrice, including a pair of tipped passes in the first half that were both picked off by Kapolei's Brison Miyose.
The Red Raiders did not fare much better with their ground game. They averaged a modest 2.3 yards per carry on 24 attempts. Their defense, however, was stout and when it needed to be, stellar.
Kapolei's lone score came on a fourth-down jump pass from Chazz-Michael Kapahu to tight end Noah Papu-Maiava and broke a scoreless tie with 8:01 left in the second quarter. The touchdown came seven plays after Miyose secured his second interception off Mariteragi after the pass was tipped by Paps-Maiava over the middle.
Kahuku did not record its first first down until there was three-plus minutes remaining in the first half when Mariteragi threw a two-yard completion to Zennon Alo-Rosa to move the chains on third-and-1.
The Red Raiders eventually culminated the 11-play drive with points following Jadyn Parker's 35-yard field goal that got his team on the board with 43 seconds until halftime.
Late in the third quarter Kahuku's defense came through with takeaway when Degan Enesa's strip-sack of ‘Canes quarterback Jacob Ballesteros was recovered by teammate Kevin Kamakaala deep in Kapolei territory.
The Red Raiders recycled the turnover into a 40-yard field goal by Parker to pull within a point at 7-6 with 1:48 left in the third.
Kahuku got two more defensive stops on three--and-outs in the first three-plus minutes of the fourth quarter. The second resulted in a 24-yard Larry McCarley punt that was compounded by a facemask penalty against the Hurricanes and put the ball on the Kapolei 37-yard line, where the Red Raiders began their go-ahead drive.
An encroachment penalty against the ‘Canes before a third-and-2 gave Kahuku a fresh set of downs just outside the red zone. Kahuku, however, was called for holding on consecutive plays to negate would-be first downs.
On third-and-11 from the 25, defensive back Madden Soliai entered at quarterback in place of Mariteragi and picked up 13 yards on a quarterback draw up the middle. After it was called back, Mariteragi re-entered the game and backhand-tossed a shovel pass to Blake Alo, who appeared to convert on third-and-14 with a 27-yard pick up. That, too, however was brought back due to a flag.
Faced with another third-and-14 — and amidst heavy rain and a strong head wind — Mariteragi dropped back to pass and threw the ball toward the right hash and into the end zone, where Kea Lerner elevated above his defender and secured the catch for a 28-yard touchdown.
"I just saw him throw it up and I noticed it was going shorter because of the wind and I just jumped up and wished for the best," Lerner said.
It was Lerner's lone reception of the game and Kahuku's only trip to the end zone.
"We knew that was the play. We were practicing it all week — it was the play, they were giving us the coverage all game and it was third down and we just had to make a play. We were all yelling on the sideline and in the huddle, we were like, 'this is the play, this is the play,' and he threw it to me and I made a play," Lerner said.
Pule credited the resiliency of Mariteragi, a senior quarterback who took over as the team's starting quarterback four games into the season.
"Troy is a veteran. He's been in this program, he knows what the expectation is of being QB1 and so he knows that the lows come with the highs and at the end of the day it's making the right play at the right time," Pule said.
Kahuku went for two on the ensuing conversion to make it a seven-point advantage, however, Mariteragi's pass toward Christian Sanford-Tupuola in the back left corner of the end zone sailed high and fell incomplete.
Kapolei began its final possession at its own 15-yard line and with 4:13 on the clock. The 16-play drive spanned 84 yards and included a pair of fourth-down conversions along the way.
On fourth-and-2 near midfield, Kapahu busted a seven-yard run up the middle. Four plays after that, on fourth-and-10, Ballesteros dumped off a screen pass to Nikko Smith, who fought his way near the line to gain. After a brief stoppage for measurement by the officiating crew, it was confirmed that Smith just did pick up the first down.
Kapolei penetrated the red zone after a five-yard gain on a draw play by Kapahu. After a timeout by the ‘Canes, they inched closer to the end zone after Kapahu worked his way to the one-yard line after a 15-yard reception from Ballesteros.
Ballesteros rushed his offense to the line of scrimmage and spiked the football to stop the clock, which left Kapolei with second-and-goal just outside of the goal line.
That's when Pule called for a timeout to address his defense.
"At that point, it's us, you know. Defensively, we held us in the game tonight and what better way to go out and win a game as a defense other than on basically the one-inch line and our kids, they showed up," Pule said.
On the final play of the game, Kapolei lined up in the shotgun with Kapahu aligned to the left of Ballesteros. Ballesteros handed the ball off to Kapahu, who tried to muscle his way through the right side of the offensive line, but was denied by entry to the end zone by several Kahuku defenders.
Television replays appeared to show defensive lineman Shaden Niu and linebacker Malaki Soliai-Tui on the stop; Pule believed Siale Reid was also involved on the tackle. Ultimately, Kapahu was stopped short by a matter of inches.
"We repped it during the week and we knew where the ball was going a lot of time, so it was just a matter of our kids settling in and trusting what they were seeing with their eyes," Pule said.
There were about nine seconds left on the clock after Kapahu was turned back, but Kapolei was unable to return to the line of scrimmage, get set and snap the football before time ran out.
Hurricanes coach Darren Hernandez said putting the ball in the air was not an option at that point.
"Well, I mean, we weren't gonna throw a pass — a slant, like the (Seattle) Seahawks — so we had to try to run it. We were not on the one-yard line, we were on the one-foot line and you know, we outweigh them, we have a bigger o-line, (but) they just played with incredible tenacity and you know, they're Kahuku, they find a way to win. They find a way to win. They drag you down into the mud and they make you play their game, they did that tonight," Hernandez said.
Pule expected that Kapahu would get the football with the game on the line.
"I think so, because their back is that good and I would put my ball in that back's hands as many times as possible," he stated.
Hernandez gathered his team near the sideline after completion of the game and applauded his players for their grit and the fight they put up down to the final whistle.
"I thought our team responded well, with 4:26 left we marched all the way down the field and almost scored the winning touchdown, but we ran out of time. We had burned some timeouts and you know, credit them, they played good enough to win. Our defense was lights out for most of the game, but their defense was too. They stopped our run game and I gotta believe that we're gonna see them again and I think we will. I don't want to make predictions, that's not my job, but the way we played and the way they played, I think we saw the two teams that are pretty tough in the state right now," Hernandez said.
Lerner also praised the play of the ‘Canes. It was the second time Kahuku had to come from behind to beat Kapolei this season. The regular-season meeting back on Sept. 13 at Carleton E. Weimer Field saw the Red Raiders rally from a touchdown deficit for a 21-7 win.
"They put up a great fight. We played them before and it was the same thing. We gotta capitalize more, but we'll see them in states, for sure," Lerner said.
Reid tallied a team-high 8 ½ tackles and Soliai-tui added eight stops to lead Kahuku defensively; each had a pass break up.
Kapolei recorded 10 first downs to Kahuku's five.
Ballesteros finished 13-of-21 passing for 120 yards without an interception. Smith hauled in five passes for 67 yards and Kapahu ran the ball 22 times for 56 yards in the loss.
Mathias Nera-Voa and Papu-Maiava made five tackles apiece and Toa Leffler also intercepted a pass for the Hurricanes.
Hernandez reiterated his appreciation for the effort put forth by his squad against arguably the state's most storied program.
"Oh, these kids, man. They played so hard, they played their butts off and I'm so proud of them. We wanted to win it for the first time — first OIA championship for all the people, all the kids that came through the program, we wanted to win it — but you know, Kahuku gets number thirty-something, we don't get one; life ain't fair sometimes," said Hernandez, the lone coach in the 24-year history of Kapolei football.
On the flip side, Kahuku laid claim to its second straight OIA championship and its fifth in six years. Pule is the school's 11th different coach to etch his name onto a league title; He gave all the credit to the players for bringing home title No. 31.
"The kids just willed us. We talked to them and they knew what the task was and everyone did their job; the kids did their jobs all night. It was just one of those games that it wasn't gonna be high scoring," Pule said.
Not long after the game wrapped up, the HHSAA released the bracket for the upcoming First Hawaiian Bank Open Division State Championships. Kahuku is the No. 1 seed and will take on OIA third-place finisher Campbell, while Kapolei will meet ILH champion and tournament No. 2 seed Kamehameha in a semifinal doubleheader on Nov. 21 at Mililani's John Kauinana Stadium.
The semifinal winners will face off for the state title on Friday, Dec. 5 at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Complex on the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus.
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