The day finally came. It just happened to be in the 21st century rather than the 20th.
Kahuku wins a state football championship with a passing offense. The smashmouth, ground-and-pound game is still alive and well, but the pinpoint passing and exquisite dynamics of Kahuku’s four-wide attack stunned a statewide audience in 2021.
It was a dream come true for Sterling Carvalho, the Star-Advertiser All-State Coach of the Year. Kahuku’s perfect 10-0 season came on the heels of a big makeover in its offensive system, blending a wide-open offense with its old-school smashmouth game and a brilliant defense stocked with speed, physicality and high football IQ. Kahuku’s 49-14 win over ILH champion Saint Louis left no doubt that a new era of football has arrived on the North Shore.
STEVEN ERLER/SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER / DECEMBER 2021
Kahuku Red Raiders head coach Sterling Carvalho is drenched after players dumped water on him to celebrate winning the Open Division State Championship game against the Saint Louis Crusaders at Edward Skippa Diaz Stadium, Farrington High School.
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“I’m humbled and blessed, but it wouldn’t have happened without the players we had this year. It’s not ‘coach of the year,’ but team of the year. That’s how I see it. It’s what we all did collectively, from the coaches to my players, it was a team effort,” Carvalho said.
The longtime assistant coach — he joined the staff in 2006 under Reggie Torres — became head coach in 2018. At that point, Kahuku was still primarily a run-heavy team, winning games and competing for titles.
But the previous state title was in ’15, and six years later, with a balanced attack, names like Kainoa Carvalho, Daniel Kealoha Kaio and Jason Mariteragi are part of a new legacy in Big Red country. The aerial game is here to stay.
Carvalho’s ability to convert the non-believers into fans of a fresh, Big Red version of the run-and-shoot was about timing — and necessity.
In 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic hitting every community, some of Hawaii’s best talent opted to transfer away rather than wait out a postponed season. Coach Carvalho’s plan to install and consistently operate a four-wide offense was put on the shelf. His nephew, Kainoa Carvalho, and Kaio played the ’20 season in Utah. If need be, they would have stayed and played there again in the fall of ’21.
Defensive standouts Liona Lefau and Leonard Ah You were among the players who made the most of dire circumstances. They were part of the group of five Kahuku players who played the ’20 season at Sammamish (Wash.) high school, a 2A football program.
JAMM AQUINO/OCTOBER 2021
Kahuku head coach Sterling Carvalho talks to his team during an interleague scrimmage between Kamehameha of the ILH and Kahuku of the OIA at Farrington High School.
It was not the way coach Carvalho envisioned bringing new life to the program. He knew then that another postponed/canceled season would be extremely difficult to overcome. Even if the ’21 season was played in full, would the pass catchers and quarterbacks want to play in the traditional ground-and-pound offense?
“Not really. To be honest, I don’t think so,” coach Carvalho said. “All the stars aligned. We had the desire and we had the athletes to do what we did this year. To pass the ball, if you don’t have the athletes to do it, you won’t be successful.”
Not only did most of Kahuku’s talent remain, the future has a different scope.
“It’s to the point where we’re hoping we don’t lose anybody and people want to stay home, play any position they want,” coach Carvalho said. “People used to stay home to play defense, but now with our wide receivers, running backs and quarterbacks, we can put up the same or better numbers.”
Quarterbacks Mariteragi and Waika Crawford learned the system and never stopped getting reps through the offseason.
“Between the two of them we had more than 30 touchdowns. We led the state, and now we know we can compete against the best,” Carvalho said.
With Kainoa Carvalho, Kaio, Lefau, Ah You and nearly all of the contingent back in the fold for the 2021 offseason, there was work to be done. It began with the staff.
“There was no resistance. My O-line coach is Tala Esera, who played with Colt Brennan. He was like, ‘Finally, let’s do it.’ He’s a pass pro technician. It’s good that we had the buy-in. All my coaches now are on the young side and they believe in the evolution of the game, so we had no resistance,” he said. “That’s why we made that big push for Pylon.”
Three tournaments, three titles, including the Pylon national crown in Mesquite, Ariz.
“It wasn’t until we won the Mecca that we realized we have something special. Every team we played was an all-star team. We were literally one of the only teams with everybody from one high school. There were teams from California with kids from 10 or 12 schools,” coach Carvalho said. “I drove back to Utah, five-hour ride. It dawned on me we can run and pass, It’s a new dawn for Kahuku football. We could play with the best in the country with the system we had in place. Everything started to click right away.”
Though a long, epic year ended with a state title. 2022 already has new highlights around the corner. Sterling and Kali Carvalho flew to Utah earlier in the week. They are preparing to adopt a baby. That will add up to three daughters in their household.
“I like it. I get boys all year long, all day long and, honestly, I’m a daddy’s girl,” Carvalho said. “They can get away with anything with me.”
ALL-STATE
>> Offensive Player of the Year: Kainoa Carvalho, Kahuku
>> Defensive Player of the Year: Liona Lefau, Kahuku
STEVEN ERLER/SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER / DECEMBER 2021
JAMM AQUINO/OCTOBER 2021