One way Ala‘i Williams finds happiness is to fast all day, then have an Orange Dream Machine smoothie at Jamba Juice — on game day.
The 6-foot, 215-pound junior broke an Open Division state-tournament record with 237 yards and four touchdowns on 29 carries as Punahou ran away with a 52-24 win over Mililani in a state semifinal Friday at the Trojans’ campus stadium.
“We have so many weapons, and when we call upon them, they always step up. It was Ala‘i’s turn and he delivered,” Punahou coach Nate Kia said. “The offensive line, we ask a lot of them, but they’ll execute everything. They had it in their mind that they wanted to move the rock on the ground. They liked to block for him and they feed off each other.”
Williams isn’t changing his game-day routine any time soon.
“My pregame ritual is that I don’t eat anything the day of games. I only have a Jamba Juice,” Williams said. “Extra large.”
The Buffanblu (9-1) battle top-seeded Kahuku next week in the Open Division final of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Football State Championships.
Mililani’s gritty squad finished the season 7-5.
“If you make mistakes, they’ll make you pay. That’s what good teams do,” Trojans coach Rod York said. “I’m proud of my guys. They played hard, but they were overmatched.”
Williams ran between the tackles and had several toss sweeps from quarterback John-Keawe Sagapolutele. The old-school style ground attack is something Punahou has mastered, six weeks since losing at Kahuku, 27-20, in a non-league matchup.
“I feel good. We’re doing much better than last season and we made our way back to the state championship game after eight years. It’s a great overall team win and we’ve got to get to work tomorrow,” Williams said. “The cutbacks were always there tonight and my O-line did a good job setting that up. I was looking up to guys like Wayne Taulapapa and Vae Malepeai when I was growing up, watching them running all over people. I just strive to be like them.”
Alika Cavaco-Amoy had nine tackles and GianCarlo Rufo had six, including two of his team’s three sacks. Kekai Burnett had one sack as Punahou’s defense posted another stellar performance.
“This is what we expected. They got a little more points than we planned for, but overall good game and we’ll fix up our mistakes,” Rufo said.
Mililani safety Ezekiel Rodrigues intercepted a deep pass by Sagapolutele on the opening series. The Trojans drove to the Punahou 1-yard line before stalling. Mikel Paiva’s 25-yard field goal gave Mililani a 3-0 lead with 4:49 left in the opening quarter.
Punahou responded with an eight-play, 60-yard drive, establishing its ground attack. Sagapolutele found Christian Kauhane on a third-and-2 play-action toss for a 23-yard touchdown. Punahou led 7-3 with 1:11 left in the first quarter.
Kielan Siamani’s sack derailed Mililani’s ensuing series. After Astin Hange’s punt return, the Buffanblu drove 58 yard in 10 plays to pay dirt. Williams barged in from 10 yards out to open Punahou’s lead to 14-3 with 8;11 left in the first half.
Rufo sacked Mana Tarape moments later, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Faiafua Ioane at the Trojans’ 13-yard line. Punahou converted it into a 29-yard field goal by Jordan Kapisi for a 17-3 lead with 4:53 to go in the first quarter.
After two false starts on the Trojans’ next possession, Tarape threw a quick pass to Raymond Roller, who split the secondary for an 87-yard TD. That brought Mililani within 17-10 with 3:45 remaining in the first half.
Hange returned the kickoff 47 yards to the Mililani 20. On the next snap, Sagapolutele found Noah Macapulay wide open for a 20-yard TD pass for a 24-10 lead with 3:25 to go in the first half.
Punahou closed the half with an efficient two-minute march on offense, going 66 yards in 10 plays. Williams rambled in for a 12-yard TD, his second of the game, for a 31-10 lead with 14 seconds left in the first half.
By halftime, Williams had 84 yards on 14 carries and, as a team, Punahou averaged 5.7 yards per carry.
The Buffanblu recovered the opening kickoff of the second half, a pooch kick near the right sideline that bounced into the waiting arms of Kauhane at the Mililani 42-yard line. Ten plays later, Sagapolutele connected with Macapulay on a crossing route for an 11-yard TD. Punahou led 38-10 with 6:32 to go in the third quarter.
Tarape’s 59-yard bomb to Onosai Salanoa cut the lead to 38-16 with 5:21 left in the third.
Mililani brought the heat, sacking Sagapolutele on the next series. One snap later, backup QB Ty McCutcheon faced similar pressure and was intercepted by Gavin Hunter, who returned the ball to the Punahou 37-yard line. Tarape immediately found Salanoa for a 28-yard completion. After a false-start penalty on the Trojans, Tarape fired a 13-yard TD strike to Hunter, who was backpedaling near the right pylon. Tarape’s 2-point pass to Roller in the back of the end zone cut Punahou’s lead to 38-24 with 1:34 left in the third stanza.
Williams and Sagapolutele returned to the game. Punahou’s ensuing drive came up empty, but the Buffanblu chewed nearly nine minutes off the clock. Williams’ punt out of the shotgun pinned Mililani at its 1-yard line with 7:21 to go.
Punahou put the game away with a 25-yard TD run by Williams, his third of the game, with 3:23 left.
His fourth tally came on a 78-yard jaunt up the right hashmark with 56 seconds left.
“I was thinking about going down, but I had nobody in front of me, so I tried to make it. I almost ran out of gas in that last part,” Williams said.
Punahou and Kahuku were favored to meet for the Open Division state crown.
“I feel like we discovered more of our run game, which opens up the pass game. Execution has been better overall,” Williams said.
“Kahuku is a good team,” Rufo added. “They’re very disciplined, great in all phases of the game. We’ve got to work this week, definitely, put up a fight and come out with the victory. Our chemistry is better (now). We’ve gotten closer, working together, communication is much better. All of those things come together and it shows on the field.”
Sagapolutele’s younger brother, Jaron-Keawe, tried to lead Campbell to the title game. The Sabers lost to Kahuku in the earlier semifinal.
“Before playing this game, I was really thinking about my brother,” the Punahou senior said. “I’m happy we were able to win. I just wanted to ball out for my team and for him.”
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PUNAHOU 52, MILILANI 24
At Mililani
Mililani (7-5) 3 7 14 0 — 24
Punahou (9-1) 7 24 7 14 — 52
MIL—FG Makel Paiva 25
PUN—Christian Kauhane 23 pass from John-Keawe Sagapolutele (Jordan Kapisi kick)
PUN—Alai Williams 10 run (Kapisi kick)
PUN—FG Kapisi 29
MIL—Raymond Roller 87 pass from Emana Tarape (Paiva kick)
PUN—Noah Macapulay 20 pass from Sagapolutele (Kapisi kick)
PUN—Williams 12 run (Kapisi kick)
PUN—Macapulay 11 pass from Sagapolutele (Kapisi kick)
MIL—Onosai Salanoa 59 pass from Tarape (pass failed)
MIL—Gavin Hunter 13 pass from Tarape (Roller pass from Tarape)
PUN—Williams 25 run (Kapisi kick)
PUN—Williams 78 run (Kapisi kick)
RUSHING—Mililani: Nakoa Kahana-Tra- vis 13-46, Derek Tsuchiyama 1-1, Kingsten Samelu 1-(minus 2), Tarape 3-(minus 30). Punahou: Williams 29-237, Lyman 8-24,Sagapolutele 2-4.
PASSING—Mililani: Tarape 17-28-1-297. Punahou: Sagapolutele 17-23-1-156, TEAM 0-1-0-0, Ty McCutcheon 0-1-1-0.
RECEIVING—Mililani: Roller 8-150, Salanoa 5-117, Hunter 2-23, Isaiah Padello 1-7, Kahana-Travis 1-0. Punahou: Macapulay 8-76, Astin Hange 6-48, Kauhane 2-23, Justice Wu 1-9.
