LAHAINA >> Since its establishment in 1831, Lahainaluna has always been unique, and Saturday’s homecoming was especially so for the oldest existing school west of the Rocky Mountains.

There were doubts the Lunas would play football at all this fall because of the disaster that struck the Maui oceanfront town of Lahaina on Aug. 8.

A devastating wildfire killed at least 99 people and destroyed more than 2,000 buildings, forcing around 8,000 people to find other places to live. Many of the displaced are players or coaches on Lahainaluna sports teams.

But the tragedy only strengthened the community’s resolve as the teams, the school, the town, the island and the state joined forces to rebuild. Friends and even strangers from near and afar have pitched in, too.

The school’s varsity football team is one of the key rallying points. The Lunas beat Baldwin, 28-7, for their fourth win without a loss in its abbreviated season, Saturday at Sue B. Cooley Stadium on the Lahainaluna campus.

This was homecoming in its truest sense, as the Lunas played at their home field for the first time after the fire, culminating the first week of returning to school. They had been attending classes and practicing in Kihei, more than 20 miles away.

Much of what was lost will never be regained. But the football team’s tradition of excellence that includes 36 MIL championships going back to 1939 and four state championships from 2016 to 2019 stands as a symbol of longstanding pride, like the L etched into the mountain high above the stadium.

Graduates make the arduous climb, some more than once.

“Maybe 1-1/2 hours,” said football co-head coach Dean Rickard, of how long it took the last time he made the trek, several years ago. “I don’t recommend it for anyone over 50, but some in their 70s do it.”

The mountain, called Pu‘u Pa‘upa‘u, is sacred ground and two grave sites of distinguished Lahainaluna alumni provide part of its allure.

One is David Malo, an early Lahainaluna student who became a renown preacher and Hawaiian scholar and died in 1853.

“Not that many people know about the other one,” Rickard said.

He is Chad Kalepa Baybayan, who was born in Lahaina in 1956 and graduated from Lahainaluna in 1974. He made his mark in Hawaiian history as a navigator and captain of the Polynesian voyaging canoe Hokule‘a. After his death in 2021, Pu‘u Pa‘upa‘u became his final resting place, too.

Two years later, on a rain-blessed October night, it is one side of the backdrop for the Lunas’ homecoming game. The other side, downhill toward the beach, is the destruction from the fire.

The full house of an estimated 3,000 fans acknowledge both but dwell on neither. As the sun set, darkness fell on both the resting place of the esteemed alumni and the remnants of the town.

With the field fully illuminated, it became time to enjoy the present, to celebrate the undefeated Lunas football team, and the return of the students and alumni.

As expected, Lahainaluna dominated the first half and won easily, but the real victory is that any of this is even possible just 2-1/2 months after the fire.

People from here are not surprised, though, that the community came together in time of crisis like a family — because they are one.

“Lahaina is so small, so there are a lot of generational families,” said Ryan Toshikiyo, a 1993 graduate of the high school whose son, Talon, is a senior on the Lunas football team.

The fire destroyed their house.

“We all just barely made it out,” said Toshikiyo, who has since lived at the Royal Lahaina Resort, where he has worked the past few years as a painter.

He maintains a positive attitude that he passes on to his son. He laughed when asked if the Lunas can make it to, and win, the state tournament.

“I don’t want to jinx ’em,” he said. “I think everyone has a good shot at winning.”

Kula Brown is a 1990 Lahainaluna graduate who worked the concession stand Saturday, selling venison chili and other treats to raise funds for the Lunas athletic programs.

“Whatever people can do to help, they help,” she said “I was born and raised in Lahaina, and I love this community. It’s a unique school for sure. I have four daughters who went here and a total of nine kids, and it’s true what they say about it taking a village.”

Quarterback Lyrik Kahula is her nephew, but “half of the team is related to each other,” Brown added.

The Lunas need just one more win to finish the MIL season at 5-0 and earn a berth in the state’s Division I tournament.

“I don’t know why people are talking about that yet,” Lahainaluna assistant coach Garret Tihada said. “We’d still have to beat Maui High (in the last regular-season game).”

That’s the kind of thing any responsible and smart coach would say.

And, like everyone in Lahaina, the Lunas have learned to never take anything for granted.