Ten takeaways by a ballhawking Lahainaluna defense powered a 30-7 win over Konawaena on Friday night in the Division I semifinals of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA State Football Championships.
“I’m happy that we won, but at the same time we’ve got a lot of work to do, no doubt about it,” Lahainaluna co-head coach Dean Rickard said. “As you can see, offensively, we’ve got major corrections to do. On defense, we bent and didn’t break, and that’s a testament to coach (Bobby) Watson and his staff coming up with the schemes to stop a powerhouse offense like Konawaena.”
Lahainaluna (7-0) rushed 58 times for 279 yards, including 100 yards by Blare Sylva-Viela. The Lunas limited the previously unbeaten Wildcats (6-1) to 232 yards of total offense — 3.1 yards per play.
A crowd of about 500 at Skippa Diaz Stadium, mostly in Lunas red gear, saw the battle. One of the most memorable matchups in state football history was the schools’ seven-overtime 75-69 game, won by Lahainaluna in 2017. This time, the Lunas were more prepared defensively.
Ian-Jay Cabanilla was one of many sparkplugs for the Maui Interscholastic League champions. He had two interceptions, the first and the last by the Lunas, and also scored on a TD run.
“Watching film really gave us more prep and gave us an idea of what they were doing,” Cabanilla said. “Our scout ‘O’ (offense) would run their offense and that really helped us out.”
Despite the result, Watson, the defensive coordinator and co-head coach, was less than thrilled with the performance. Konawaena’s high-powered passing game came up with a handful of big plays, but not enough to change momentum.
“We got lucky. They were this close to getting on the board and exploding,” Watson said.
The Lunas never trailed. Their first drive stalled at the Konawaena 20-yard line and they lined up for a field-goal attempt, but holder Kuola Watson muffed the snap, quickly recovered and sprinted to the left pylon. Watson dove over the goal line with Wildcats in pursuit, and the Lunas led 7-0 with 9:40 to go in the opening quarter.
Konawaena responded with a 10-play, 67-yard scoring march. Kawelu Kaiawe’s 2-yard blast into the end zone tied it at 7 with 3:45 to go in the first quarter.
From there, Konawaena turned the ball over five times in a row. After the Lunas punted, the Wildcats converted on a fourth-and-1 at their 29-yard line. Two plays later, a high snap to quarterback Keoki Alani sailed toward the end zone and was recovered by Lahainaluna’s Lance Morikawa at the 1-yard line.
Sylva-Viela scored on the next play for a 14-7 Lunas lead with 3:45 to go in the first quarter.
Moments later, Cabanilla returned the first of three first-half picks by the Lunas to the Konawaena 14-yard line. Anatello Flores’ 19-yard field goal opened the lead to 17-7 with 11:56 left in the second quarter.
Konawaena then drove to the Lunas’ 4-yard line and had fourth-and-3. Alani’s sideline pass was picked off by Watson.
On the next snap, Konawaena’s Kaikoa Kelii recovered a fumble by Sylva-Viela, and the Wildcats drove to the Lunas’ 22-yard line. However, Watson came up with another big play, picking off Alani.
The turnover turned into a methodical Lunas drive, culminating with a 30-yard field goal by Flores into the wind that barely got over the crossbar. Lahainaluna led 20-7 with 1:48 left in the first half.
Lahainaluna recovered a fumble by Konawaena on the ensuing kick return, but Lunas QB Noa Gordon threw an interception on the next snap. Trez Uemoto’s return gave Konawaena first down at the Lunas’ 45-yard line, but the Wildcats wound up punting.
A 41-yard field-goal try by Flores on the final play of the half fell short.
Lahainaluna’s pick parade resumed in the second half. Sylva-Viela hauled in a deflected pass to end Konawaena’s first series of the second half. Near the end of the third quarter, the kicker, Flores, was playing linebacker when Alani drilled him with a bullet between the numbers. Flores returned the ball 11 yards and got dinged up near the sideline, limping to the bench.
After a sixth interception, this one by Christian Clarion on a leaping play, tipping the pigskin to himself, the Lunas drove and scored on Flores’ final field goal. The 30-yard kick opened the lead to 23-7 with 7:04 remaining.
For good measure, Cabanilla capped the Lunas’ big day with his second interception near midfield, returning it 25 yards. That set up a 10-yard keeper up the middle by Cabanilla as a wildcat quarterback. The Lunas led 30-7 with 1:54 left.
Senior defensive lineman Sacrie Latu accounted for the Lunas’ 10th takeaway, snatching the ball from Alani on a botched handoff with 52 seconds left.
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At Skippa Diaz Stadium
Konawaena (6-1) 7 0 0 0 — 7
Lahainaluna (7-0) 14 6 0 10 —30
LAH—Kuola Watson 20 run. (Anatello Flores kick)
KONA—Kawelu Kaiawe 2 run (Ro’onui Satta Ellis kick)
LAH—Blare Sylva-Viela 1 run (Flores kick)
LAH—FG Flores 19
LAH—FG Flores 30
LAH—FG Flores 30
LAH—Ian-Jay Cabanilla 9 run (Flores kick)
RUSHING—Konawaena: Kaiawe 19-78, Maui Ellis Noa 1-6, Keawe Navas Loa 1-2, Keoki Alani 7-(minus 14), Team 1-(minus 30). Lahainaluna: Sylva-Viela 17-100, Christian Clarion 4-72, Cabanilla 18-44, TJ Borges 7-40, Kuola Watson 1-20, Noa Gordon 6-7, Lyrik Kahula 1-(minus 1), Team 1- (minus 1), Tihada 1-(minus 2).
PASSING—Konawaena: Alani 22-47-7—190. Lahainalua: Gordon 4-6-1—50.
RECEIVING—Konawaena: Kamaehu Makanui 10-86, Satta Ellis 6-37, Landon Daquel-Shimabukuro 4-27, Isaac Clement 2-40. Lahainaluna: Noah Garcia 1-46, Clarion 1-6, Cabanilla 1-0, Borges 1-(minus 2).
