Kahuku is mighty and Kahuku is king again.
The vaunted Kahuku defense lived up to its well-earned reputation with a 20-0 win over ILH champion Punahou on Friday night in the Open Division final of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Football State Championships at John Kauinana Stadium.Kahuku limited Punahou’s normally potent attack to 197 yards of total offense. Punahou had not been shut out since Oct. 22, 2021, a 35-0 loss to Saint Louis.
Winning its second state title in as many years, Kahuku finished the season 12-2. Punahou closed out at 9-2, its only defeats at the hands of Kahuku.
Big Red did the job with a bone-crushing ground attack: 222 yards on 42 carries. Va’aimalae Fonoti finished with 23 carries for 112 yards despite a slow start on the ground thanks to a physical Punahou defense.
“We all just had to do our assignments. We were trying to be greedy, but in the second half we made our changes and came out stronger than ever,” Fonoti said. “I had to do it for my family, my brothers, my teammates. We play for something bigger than ourselves.”
Kahuku’s defense came up with four takeaways — three fumble recoveries and one interception. They limited Punahou’s John-Keawe Sagapolutele to 16-for-33 passing, 129 yards.
“Trust. It’s all about trust. It’s all about brotherhood,” linebacker Liona Lefau said. “We call ourselves a family. You can’t call yourselves a family if you don’t have trust. It feels better this year. They were both hard. The score might not say it, but (Punahou) is a tough team.”
Kahuku QB Waika Crawford had perhaps his finest performance on the biggest stage, passing for 177 yards and one TD, and scrambling for 69 yards and another TD.
“This took me back to my kid days. I was just having fun out there,” Crawford said. “Every time I roll out I try to keep my eyes downfield all the time.”
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Unlike their first meeting on Oct. 3, a narrow 27-20 win by Kahuku, playmaker Kainoa Carvalho was available after recovering from a foot injury. He was instrumental as a pass-catcher, kick returner and kickoff man, deftly placing the ball in gaps that led to sub-par field position for the Buffanblu.
“We practice a lot on our kicking. We take pride in our special teams,” said Carvalho, who caught nine passes for 79 yards. “Field position was a big battle in this game. I feel amazing. This is the best way to close out my senior year. I’m so proud of the boys and the coaches and especially the community for supporting us all the way.”
Sterling Carvalho joined Siuaki Livai and Reggie Torres as the only head coaches to lead Kahuku to back-to-back state crowns.
“I’m feeling good because I know this is what our team wanted from the beginning,” Sterling Carvalho said. “We know the effort and hard work they put in all year long for this moment, to achieve this. It was all about doing our job. We know we could stop the run, and that’s what we did tonight. We know we can contain the receivers, and that’s what the defense did all night. All year long, when we needed to, we stepped up.”
Punahou last won the state title in 2014, and looked every bit the state-title contender in ’22.
“They did a good job up front. We had some injury problems early on our offensive line and had to adjust,” Punahou coach Nate Kia said. “So we had to go to the passing game. We missed some opportunities and really shot ourselves in the foot with turnovers.”
Kahuku scored on its first series, a 13-play, 70-yard drive with a heavy load for Fonoti. Crawford scored on a 1-yard sneak for a 7-0 lead with 4:52 left in the first quarter.
Punahou’s second series, a no-huddle, hurry-up drive, was in Kahuku territory. However, Kahuku defensive lineman Nitus Auelua forced a fumble by Punahou running back Ala‘i Williams and Nick Horito recovered for Kahuku at the 32-yard line.
Kahuku then drove to the Punahou 17-yard line and stalled. Kainoa Carvalho’s 34-yard field-goal try was wide right on the second play of the second quarter.
Using their trips formations most of the way, mixing in some option pitches, Kahuku went to its battering-ram elephant formation with Fonoti at QB to convert a fourth-and-1 at its 45-yard line. The drive stalled at the Punahou 5-yard line, and Carvalho split the uprights on a 21-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead with 5:01 to go in a fast-moving first half.
Kahuku got the ball at midfield after a Punahou punt with 3:09 to go before the break. Fonoti picked up gains of 12, 1 and 4 yards on the ground before Crawford slipped through the cracks up the middle for a 17-yard gain.
Crawford again eluded the pass rush, leaving the pocket and scrambling left before rifling a 13-yard TD pass to Kaimana Carvalho in the left corner of the end zone. Kahuku led 17-0 with 27 seconds left in the first half.
By halftime, Kahuku had 40 plays to 19 by Punahou, and a major edge in total offense, 240 yards to 55. One big key: Crawford’s ability to gain yardage with his legs. The senior was 9-for-14, 112 passing yards, and seven carries for 60 rushing yards.
Williams, who rushed for an Open Division, state-tourney record 237 yards last week against Mililani, had 5 yards on three attempts at intermission.
Kahuku had a chance to blow the game open on its first drive of the second half, but Punahou DB Dillon Kellner intercepted in the end zone for a touchback.
Kahuku’s next drive ended on a fumble inside the 20-yard line, keeping Punahou in the game. Lefau’s forced fumble on Christian Kauhane was recovered by Viliamu Toilolo at the Kahuku 49-yard line with 4:12 left in the third quarter.
Kainoa Carvalho’s 40-yard field goal stretched the lead to 20-0 with 1:56 to go in the third.
Punahou did not get past the Kahuku 35-yard line until the fourth quarter. The Buffanblu drove to the 2-yard line, but Leonard Ah You forced a fumble by Lyman and recovered for Kahuku at the 3-yard line with 8:07 remaining. It was Kahuku’s third fumble recovery of the night.
