My thought was to write about Kawehena Johnson being perhaps the finest pound-for-pound high school football player I’ve ever seen, the MVP of one of the best teams in the state’s history.
After a discussion with TV analyst Darren Hernandez during Kahuku’s 42-20 state championship win over Punahou on Friday, maybe some rethinking is in order. Hernandez threw the scale out of the equation.
“He’s probably the best, most complete football player I’ve seen in the past 10 years. Did you see him running the ball? He was plowing over people like Joe Onosai did at Pac-Five.”
Maybe he was mixing Johnson up with Aofaga Wily, maybe exaggerating to make a point. Onosai played fullback for a Prep Bowl championship Pac-Five team at nearly twice Johnson’s 163 pounds, and he was the player of the year because of the roads he paved for the Wolfpack backs, and himself.
Maybe Hernandez was a little overexcited. But it was hard for anyone not wearing Buffanblu not to be after the variety of skills and thrills the 5-foot-8 Johnson put on display — and in this, the biggest game of the year.
So many big plays from the little man, take your pick … speaking of which, he had two of those, the one with 7:34 left in the game basically sealing the deal.
Following the first interception, with the game still scoreless in the first quarter, coach Reggie Torres blocked Johnson’s path to the sideline, sending him back out to play quarterback.
Eventually, the combination of Johnson’s running of the option, Lasi Livai’s passing and Wily’s power cracked what had been a stout Buffanblu defense in the first quarter.
As it has all season, the Kahuku defense did its part, staging repeated flash mobs wherever Punahou quarterback Larry Tuileta happened to be.
After Wily broke the ice with his 53-yard TD run, Johnson’s sleight of hand and flight of feet were all over the next two scores.
First, his superbly executed fake-punt run set up Livai’s scoring pass to Lasselle Thompson.
Then, the play of the night. With 16 seconds left in the half, Livai finds Will Cravens in the middle of the field. As Cravens is tackled, he tosses to Johnson, zipping behind him.
Johnson was gone as quickly as he’d appeared — 53 yards and it didn’t even count as a catch — and it was 21-0.
Punahou gets credit for bouncing back from that after the half, especially Ryan Tuiasoa, who owned the third quarter.
But Kahuku turned the tide back in the fourth without surrendering the lead.
The big plays from the little man in the first half were just too much for the Buffanblu to overcome.