Blog
Nanakuli's miracle season claims league crown


They just keep finding a way to win.

Nanakuli captured its first league title since 1983 and second in school history with a 37-36 overtime victory over Pearl City in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II championship game Friday night. 

"I feel like we earned what we got. All the hard work and dedication that we put in into this summer really paid off," said junior linebacker Randy Manewa. 

The down-to-the-wire finish could have gone either way – but the Golden Hawks have been in this situation numerous times during the season. Including its recent contest against Pearl City, Nanakuli (10-0) has been in five games that were decided by seven points or less. 

I saw the Golden Hawks' first close call first hand. In its regular season against Kaimuki, host Nanakuli saw itself in a 6-0 hole at the break. The Golden Hawks would gain momentum in the second half with two unanswered scores, but Kaimuki came right back to tie the things up at 14-all with 1:38 left in regulation. The game looked like it was bound for overtime before receiver Clifford Cunningham caught the go-ahead 50-yard touchdown pass on a simple curl route. 

Nanakuli's regular season meeting against the Chargers followed the same tune. On homecoming night the Golden Hawks trailed 21-7 at halftime. The second half was a different story as Nanakuli scored 21 points and shutout Pearl City in the second half to win 28-21.

The Golden Hawks' meeting with Radford was one that gave me heart attack. Nanakuli held a 27-20 lead before Radford's two-minute drill knotted itself a touchdown. However, instead of kicking the PAT and playing for overtime, the Rams elected to go for two. The plan backfired as the ensuing snap went over the quarterback's head and the rest was history. 

To top it all off, Nanakuli was coming off a 20-14 win over Kalani. Again, the Golden Hawks trailed but found a way to win.

"I felt like it was our destiny because we put in a lot of work every day," quarterback Kale Kanehailua said when asked about winning all these close games. 

A lot of Nanakuli's successes over the course of the season can be attributed to the hard work that they put in the offseason. After failing to make the postseason in 2013, the Golden Hawks made it an effort to come back with a vengeance.

"It hurt us a lot. It really woke us up to come back stronger this year so that we can take it all," Kanehailua said.

"We just came out working hard, working each other. I don't know what else to say but that it was just a lot of hard work. Blood, sweat and tears during this whole offseason," added Manewa. 

Winning the OIA title not only has special meaning to the football program, but to the school and community as well. Coach Keala Watson, who wasn't even born yet when Nanakuli last won the title, made it a point all year to give value to the games that his team plays in. Watson said earlier in the week that the team does various community service acts in the city to show that the team is playing for them. 

"It means a lot to win this championship. It brings back a lot of pride and joy to the community. There should be no reason for outsiders to talk down about us now," said Manewa. 

Watson and his staff also took their players on a hike up the mountain to see what the community looks like from above. The team also had an alumni dinner to allow the younger generation to learn from the older ones. 

"We had a night where we invited all our alumni. We all learned – even myself – a lot of history and tradition that our school had. Everybody that was there (at the dinner) is 100-percent proud of us right now. Because of what these kids did, they added one more thing to our tradition and history. Years from now these kids will look back on this and they'll share it with the other kids. They'll share with everybody else what they were able to do, how they did it, and how great it feels to win an OIA championship."

With the OIA D2 title in hand, the Golden Hawks will now set their sights on claiming the state title. Nanakuli will travel to face Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division II champ Kamehameha-Hawaii next Saturday, Nov. 8 on the Big Island. The winner of that game will face top-seeded Lahainaluna. 



Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].




Show your support

Every contribution, no matter the size, will help ScoringLive continue its mission to provide the best and most comprehensive coverage of high school sports in the state of Hawaii and beyond.

Please consider making a contribution today.

ADVERTISEMENT


MORE STORIES

Punahou continues unbeaten streak, hands Kamehameha second straight loss

Third-ranked Warriors suffered consecutive losses in the regular season for the first time since 2017.

No. 4 Iolani rallies to hand No. 1 Kamehameha first ILH loss

Ethan Akagi and CJ Taira scored the winning runs for the Raiders off a wild pitch to hand the top-ranked...

Punahou pulls away from PAC-5 to notch first ILH win

The Buffanblu ended a five-game skid and broke into the win column to keep the Wolfpack winless in the...

Kalani's Nishigaya headlines All-OIA East selections

Forward/midfielder Kaiulani Nishigaya helped lift Falcons to first-ever league title; Kaiser's Noelani...

Trojans' Fuamatu-Maafala leads All-OIA West picks

Mililani's Iai Fuamatu-Maafala named Player of the Year; Campbell's James Curran named coach of the year.

Knights' Turcios named All-OIA East player of the year

Damon Turcios lone Castle player named to first team; Kailua's Joseph Wood named coach of the year.