Punahou's Kanawai Noa was a factor in all phases against Kahuku in the Division I semifinals. Reina Takaki | Special to SL

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Punahou is looking to claim its second straight title in the 16th Annual First Hawaiian Bank/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Football State Championships on Friday night at Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium. Last year they beat Mililani, 28-22 and will have to beat the Trojans again for their second straight, third overall state championship.

"It feels great. You feel great for the kids. All the hard work they put in. Its really great for them," said Punahou coach Kale Ane.

The Buffanblu are currently 8-0 overall and blew through the Interscholastic League of Honolulu regular season, averaging a little over 56 points per game. However they received two difficult tests late in the season — they had to edge out Saint Louis, 35-28 in the postseason final to clinch the overall ILH title and squeaked past Kahuku, 13-10 in the state semifinals.

They have to prepare for several Mililani Division I caliber players. McKenzie Milton is a dual threat quarterback who can hurt you through the air or on the ground and they have an outstanding running back in Vavae Malepeai. On the defensive side of the ball, they have to look to contain Rex Manu and other playmakers. Punahou relishes the opportunity and is definitely looking forward to preparing for these challenges.

"They are a great team starting with their coaching staff, they have great schemes, good quarterback, he's a nightmare. They have a Division I defensive tackle, a Division I offensive tackle, their running back is a Division I guy that's just a junior. It's going to be a lot of fun to prepare for them because they have a variety of things that they do. You gotta stop the run, you gotta stop the pass, you gotta stop the special teams, you gotta stop the quarterback you gotta protect, its a challenge and all athletes want that," said Ane.

Offensively quarterback Ephraim Tuliloa threw for 1,831 yards and 18 touchdowns so far this season and his favorite weapon, Kanawai Noa, leads the state with 1,072 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. Micah Maa added 320 yards and five touchdowns this season. With these kinds of weapons, Punahou has averaged a little over 300 yards passing and averaged 475.3 yards of net offense this season.

Wayne Taulapapa leads the ground game with 911 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns, and has averaged 9.5 yards per carry this season. Punahou averages 172.8 rushing yards per game, but had -4 net rushing yards against Kahuku, part of it was due to a -53 yard team rush.

"This team has grown tremendously. I'm so thankful that I we have that kind of senior leadership and our coaching is good as always. Mililani's a great team and they are going to come out ready to play. We just have to come out ready to go," said Noa.

In their game against Kahuku, it came down to special teams and John Toner kicked two field goals: a 35-yarder and a 48-yard field goal to win the game. He has made 48 extra points and five field goals so far this season.

Punahou's defense has been the backbone of the team all year, limiting teams to 10 points per game and 208.4 yards of offense. Players to look out for are defensive linemen Canton Kaumatule, who recorded eight tackles and Patamo Soa, who had a sack against Kahuku. They have solid linebackers featuring Kalama Chung (10 tackles and two forced fumbles against the Red Raiders), Saitui Moeai, six tackles and fumble recovery and Ronley Lakalaka with five tackles. The Buffanblu defense gave up 2.4 yards per attempt and the secondary picked off Tuli Wily-Matagi five times and forced seven turnovers.

"Our defense is much different. We play together more and we got each others back. Our defense isn't around one guy, its around 11 guys. It takes a great brotherhood. No one is not a part of group, everyone is together. In order to win a championship everyone needs to be together," said Lakalaka.

If Punahou wins, at 9-0 overall they would have the fewest wins of any undefeated Oahu team. This is the fourth straight year the Buffanblu made it to the state final and is 2-3 overall in title games. This year, a championship would be the cherry on top to cap an undefeated season.

"We'd be able to do something that Punahou football hasn't done in awhile. I know it would mean a lot to the community, it would mean a lot to the alumni," said Taulapapa.