Kahuku's Diezel Kamoku's punt return for a TD in the fourth quarter provided the go-ahead score for the Red Raiders. Greg Yamamoto | SL

Purchase image 1 of 3

CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 2 of 3

Greg Yamamoto | SL

Purchase image 3 of 3

MANOA — Kahuku's third straight state title did not come by chance. 

The Red Raiders had a few bounces go their way, to be sure, in Friday night's thrilling title game of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Open Division State Championships, which was played before a crowd of 7,322 fans at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex. 

But beyond those, they created their own opportunities in their 21-19 win over No. 1 Mililani — and it started right off the bat with the opening kickoff. 

Zaden Mariteragi's well-executed onside kick ricocheted off a Trojan player and eventually found the hands of dangerous kickoff returner Davyn Joseph. However, Joseph had the ball poked out of his possession by Malakai Vendiola and Mariteragi wound up with the football. Kahuku recycled special teams' momentum-turning play into a 19-yard touchdown pass from Tuliele Tagovailoa-Amosa to Kache Kaio for the game's opening score four plays later. 

"Before that kickoff, coach was just telling us to keep contain and I saw the ball kick off to the right and I knew that they were going to come back with Joseph and I just tried to make a play on the ball and luckily, fortunately the ball popped out and I made a good play," said Vendiola, a junior defensive back and receiver. 

Kahuku coach Sterling Carvalho, whose twin brother Stuart serves as special teams coordinator, said that the onside kickoff to open the game was a much-calculated roll of the dice. 

"That's what we scouted and so my twin brother, that's what he dialed up. I mean, we're going to take our chances, it's the last game of the year so why not, right?," he said. "Take your shots, take your chances."

Following the Tagovailoa-Amosa-to-Kaio TD pass, Kaimana Carvalho improvised on the ensuing PAT. The snap from center to Carvalho — the holder on the extra point — was wide left. Rather than try to gather the errant snap and get it down in time for the PAT attempt by Mariteragi, Carvalho picked up the ball and ran around left end an unplanned two-point conversion. 

Mililani answered two possessions later with a 6-yard Kini McMillan TD run, but opted to go for two to try to tie the score at 8. However, McMillan had his pass deflected by Aiden Manutai and keep the Red Raiders ahead. 

Toward the end of the first half, the Red Raiders took advantage of a short field after a 24-yard punt by Joseph gave them possession at the Mililani 45-yard line. 

Kahuku's offense orchestrated a 10-play drive — including eight runs by Vaaimalae Fonoti — that was punctuated by a 1-yard TD plunge by Tagovailoa-Amosa. The scoring drive was extended by two personal fouls against the Trojans, including an ill-timed roughing-the-kicker penalty that gave the Red Raiders a first down. Tagovailoa-Amosa's QB sneak into the end zone came two plays later. 

Mililani cut its deficit to 15-12 at the 2:28 mark of the third quarter after Nakoa Kahana-Travis ran for a 1-yard touchdown eight plays after Tysic Puni's recovery of a Kahuku fumble. However, Manutai came in untouched off the left edge and blocked the ensuing extra point. 

"That's just something we've been working on every practice. Our coaches really emphasizes that one point really matters in the game, so we just had to take advantage of it," said Manutai, a junior cornerback and receiver. 

He added, "Our coach, coach Stu, he takes a lot of pride in special teams. He thinks that's the one thing every team is missing is special teams, so Kahuku is big on winning all three phases of the game."

Kahuku's three-point lead held through the end of three quarters and a few minutes into the fourth, but Mililani got a big play when McMillan and Joseph hooked up for an 89-yard TD pass. McMillan hit Joseph in stride down the left sideline and Joseph shed an ankle tackle by Manulele Ah You on his way to the end zone for the go-ahead score. 

Lyric Sarae added the extra point to make it a 19-15 lead for the Trojans with 9:41 to play.

When it came to crunch time, however, Kahuku's special teams made a play. 

Mililani had Joseph punt away on fourth-and-20 from its own 41-yard line. Joseph's punt traveled 45 yards — after a few bounces — to the Kahuku 14-yard line, where Kamoku fielded the ball then navigated his way down the right sideline and broke four tackles along the way for the 86-yard kickoff return for touchdown. 

Manutai was on the field for Kamoku's punt return and made a key block on the play. 

"I saw the ball just dribbling and I already knew Diezel and (Ah You) were back there and they're gonna grab it, so I saw the hole, I saw one guy just come loose and I just hit him and I just saw Diezel take it to the crib, that's all we needed," Manutai said. 

The extra point was no good and the Red Raiders clung to a 21-19 lead with 2:59 to play, but they shut the door on the Trojans on the ensuing kickoff. 

Mariteragi executed a well-placed pooch on the kickoff, which bounced between a pair of Mililani players and Ah You pounced on the free ball to give Kahuku possession with 2:55 remaining. 

"I was just saying in my head, ‘Thy will be done,' so it's all the Lord's work, but I just had to get up from my mistakes and I know I had to do it in some big way and that was my opportunity, so I just left everything on the field," said Ah You, who missed the tackle on Joseph on Mililani's long touchdown pass. 

"That just made it an even bigger opportunity to make up for my mistake, so I just went all out for my community and my family," Ah You added. 

Sterling Carvalho credited both Mariteragi for the placement of his kickoff and Ah You for being in the right spot at the right time. 

"He was ready for it," he said. "It wasn't by chance and I tell our team that we don't leave anything to chance, so what you saw tonight was worked on all week long and then it was just execution on their end."

The Red Raiders have routinely turned the tide in big games over the years with stellar special teams play. 

"We emphasize special teams because that's one phase of the game that some teams slack, so we use that as an advantage and fire off and make plays out of that," said Kaimana Carvalho. 

Vendiola echoed the thoughts of his fellow junior. 

"It's big. As a little kid I used to watch these types of games and I used to be in the crowd, always just doing the tomahawk chop every time we were in the special teams and I'm just grateful to be a part of the special teams and make a play today," he said. 

Sterling Carvalho, who has now led Big Red to three state championships in as many years, spoke of the pride his players have in excelling in the third phase of the game.

"When you think of Kahuku, you think of defense and special teams and in these championship games they just rise to the occasion. It's a privilege and an honor to play special teams," he said. "Everybody really takes pride to be on special teams because they know this is the game changer, this is where the momentum swings and you saw that tonight."

Kahuku completed the season with a 12-2 record and its 11th state championship.