Lahainaluna defends title with epic 7-OT win over Konawaena, 75-69


Stacy Kaneshiro | ScoringLive
November 18, 2017, 8:16pm

Joshua Tihada celebrates after scoring his fifth and final touchdown to win the D2 title for Lahainaluna in the seventh overtime period. Leighland Tagawa | SL

HALAWA — It was an epic game that both teams refused to lose.

Running back Joshua Tihada's tournament record-tying fifth rushing touchdown of the game in a record seventh overtime lifted Lahainaluna over Konawaena, 75-69, to win the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Division II State Football Championship Saturday night at Hawaian Tel FCU Field at Aloha Stadium.

It was the highest-scoring game in not only tournament history, but also state history.

"It feels incredible," Lahainaluna co-head coach Garret Tihada said. "I can't even describe how it feels. It still feels pretty numbing."

Astonished supporters of both schools saw records break in all areas.

The worn out defenses helped the offenses combine for 82 points in the OT periods after the teams were tied at 31 in regulation. Tihada scored four times in the OTs to help the No. 1 Lunas (11-1) become the first Neighbor Island team to repeat as state champions in football. Konawaena (9-3) was hoping to be the Big Island's first football state champ.

"I have no words, honestly," said Joshua Tihada, nephew of the coach. "It was fun to the max, but I'm happy we got another one."

The combined 144 points shatters the previous high of 129 when Liberty (Nevada) beat Mililani, 76-53, in 2015 and easily surpassed the highest between two Hawaii teams when Saint Louis beat Iolani, 77-42, in 1998. Konawaena was involved in the highest scoring state tournament game when it beat Waipahu, 53-50, in last week's semifinals. The seven OTs exceeded the previous triple-OT semifinal in Castle's 27-21 win in 2002, the last year of the pre-D2 tournament era.

The points by each team also is the most by a winning team — beating Kaiser's 59-6 win against Konawaena in the 2013 quarterfinals — and most by a losing team — beating Waipahu's 50 in the Konawaena loss two weeks ago.

Tihada's five rushing TDs ties a tournament record set by Hawaii Prep's Michael Kopra set in the 2004 quarterfinals against Waipahu.

Konawaena QB Austin Ewing set Division II tournament records he set two weeks ago against Waipahu (30-of-53 passing) with 33 completions and 55 pass attempts Saturday afternoon.

In OT, teams start at the defensive team's 20 and try to score.

With the game tied at 69, Konawaena had the ball first and faced second-and-goal at the 1. But the Wildcats lost the ball on the snap exchange and Oliveira-Kalalau recovered it, making it the first defensive stop in the OTs. 

Lahainaluna's drive was literally carried by Tihada, who accounted for all 20 yards on four carries, breaking the goal line on a 4-yard run to end the game. The PAT wasn't necesary.

Konawaena was graceful despite the disappointment of falling on the short end of the scorefest.

"This is the great experience for me," Ewing said. "Everybody on this team has never had this happen. For it to end this way, it's a heartbreaker, but to make it this far with this team, for everything that we've been through, it's amazing just to make it here."

Added Wildcats coach Brad Uemoto: "I just wish we won it. But I can't complain. We lost to a good team. We had our opportunities. That's all we could ask for."

The teams traded TDs in the first five OT periods before exchanging field goals in the sixth.

The Wildcats started the seventh OT looking like it was about to score their sixth TD of the OTs. But on the play before, center Avery Bianco got injured and right tackle Kolu Alani shifted over to center. Ewing started off in shotgun and moved players around. He then approached the center but never touched the ball on the snap.

"Our center who has never played center before, our right tackle (Alani) had to come in because our center was injured," Ewing explained. "We only got one practice snap in and (the ball) just missed my hand by two inches and I just dropped it a little bit.

In retrospect, Uemoto said, "I should have changed the play. That's on me."

Lahainaluna took a 28-13 lead into the fourth quarter, only to allow 18 points to the Wildcats against a 42-yard field goal by Pablo Rico who set a D2 tournament record with nine PATs, passing Kaiser's Matt Sai, who made eight in the 2013 quarterfinals.

Regulation ended with excitement too.

Trailing 31-23 with 3:34 left, Ewing drove the offense to the Lunas' 3, where RB Chauncey Mariani-Louis rammed up the middle for the TD to pull Konawaena to within 2 with 45 seconds left in regulation. On the 2-point conversion, Ewing's pass was deflected by Derek Perez, but intended receiver Hunter Wehrsig caught the popped up ball to tie the game at 31.

"That's a tribute to our kids," Uemoto said of his team's comeback to force OT. "Hell of a job by our team. I mean, they fought back."

If there was a sign of something special brewing, it came with Lahainaluna QB Nainoa Irish. He completed 9 of 19 passes for 164 yards and three TDs during the Maui Interscholastic League season. He exceeded or tied those marks in one game, completing 6 of 7 passes for 188 yards and three TDs.

"I just had to trust my linemen and trust my receivers," Irish said of big passing night. "It just came down to mismatches and key reads. I was trusting my linemen. That's the biggest thing."

Irish threw TD passes of 66 and 31 yards to William Bookland — one in each of the first two quarters to give Lahainaluna a 14-0 lead.

Ewing then engineered a 14-play, 88-yard drive and ended it with an 8-yard TD run rolling to his right. Kaihulali Casco blocked Harry Hill's PAT to keep it 14-6.

Lahainaluna's defense got into the scoring action before the half. Elijah Oliveira-Kalalau forced Ewing to fumble after a 20-yard sack that Koa Evalu-Robinson picked up at the 7 and ran in for the TD to make it 21-6 at the half.

Konawaena trimmed its deficit in the third period when Mariani-Louis, who rushed for 191 yards on 42 carries, scored on a five yard pass from Ewing. But Lahainaluna matched it with RB Tihada's first of five TDs with a 7-yard run to make it 28-13.

The Wildcats began their comeback in the fourth with Mariani-Louis' 1-yard TD run and Harry Hill's 25-yard field goal to pull to 28-23. But the Lunas' Rico's 42-yard field goal made it 31-23, only to see that lead disappear on Mariani-Louis' three-yard TD run and Wehrsig's 2-point conversion catch.

The first OT saw Konawaena's Ewing connect with Wehrsig on a 12-yard TD pass on a slant over the middle. It looked like the Wildcats were going to be in good position to hold the Lunas, who faced third-and-28 at the 39, but Irish hit Tihada on a 32-yard pass to keep the drive alive. Lahainaluna tied it on Tihada's 1-yard run on fourth down.

Tihada got another 1-yard TD run to start the second OT, only to be matched by Mariani-Louis' 6-yard TD run.

Konawaena opened the third with Ewing's 10-yard TD to Tyler Libarios, but Tihada's 7-yard TD run tied it at 52.

Lahainaluna scored on Elijah Ragudo's 2-yard TD run, but Konawaena found life on generous spot after a 13-yard completion by Ewing to Wehrsig at the Lahaina 10. Two plays later, Ewing scored on a 7-yard run to make it 59-59 after four OTs.

The exhausted defenses showed their fatigue in the fifth. Konawaena needed only three plays to score on Mariani-Louis' 2-yard TD run. Lahainaluna scored on first down on a 20-yard TD pass from Irish to Bookland to make it 66-66.

The kickers took over in the sixth OT. Lahainaluna's Rico's 27-yard line drive barely cleared the cross bar, but Hill's 32-yard field goal once again tied the game, setting the stage for the dramatic seventh OT.

"Everybody worked together as one," Joshua Tihada said. "I would also like to thank all the people who came before us, my family, my friends, everyone, the coaching staff."


Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].