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Fri, Oct 28, 2022 @ Farrington [ 7:30 pm ]

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Mililani

0

Kahuku

35

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Mililani (7-5-0)	0	0	0	0	0
Kahuku (12-2-0)	0	7	7	21	35

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Waika Crawford 157 yd 1 TD

Emana Tarape 92 yd

Vaaimalae Fonoti 87 yd 1 TD

Nakoa Kahana-Travis 59 yd

Kaimana Carvalho 60 yd

Onosai Salanoa 43 yd

KALIHI — Different stakes, same story. 

Just as it did two weeks prior, No. 1 Kahuku followed the lead of its defense and special teams units Friday to claim its 29th league championship with a 35-0 win over No. 3 Mililani on a soggy night at Farrington's Edward 'Skippa' Diaz Stadium. 

It is the third OIA Open Division title in the last four years for the Red Raiders (10-2), all of them coming under coach Sterling Carvalho. 

"I'm just so happy for our boys," Carvalho said. "They deserve it."

Kahuku's defense held the Trojans (7-4) to a season-low 150 yards of total offense. They entered the game averaging more than double that. 

Shaun Niu, Liona Lefau and Madden Soliai each recorded an interception for Big Red. Soliai, the lone freshman on the team, also blocked two punts that led to Kahuku touchdowns. 

"The little bro, Madden Soliai, he's a dog, man. He's gonna be a nightmare for a couple years," said Niu, a senior defensive back. 

After a scoreless first quarter, it was Niu's interception off of Mililani quarterback Emana Tarape that got the Red Raiders going. Lots of film study with position coach Keala Santiago paid off, Niu said. 

"We've been preaching the hitch and (Tarape) dropping his shoulder — shoutout to coach Keala; He's been teaching us that — and right when he dropped his shoulder I knew that was gonna be my money," Niu described. "We were waiting for that and right when we seen it, we took advantage of it.

Niu's pick gave the Red Raiders the ball at the Mililani 19-yard line. On the very next play, quarterback Waika Crawford kept around left end on a read-option play with running back Vaaimalae Fonoti. Crawford turned on the jets after he turned the corner and broke one tackle en route to the end zone. 

Zaden Mariteragi tacked on the extra point to put Kahuku ahead, 7-0, with nine minutes and 30 seconds left until halftime. 

In response, the Trojans put together a 15-play drive that penetrated the red zone. However, on fourth-and-4 from the 16-yard line, they were pushed back five yards due to a false start penalty. Subsequently, on fourth-and-9, Tarape threw for the end zone, but was intercepted by Lefau. 

The Red Raiders were unable to cash in Lefau's takeaway into any points before the intermission and took a 7-0 lead at the half. 

Kahuku had only 48 rushing yards through the first two quarters, but got its run game going early on in the second half. It orchestrated a 13-play, 87-yard drive that took 6:25 off the clock that culminated with a 3-yard TD run by Crawford on another well-executed read-option play. 

"We were practicing that all week, especially against an aggressive defense like Mililani," Carvalho said. "They gave us that, we took advantage of that and that worked tonight. I mean, in the second half we scored on every drive, so we were able to be efficient and that's what we wanted to do."

The scoring play came immediately after Crawford hit Kaimana Carvalho for a 35-yard pass completion on fourth-and-9. Mariteragi's PAT doubled-up the Red Raider lead to 14-0 just past the midpoint of the third quarter. 

The Trojans' next possession resulted in a punt. However, Makel Paiva had his punt blocked by Soliai, who came off of the left edge and laid out to get his hands on the ball. 

Soliai also blocked a punt against the Trojans in Kahuku's 29-17 win when the teams faced off in the regular season on Oct. 15. 

"I think they learned from last time I came off the right side, so I switched," Soliai said. "They still tried to block me, but I still got there — I don't know how, I guess just being an athlete."

Four plays into the drive, Crawford and Carvalho hook up once more, this time for 19 yards to move the chains on a fourth-and-6. Four plays after the conversion, Fonoti sliced his way in for a 3-yard TD run. 

Not long after that, it was deja vu all over again as Soliai blocked another Paiva punt and Lefau recovered the ball in the red zone. 

"You would think (the Trojans) knew, right?," Sterling Carvalho questioned. "But he just did his thing."

Three plays after that, Crawford zipped a 5-yard TD pass to Kache Kaio. Mariteragi added the extra point to make it a 28-0 game with about eight minutes remaining. 

Carvalho lauded both the defense and special teams for setting things in motion, not just Friday night, but all season long. 

"Defense and special teams: it's Kahuku football," he stated. "We're used to this, right? We've been in these situations before and all we did was just capitalize on (Mililani's) mistakes and just execute on our part."

Sitani Suguturaga's 28-yard TD pass to Gemini Vendiola with 4:35 to play closed out the scoring. 

Soliai's pick, which came in the final minutes, served as the final gut punch for the Trojans, who were shut out for the first time all year. They were averaging nearly 36 points per game prior to Friday. 

Mililani, did, however, find some success with its run game in the first half. Ultimately, it failed to translate to any points. 

"We just weren't giving up the big plays, right? We just had to make sure we corralled them and it was a bend-but-don't-break kind of defense and that's what we've been doing all year. It doesn't matter how many yards, it's the score on the scoreboard, that's what mattered," Carvalho said. 

Mililani played without starting quarterback Kini McMillan, who was out due to injury. In his stead, Tarape finished 13-of-24 passing for 92 yards. 

The teams combined to commit 22 penalties for 178 yards. The Trojans alone were flagged 12 times for 88 yards, including four false start penalties and three delay of game calls. 

Mililani was seeking its fifth OIA championship and first since 2018. 

It was the fifth consecutive year that the Trojans and Red Raiders faced off for the OIA Open Division title. 

Both teams will represent the OIA in the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA State Championships in two weeks.