MILILANI, Hawaii — One of the most entertaining games of the 2022 Hawaii high school football season is getting a well-deserved rematch.
Defending state champion Kahuku and ILH challenger Punahou will meet at John Kauinana Stadium next week to settle the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Open Division state championship after they blew past Campbell and Mililani in Friday night’s semifinals.
Punahou junior Ala'i Williams capped the night with the most explosive performance by a running back in the 23-year history of state tournament play: 29 carries for 237 yards and four touchdowns in a 52-24 blowout of the host Trojans. Williams, who was looking to run out the clock, saw a hole and capped the win with a 78-yard scoring jaunt in the final minute.
“It’s unbelievable,” Williams told Spectrum OC16 afterward. “Coming into this game, I never knew that this was going to happen. We just came over here to execute and go to states for the first time in eight years.”
Punahou (9-1) last reached the state final in 2014 and last won it all in 2013, years that predated the advent of the Open Division.
The Buffanblu, coming off a 1-4 season in 2021, went up to the North Shore to challenge the defending champs on Sept. 3. It was a back-and-forth battle that required the Red Raiders to rally from down a touchdown in the fourth quarter before they prevailed 27-20 on a walk-off sack.
“It’s going to be a good one,” Williams said of the rematch. “A battle to the end, like last time.”
Kahuku had its closest challenge of the OIA season against Campbell, a 10-point game in muddy conditions on Sept. 10. But the Red Raiders (11-2) left no doubt in its 21st straight win over a Hawaii team, 32-7 over the OIA’s third-place outfit.
The Red Raiders’ touted defense shouldered most of the scoring load, tallying three pick-six touchdowns among four interceptions of the Sabers’ talented sophomore quarterback, Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, who finished 23-for-46 for 231 yards. Seven different Kahuku players sacked Sagapolutele eight times. Linebacker Max Fonoimoana had two of them.
“(The defense) had his number the first time. We knew that (we were) able to do that the second time,” coach Sterling Carvalho said. “This defense is no joke. It’s not just (that) we get lucky week in and week out. They do the job every single week.”
A 55-yard runback by Fale Atuaia with 1:43 left in the first half put Campbell in a 17-point halftime hole. Freshman Madden Soliai had a 50-yard return late in the third quarter and Aiden Manutai got a 15-yarder early in the fourth for a 32-0 lead.
Atuaia, the nephew of former Kahuku great running back Mark Atuaia, said he knew Sagapolutele from their 7-on-7 youth football days. The sophomore, like his teammates among the storied program, are eager to prove themselves next Friday for their passionate North Shore community.
“I think we just gotta do what we’ve been doing, stick to the game plan, and ‘we before me,’” Atuaia said. “All of us gotta eat, though.”
In the other two phases, senior playmaker Kainoa Carvalho had his most complete game since returning from an ankle injury a few weeks ago. The University of Utah commit went down the first game of the season and spent months rehabbing. This was the week that Kahuku had targeted for his most meaningful action, said Sterling Carvalho, his uncle.
He had a 54-yard return on the game’s opening kickoff and booted a 33-yard field goal in the second quarter. The reigning state offensive player of the year caught two passes from Waika Crawford for 11 yards.
“I just gotta thank all my doctors, the physical therapist, just all my teammates for supporting me and getting me back on the field,” he said. “It was a rough road, but I was able to get back.”
Campbell (7-4) dropped to 0-4 in state Open Division games, all in the last four editions of the tournament.
Sabers coach Darren Johnson lamented the three-week gap between the end of the OIA tournament and the state semis. He took solace in the fact that most of his young team is slated to return in 2023, led by Sagapolutele.
(That) is too long,” Johnson said. “We thought we (were) ready and we had some misfortunes as a team, and it’s a team loss. We’ll see everybody again next year. I’m sorry, man, we wanted to play better.”
The margin for error was small for OIA runner-up Mililani (7-5) as it missed its starting sophomore quarterback, Kini McMillan, for the second straight game due to an injury. Backup Emana Tarape performed admirably in his stead with 297 yards on 17-for-28 passing with three touchdowns and an interception.
Trojans receivers Raymond Roller (eight catches for 150 yards and a touchdown) and Onosai Salanoa (five for 117 and a TD) had big games in a losing effort for coach Rod York, who saw his team fall in the semifinals for the third straight state tournament after the Trojans made the final in 2018.
After a downpour between games, the Trojans got Friday started with Ezekiel Rodrigues’ interception of Buffanblu quarterback John-Keawe Sagapolutele, the older brother of the Campbell signal-caller. Mililani parlayed that into a 25-yard field goal by Makel Paiva and a quick 3-0 lead.
But Punahou struck back with a Christian Kauhane 33-yard pass from Sagapolutele to launch six straight scoring drives for the Buffanblu. Coach Nate Kia’s team found the end zone on seven of its 11 drives for the game.
John-Keawe Sagapolutele went 17-for-23 for 156 yards and three touchdowns to complement Williams’ dominant ground game. Williams averaged 8.2 yards per carry.
Buffanblu linebacker GianCarlo Rufo had two sacks among his four tackles for loss.
Some more pictures of the semifinals:
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii.