WAILUKU, Hawaii — The Lahainaluna football team’s first game of the 2023 season drew 5,000 people at War Memorial Stadium. Due to the disrepair of the endzone bleacher seats at Maui’s largest venue, no more could be accommodated for that Sept. 30 date with host Baldwin High.
It was a true event for the Valley Isle, anyway. Multiple generations of residents formed a rollicking red sea in the stands, and the Lunas made themselves heard well into the night with a resounding 42-0 victory.
It was a true taste of what the team — known as the “Pride of the West Side” — meant to the Lahaina community. Many of the same people in the stands that night could only in recent days return to the ashes where their homes once stood due to the Aug. 8 wildfires.
No one was surprised they came out in droves. Lahainaluna principal Richard Carosso, a veteran of Maui Interscholastic League sports at various schools on the island, estimated 10,000 would’ve shown up if the site would’ve allowed for it.
Lahainaluna (2-0) faces its toughest on-field test yet against Kamehameha-Maui (5-0) in a Spectrum OC16-televised matchup at War Memorial at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. It is the Lunas’ third of five games in their abbreviated regular-season schedule.
The game atmosphere is expected to be the same, even in a time of great need by those who would attend — perhaps especially in such conditions.
Lahainaluna senior Leilani Kahae stood and watched much of the Lunas opener by herself from the rail at the edge of the War Memorial track, behind the team bench, draped in a Lahainaluna flag and wearing a “Lahaina Strong” shirt. Kahae grew up going to Lunas games as her older brothers played for the red and white; skipping the game wasn't an option.
“I lost my house. It affected me mentally and emotionally. I have PTSD and stuff,” Kahae told Spectrum News as the Lunas continued to dominate the game a handful of feet away amid the roar of the crowd. “But we’re getting through day by day. And that’s all of us, we’re all going through something. But we just push ourselves to keep going and going.”
Kahae wants to go to college to be an interior designer so she can help her family recover in the years ahead. Lahainaluna students, scattered across the island in the disaster’s aftermath, are expected to report back to the hillside campus in the coming days.
The sense of family obligation in Lahaina, which is relatively isolated compared to Central Maui, is especially strong, said Carosso. Lunas running back/linebacker Kaulana Tihada and running back/defensive back Kuola Watson are just a couple of examples; both players have family members on the coaching staff, in Watson’s case two generations — his father, assistant coach Kenui Watson, and grandfather, co-head coach Bobby Watson. Assistant coach Joey Tihada is Kaulana’s father.
“Our team is generational. We have sons and fathers and grandfathers all together, and the team really represents the values of the community — hard work, being selfless, remembering where you’re from, being proud in your community,” Carosso said. “And that’s why I think they resonate so well, and so strongly and deeply in the community. Because Lahainaluna football is a product of Lahaina. … A legacy that has endured.”
Jaret-Levi Nahooikaika, a former Lahainaluna offensive lineman and 2010 graduate, watched the Sept. 30 game with his family at the viewing area atop War Memorial Stadium’s mauka stands — ostensibly on the Baldwin side of the field but in actuality an overflow section for Lunas supporters.
As he spoke to Spectrum News, he kept a particular eye on his nephew, Lunas defensive back Chevus Nahooikaika.
“Obviously the boys represent the community,” Nahooikaika said. “Nothing better than the school that looks over all of West Maui. Just having been on the opposite side as well, playing football for Lahainaluna, it’s a very good feeling to hear the band, the cheerleaders and all the sea of red.”
Nahooikaika worked at King Kamehameha III Elementary in Lahaina. He said he helped get the campus closed to students the day of the catastrophic wind and fire. When he returned in the aftermath, he found nearly the entire campus burned to the ground.
The family’s home was spared, but he is in a wait-and-see mode with the Department of Education on having his jobs restored.
He said he had a feeling the DOE would find a way to get the team back together, though.
“Football, sports in general for the West Side, Lahainaluna, it’s very important for the kids and for the community,” Nahooikaika said. “Nothing brings the community together like a sporting event, whether it’s football, wrestling or water polo, track and field. It’s good to see everybody out here.”
High school football encompasses far more than the actual football teams. The Lahainaluna band, cheerleaders and color guard were all affected by the disaster, and all performed Sept. 30.
It was an especially emotional night for the Lunas band, which received a $10,000 donation from their Baldwin counterparts. Band members rushed each other and hugged at midfield at halftime.
“We have friendship with all the bands here, and we love the camaraderie and friendship with each other. This is a testament to how much we want to help each other out,” said Lahainaluna band and choir director Jalen Baraoidan.
He said the generous donation from Baldwin’s fundraising efforts would go toward replacing about 15 instruments that were lost in the fire, for starters.
Much like how many Lunas football players resisted transferring to another school so they could play for Lahainaluna again, band members just wanted to get back together and play in a traumatic time, Baraoidan said.
“Just to be normal again,” Baraoidan said. “And of course we’ve got to do what we can to support them. Overall, we just gotta move forward and do what we do best, which is play.”
The night of the first game, Kahae, the Lunas senior, saw people that she hadn’t since before the day of the fire. The chance to meet and share grief was immeasurable.
“It means a lot to us,” she said. “Even though (watching a game) may not be like all the other years, we’ll make it work, you know? We’re strong — Lahaina strong.”
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.