HONOLULU — Leilehua defensive back Chaystin Senas made it to the end zone before he realized he had to come all the way back on his would-be pick-six in the first half of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I football championship against Kailua at Skippa Diaz Stadium on Saturday night.
A teammate’s penalty had negated the return.
“That was unfortunate,” Senas said. “I talked to the guy who had the flag. I said, ‘There’s a lot more game left,’ to bounce back.”
And so the Mules did. When Senas jumped a Surfriders route in the second half and returned it 35 yards for six points, it came without any laundry on the field and had the effect of it swinging the game’s momentum for good.
Leilehua went on to win its eighth straight game, 38-21, and attain its first OIA title since 2007. It was the Wahiawa school’s fifth all-time OIA crown (1940, 1974, 1984).
[Note: See below for more photos of Kailua-Leilehua football.]
In the Division II final earlier Saturday, Roosevelt routed Kaiser 34-3 to become the first school in that division to win consecutive titles.
Leilehua (9-3) was awarded the No. 5 seed and will travel to face No. 4 Lahainaluna at Sue D. Cooley Stadium on Maui at 7 p.m. Saturday, with the winner advancing to face No. 1 Konawaena on Hawaii Island on Nov. 22.
Kailua (6-6) will travel to Kauai to face No. 3 Kapaa at 2 p.m. at the Baptiste Sports Complex on Saturday. The winner of that game gets No. 2 Damien at Farrington on Nov. 22.
Leilehua was a gridiron powerhouse in D-I just before the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 season was canceled and coming out of it, the Mules struggled mightily as they competed in the OIA Open tier with the likes of Kahuku and Mililani; they won only one game in 2021 and 2022 combined.
Last year represented something of a turning point as Leilehua won five games and reached the OIA D-I semifinals.
“This is a five-year journey,” Mules coach Mark Kurisu said. “Once we got back, we took our lumps. We did what we could. But last year we turned a corner quickly. Being able to compete in the OIA semis. This year to win it outright and then win the OIA playoffs, it’s just a tremendous feeling being able to invest in these kids, and these kids believing and trusting in us.”
Saturday’s outcome avenged a 33-30 home loss to Kailua on Sept. 7 in which emotions ran hot. Some players were ejected for fighting.
“I think both teams just realized that after that first battle that we went through, that we got better,” Kurisu said. “Managing emotions and taking care of each other. Holding each other accountable, getting away from selfish plays, learning to be more selfless. Allowing us to just play football.”
The Mules claimed a 17-0 halftime lead, but Kailua swiftly got back into the game as quarterback Isaiah Keaunui-Demello found tight end Benjamin Honebein for a 6-yard touchdown to cap a nine-play drive.
Part-time Surfriders quarterback Romeo Ortiz intercepted Leilehua QB Bennett Strobel on the next play from scrimmage and it took just one Kailua play to make it 17-14 on a Keaunui-Demello pass to Isaiah “Slim” Kaiu for a 34-yard score.
Leilehua missed a field goal. Kailua had its chance — until Senas changed the game with his pick-six that made it 24-14 with 48 seconds left in the third quarter.
“They went to a cluster,” Senas said. “I saw the RPO read, once they played the RPO, he threw it out and I was there at the right time, took it to the crib.”
Kailua coach Hauoli Wong acknowledged that was the turning point.
“That was big right there. That was a momentum swing for us,” Wong said. “If we convert and keep on going through, I honestly feel we’d have scored on that dive. But you can’t keep giving back the football to a team like Leilehua. Hat’s off to them, they played a hell of a game.”
Cameron Keeve ended any suspense with a 62-yard breakaway run with 1:40 left after Kailua had made it a 10-point game. Keeve rushed 29 times for 180 yards while Strobel was 14-for-30 for 150 yards, two touchdowns and a pick. Talon Tarpley caught both TDs.
Keaunui-DeMello was 22-for-36 with three touchdowns and three interceptions for Kailua.
The Surfriders were denied their first OIA title since they shared it with Kahuku in 2001.
Wong assured his team that there was plenty more football to play. By winning its OIA semifinal at Moanalua the previous week, Kailua earned its first state berth since 2003.
“You gotta have the mentality that you’re going to come back in the states,” said Wong, who hoped to pattern his team’s postseason after Kahuku last year when the Red Raiders lost the OIA Open final to Mililani but came back to win the HHSAA tournament.
Keawe Davis and Jahsiah Souza-Armstead posted 100-yard receiving games and the Roosevelt Rough Riders (9-2) secured their third all-time OIA title, all in Division II in the last seven years.
After Kaiser (8-2) opened the game with a 28-yard field goal from Morgan White, Roosevelt scored 34 unanswered points, with Souza-Armstead starting it with a 4-yard touchdown catch from Ioane Kamanao and posting another in the third for 41 yards.
Izaiah Nakamura capped it off with a 49-yard pick-six.
Kamanao compiled 316 passing yards. Taimane Souza-Fautanu led the Rough Riders defensively with 10 tackles, including a sack. Kaiser was held to 97 yards of total offense.
Roosevelt was awarded the No. 4 seed in the HHSAA Division II tournament and will host No. 5 Kamehameha-Hawaii at Ticky Vasconcellos at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Kaiser will face No. 3 Pac-Five at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Farrington.
Kamehameha-Maui is the No. 1 seed and Kauai is No. 2. Those schools will host semifinal games on Nov. 23.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.