MILILANI, Hawaii — With a strong defensive performance and a key play on special teams Friday night, Kahuku earned a shot against an old rival for a fourth straight football state championship.
The Red Raiders went ahead of Mililani with a blocked field goal and 70-yard touchdown return by Aiden Manutai just before halftime, and closed the game with a denial of the Trojans' tying 2-point conversion in an 8-6 semifinal victory in the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Open Division championships at John Kauinana Stadium.
Kahuku will face Saint Louis in the Open championship at the University of Hawaii’s Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex on Nov. 29. It will be the 11th time a final has been contested between the two historic rivals in the state tournament era, since 1999.
"We’ve been here before," said Kahuku defensive lineman Sione Pasi, who will play in his third state final. "It feels great, it’s always a blessing, thanks to God. But we know what we gotta do. We got two weeks to prepare."
[Note: See below for more photos of the HHSAA Open Division semifinals.]
In Friday's nightcap, the Crusaders rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit and beat Campbell 27-24, taking advantage of the injury absence of Sabers star quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele after halftime.
"Saint Louis football, we can play," said Crusaders coach Tupu Alualu, who was hired in February to succeed his old coach Ron Lee. "We’re just trying to bring it back in the '80s, '90s and 2000s, when we been winning. And I’m just so happy for the kids, all my coaches and the parents. I’m so grateful.
"For the full circle to come back around, we get Kahuku, the defending champs. It’s crazy," he added.
Kahuku has 11 state championships to Saint Louis' seven. The Red Raiders and Crusaders have combined for all seven titles in the HHSAA Open Division era since 2016, with Kahuku taking the last three.
Kahuku (9-4) edged Saint Louis 14-13 in the teams' season opener on the North Shore, with the Red Raiders surviving a missed Crusaders field goal from 42 yards in the final seconds. Saint Louis (8-3) overcame a 1-2 start to the season and a convoluted ILH playoff system to reach its first state final since 2021.
It appeared that Campbell, the top-ranked team in the state until its loss to Kahuku in the OIA Open final, would have something to say about that as it took a 17-6 halftime lead on kicker Jadyn Parker's 48-yard field goal going into the half. It set an HHSAA Open division record for length.
But Sagapolutele was confined to the Sabers sideline the rest of the way as he dealt with what he said felt like a rib injury.
Saint Louis opened the second half with a 12-yard passing touchdown from Nainoa Lopes to Hashley-Kingston Siliado to get back within a score, but Campbell receiver Rusten Abang-Perez took the ensuing kickoff return 75 yards to the house for a 24-12 lead.
The Crusaders scored the final 15 points of the game as running back Titan Lacaden completed the comeback with touchdown runs of 2 and 10 yards for a TD hat trick on the night. Lacaden, a senior committed to play for UH next season, carried the ball 27 times for 216 yards.
"He’s the guy. He’s the guy. If we’re going to go down, we’re going to go down with the guy. He knows that," Alualu said.
Sagapolutele, the Hawaii high school career passing yardage leader, threw for 168 yards in the first half on 10-for-17 passing. Running back Brystin Sansano scored two first-half touchdowns for the Sabers. Junior Brayden Medeiros stepped in for Sagapolutele in the second half, going 5-for-11 for 39 yards.
In the first game, Manutai's special teams touchdown loomed large as neither Kahuku nor Mililani could find the end zone with their offenses.
"I give credit to all the defense, making that opportunity possible," Manutai said. "Just taking advantage of that opportunity. We worked on that many weeks in practice … it’s just more of a reputation and it just opened up, and it just happened."
After the teams traded numerous punts, Mililani had one last shot to draw even. it initially seemed Kahuku had stopped Mililani on downs at the Red Raiders 9-yard line for an 8-0 win, but Kahuku was granted a timeout that it seemingly did not want and the teams played fourth down over. This time, Trojans quarterback Kini McMillan found Tana Togafau-Tavui for a touchdown pass.
"When the game is on the line, I would want my defense out there," Kahuku coach Sterling Carvalho said. "What they did tonight is close the game. Offensively we couldn’t, so defense had to shut the door."
Carvalho said he was prepping the nearby official to call timeout, but he said in the end he did not want one as it appeared that Mililani was on the verage of committing a delay of game penalty. He called it an "inadvertent whistle."
"At that point, it’s all about heart," Carvalho said of sending his defense back out to finish the game. "When it comes down to one play, we dug deep and we just finished with heart."
On the 2-point try, McMillan scrambled and tried to flip a shovel pass into the end zone, but it was broken up and Red Raiders players raised their arms in triumph.
"I’ve been working power with my O-lineman the whole game, so I switched it up the last play and he wasn’t ready," Pasi said. "Kini stepped into the pocket, I was able to grab him. All he could do with flick the pass. Our linebackers did our job."
McMillan, who returned from a shoulder injury this month, was held to 19-for-40 passing for 185 yards and one interception. Matai Fuiava went 15-for-20 for 107 yards and a pick for Kahuku.
The game was a rematch of the 2023 Open Division final that was won 21-19 by Kahuku thanks in large part to plays on special teams.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.