WAILUKU - The Lahainaluna High School football team's dream of returning to the state Division II final looked completely lost for most of Saturday night's game against Radford at War Memorial Stadium.
The Lunas made a late run to hope, but fell in the end 33-27 to the Rams in front of about 4,000 fans.
The Lunas' season ends at 7-3, while Radford (10-3) advances to the state title game next Friday at Aloha Stadium against Iolani, a
24-6 winner over Campbell.
''A little too big is an understatement,'' Lahainaluna co-head coach Garret Tihada said. ''It was a huge hole. They are a very good team. They take what you give them.''
The Lunas trailed 21-7 at the halftime break, but immediately got back into the game when quarterback Jake Manning ran 57 yards for a score on the fourth play from scrimmage in the third quarter.
Ivan Delaney's PAT cut the deficit to one touchdown with 10 minutes, 27 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Rams came right back with two straight touchdowns to go in front 33-14.
The first came on a methodical 13-play, 67-yard drive that was kept alive with a pair of successful fourth-down conversions. Quarterback Mosiah Manuma caught a 15-yard pass from fullback Pouesi Togiailua on fourth-and-13 that gave the Rams a first down on the Lunas' 12-yard line, and sophomore running back Phil Hogan - who made his varsity debut with 165 yards last week in a 17-7 win over Kauai - got a yard on fourth-and-1 at the 3.
Those two conversions made the Rams 5-for-5 on fourth down in the game, and they added to their lead when Togiailua dove into the end zone from a yard away.
The next touchdown was set up by a 35-yard punt return by Sean Ouchie that gave Radford the ball on the Lahainaluna 39. A 27-yard scramble by Manuma, an 11-yard run by Hogan, who finished with 114 yards on 23 carries, and a 1-yard dive by Manuma made the score 33-14 with 1:09 to go in the third quarter.
Then the Lunas went to work trying to get back into the game.
Manning hit Ty Carter on a 31-yard touchdown pass with 3:47 to go to make the score 33-20. Earlier in the seven-play, 68-yard drive, Carter caught a 33-yard pass on third-and-8 to give the Lunas the ball on the Rams' 33.
An onside kick try by Lahainaluna failed, but the defense forced Radford into just its second punt of the night - both came in the fourth quarter - and Bryson Williams returned the 32-yard kick 55 yards to the Rams' 25.
A holding call and a pass interference penalty on the Rams gave the Lunas the ball on the 8 and Manning then hit Imihana Ampong over the middle for a score that brought Lahainaluna within 33-27 with 40 seconds remaining.
Shawn Putman-Curry recovered for Radford to end the drama.
The Rams simply had too much on offense after the Lunas gave them several opportunities.
''They ran and passed the ball very well,'' Tihada said. ''They are a very good team and they executed very well tonight.''
Radford coach Fred Salanoa said he was concerned at halftime with just a 14-point lead that could have been more.
''We told them at halftime, we kind of called it at the beginning of the season when we were in camp and I knew I had a special group of players here at Radford - going into halftime up, I told them that we were two quarters from playing what we called in the beginning of the season and that was to be playing in the state championship game on December 5th,'' Salanoa said. ''I cannot brag enough about these players and the way they traveled.''
Radford went 80 yards in nine plays on the opening drive, starting the game on a 39-yard pass from Mosiah Manuma to Putman-Curry.
The Rams took a 7-0 lead with 8:27 left in the first quarter when Putman-Curry rambled around the left end for an 8-yard touchdown.
That was just the start of the Putman-Curry show.
After a 46-yard kickoff return by Jostin Carbajal, the Lunas gave up the ball on an interception on their second play of the game. Manning was under heavy pressure and tried to get rid of the ball, but Manuma picked it off.
The Rams picked up a first down, but then on second-and-11, an errant pitch from Manuma to Doug Brown was scooped up by Lahainaluna safety Miko Tesoro, who ran 30 yards for a touchdown to tie the score with 5:34 to go in the first quarter.
The Lunas again avoided falling behind when Williams recovered a fumble by Hogan on the Lahainaluna 17 after Radford had driven 63 yards in 10 plays.
A 26-yard punt by Paula Toa gave the Rams the ball back at their own 43 and they took just four plays to go 57 yards, culminated by a 31-yard touchdown pass from Manuma to Putman-Curry, who was wide open in the end zone after running past the Lunas secondary.
After an 18-yard punt gave the Rams the ball at their own 41, Putman-Curry showed again how tough he is to cover as he caught an 18-yard touchdown pass from Manuma. Putman-Curry caught the ball while dragging his feet and falling out of bounds with 3:25 to go before halftime.
''(Putman-Curry) is a very good player,'' Tihada said.
Radford ran 22 offensive plays before the Lunas ran their third. The play margin at halftime was 40-18 and Radford's first-down advantage was 15-3. The Rams outgained the Lunas 285 yards to 71 in the first 24 minutes.
Putman-Curry had eight catches for 126 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, and his one carry was also for a score.
Salanoa said in the end: ''It wasn't really anything I told them. These kids wanted it and they showed it.''
He added that he expected the Lunas to make a run at the end.
''I think they scored on some missed defensive assignments from our players,'' he said. ''I'm not going to take anything away from their coaching staff and their team because they made a run we knew was coming. They got some big plays on us and they moved the ball when they had to.''
