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Aiea ends Lunas’ season, 30-10

Lahainaluna to miss out on state title game for first time since ’15

By Robert Collias 7 min read

LAHAINA -- The Lahainaluna High School football has lost just four times in the last 50 games it has played in six seasons, but the fourth loss in that span carried the stark reality of a season that ended before a state championship game for the first time since 2015.

Lahainaluna's season ended at 9-1 Friday night with a 30-10 loss to Aiea in a First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA quarterfinal at Sue Cooley Stadium.

The Lunas felt the thunder of the nonstop pressure presented by the impressive size, speed, precision and passing game of Na Alii (9-3) seemingly all night.

"You talk about pure physicality, pure athleticism, and the one thing that we could never replicate in practices was just the pure speed," Lahainaluna co-head coach Dean Rickard said. "You know, very well-coached, fundamentally sound, efficient and we wish them all the best in the next game against Kona.

"Again, the better team won tonight. By far, they were the better team."

Lahainaluna won four straight state Division II titles from 2016-19 and after the 2020 season was wiped out by the pandemic, the Lunas advanced to the D-I state championship game last season, where they lost 38-0 to Iolani.

Now, after a 10-game state tournament winning streak, the Lunas have lost their last two games in the postseason.

"You can't play the way we played, not being able to control not only the line of scrimmage and the defensive secondary on defense, but we weren't able to even control things up front offensively and move the ball," Rickard said. "They shut us down with our trapping game, our counter game, so they deserve it and, yeah, tonight the better team won, definitely."

Na Alii bounced out to a quick 13-0 lead in the first quarter. They took the opening kickoff 65 yards in eight plays, taking a 6-0 lead on an 8-yard run by Kaimana Lale-Saole just 2:30 into the game.

After the Lunas went three-and-out, Aiea marched 85 yards in 11 plays and pushed the lead to 13-0 on a 1-yard dive by Lale-Saole with 2:02 left in the first quarter.

The Lunas connected on a 29-yard pass on the second play of their next drive -- a strike from Lyric Kahula to Kana'au Castro that took them to the Aiea 37-yard line -- but they were stopped on downs four plays later.

Aiea drove 49 yards on its next possession, but Bryson Boyea Quiton missed a 43-yard field goal.

After the Lunas went three-and-out again and Kuola Watson's punt sailed out of bounds after going just 12 yards, Aiea needed just five plays to go 36 yards to score their third touchdown and push the lead to 20-0.

Ezekiel Olie's 24-yard scoring pass to Jayden Chanel with 3:05 left in the half took a lot of steam out of the capacity crowd that was raucous to begin the game and stayed buoyed up until then.

The Lunas started their next drive on their own 41-yard line after Watson's 20-yard kickoff return. On their first play, Kahula found Teva Loft for a 23-yard completion over the middle, and two plays later Kaulana Tihada hauled in a screen pass and rumbled 28 yards to the Aiea 7-yard line.

With the crowd beginning to rally, things again stalled for the Lunas' offense.

An immediate offsides call on Na Alii took the ball to the 4, but the Lunas were forced to settle for Owen Garcia-Olea's 30-yard field goal with 37 seconds left in the first half, making it 20-3.

Kahula was 3-for-4 passing for 80 yards in the first half. As he was forced to pass more in chase mode in the second half, he finished 7 of 14 for 137 yards and an interception.

Lightning struck for the Lunas early in the second half when Ian-Jay Cabanilla intercepted an Olie pass and appeared to return it 53 yards to the Aiea 2-yard line.

A block-in-the-back penalty was called on the return, forcing the Lunas back to the Aiea 40 to start the drive.

The Lunas needed just five plays to finally find the end zone, cutting the lead to 20-10 on Tihada's 2-yard touchdown run with 5:32 to go in the third quarter.

Avery Baybayan started the drive with an 18-yard catch-and-run on a laser-beam pass from Kahula, and three straight runs of at least six yards set up Tihada's touchdown.

Aiea came right back with an impressive 10-play, 66-yard drive to push the lead back to 17 points on a 2-yard TD pass from Olie to Rico Figueroa with 29 seconds left in the third quarter.

The drive was helped by a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Lahainaluna after a 1-yard tackle for loss on a first-down play near midfield. The penalty moved the ball to the Lahainaluna 39, and the virtual clinching touchdown came seven plays later.

Bryson Boyea Quiton nailed a 36-yard field goal with 33 seconds to play to account for the final score.

Aiea advances to play at No. 2 seed Konawaena next week.

The Lunas' offense averaged 309.3 yards per game in Maui Interscholastic League play, 80.6 percent of it coming on the ground. Lahainaluna gained just 56 yards rushing on 26 carries on Friday.

"The preparation was high, there was a lot of work that went into this and my props to our coaches, our defensive coaches, because that's a lot of stuff to prepare for," Aiea head coach Wendell Say said. "They do a good job with the misdirection with that wing-T stuff and it's always a nightmare when we play these guys.

"We've played them, I think this is the third or fourth time we've played them in the states. It's always a tough game."

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com

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Aiea 13 7 7 3--30

Lahainaluna 0 3 7 0--10

First Quarter

A--Kaimana Lale-Saole 8 run (kick failed), 9:30.

A--Lale-Saole 1 run (Bryson Boyea Quiton kick), 2:02.

Second Quarter

A--Jayden Chanel 24 pass from Ezekiel Olie (Boyea Quiton kick), 3:05.

LL--FG Owen Garcia-Olea 30, 0:37.

Third Quarter

LL--Kaulana Tihada 2 run (Garcia-Olea kick), 5:32.

A--Rico Figueroa 2 pass from Olie (Boyea Quiton kick). 0:29.

Fourth Quarter

A--FG Boyea Quiton 36, 0:33.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Aiea, Lale-Saole 24-147, Kobe Higa 1-9, Titan Figueroa 5-8, Olie 2-0, Noah Spencer 1-0, Rico Figueroa 1-0; Lahainaluna, T.J. Borges 7-25, Avery Baybayan 3-9, Tihada 6-9, David Hong 2-7, Ian-Jay Cabanilla 3-4, Lyrik Kahula 3-4, James Lukela-Kobatake 1-0, Kuola Watson 1-(minus 2).

PASSING--Aiea, Olie 27-37-1--247; Lahainaluna, Kahula 7-14-1--137, Aukai Hokoana 0-1-0--0.

RECEIVING--Aiea, Jayden Chanel 6-78, Rico Figueroa 7-65, Geronimo Ulgaran 6-44, Jheremie Cacpal 5-41, Lale-Saole 2-22, Titan Figueroa 1-(minus 3). Lahainaluna, Baybayan 2-35, Kana'au Castro 1-29, Tihada 1-28, Teva Loft 1-23, Cabanilla 1-17, Kaimiloa Kaina-Allen 1-5.

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STATE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

DIVISION I

Friday's Results • Quarterfinals

Aiea 30, No. 3 Lahainaluna 10

No. 4 Waipahu 49, No. 5 Kapaa 41

Saturday, Nov. 19 • Semifinals

No. 4 Waipahu at No. 1 Iolani, 3 p.m.

Aiea at No. 2 Konawaena, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 26 • Championship

Semifinal winners at Mililani, 7 p.m.

DIVISION II

Today's Games • Quarterfinals

No. 3 Waimea vs. Kaiser at Hanapepe Stadium, 1 p.m.

No. 5 Pac-Five at No. 4 Nanakuli, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 19 • Semifinals

Nanakuli-Pac-Five winner at No. 1 King Kekaulike, 7 p.m.

Waimea-Kaiser winner at No. 2 Honokaa, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 26 • Championship

Semifinal winners at Mililani, 4 p.m.

OPEN DIVISION

Friday, Nov. 18 • Semifinals

No. 1 Kahuku vs. Campbell at Mililani, 4 p.m.

No. 2 Punahou at Mililani, 7 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 25 • Championship

Semifinal winners at Mililani, 7 p.m.

Starting at /week.