The Baldwin football team defeated Maui High 41-0 at Kekaulike Field on Saturday, setting up a critical matchup in the Maui Interscholastic League Division I race with Baldwin playing Lahainaluna on Saturday in Lahaina.

After last weekend’ s action, the Bears are 3-0 in DI MIL play while Lahainaluna is 2-1. A win by the Lunas on Saturday would put both teams at 3-1.

The last time the teams met was on Sept. 20 when Baldwin defeated the Lunas 42-12 at Lahaina. The Lunas were unable to contain Baldwin senior quarterback Jorden Carbonell, who passed for 134 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 115 yards and three touchdowns.

Baldwin coach Cody Nakamura attributed the Bears’ success, in part, to his team having a lot of experienced seniors on the roster including leading tacklers Ethan Bacos and Dylan Wellerstein.

Nakamura also said Carbonell, who did well against the Lunas in a previous game, will be playing this weekend.

He said Carbonell has always had that kind of scoring potential.

“That game was his time,” Nakamura said. “He showed up.”

But the Lunas have their strengths as well and demonstrated a strong running game in a 48-21 win over King Kekaulike on Aug. 29. The Lunas’ Kyle Thomas ran for 227 yards and four touchdowns, and running back Ezekiel Opunui ran for 141 yards and two touchdowns in the victory.

Thomas was unable to play in the last game against Kamehameha Schools Maui because of injuries. In the same game, Opunu was recovering as well and played defense, but not offense in the same game, Lunas coach Dean Rickard said.

Ricard said his team hopes to have Thomas and Opunui back for this week’s game against Baldwin.

The Lunas were the 2024 Maui Interscholastic League champions after defeating Baldwin 7-3 in the championship game last year. If the Lunas win against Baldwin this Saturday, both teams could be playing for the championship in the next game.

“We’ve got a shot,” Ricard said. “To remain alive, we’ve got to win.”

Both teams have their strengths in scoring and defense.

The Baldwin defense has held its opponents to fewer points than Lahainaluna, but the Lunas have scored more points against their rivals than Baldwin has. In MIL Division I games, Baldwin has outscored its 154-137, compared to the Lunas, who have outscored their competition 193-170 points.