PUKALANI — Tysin Zackious’ post-game smile said it all.

Or perhaps it was the tears streaming down his face moments later as he and his King Kekaulike High School football teammates stood in front of a still-packed King Kekaulike Stadium singing the school song.

Na Alii are headed back to the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Division II state tournament for the first time since they became the first Neighbor Island football team to win a state title, in 2006.

They got there with a hard-fought, come-from-behind 28-25 win over Kamehameha Maui on Saturday night in a Maui Interscholastic League championship playoff game at King Kekaulike Stadium.

Zackious was all over the storyline — he had two costly fumbles in the first half before finishing the night with 221 yards rushing and two key touchdowns on 21 carries.

“I was 2 years old,” Zackious said when asked how old he was in 2006. “Wow, that’s really impressive — I give it all to these coaches, I give it all to these linemen, all to everybody who played hard. Everybody played hard, executed well and we just have to keep doing what we’re doing right now.”

King Kekaulike (4-6) drew the No. 1 seed for the D-II state tournament and will receive a bye to the semifinals. On Nov. 19 at 7 p.m., Na Alii will host the winner of the Nov. 12 quarterfinal between Nanakuli and Pac-Five.

Zackious admitted he was worried after his two fumbles snubbed Na Alii chances and led to the Warriors taking a 15-0 lead early in the second quarter.

“I was really upset with myself,” the 5-foot-6, 150-pound senior running back said. “I was obviously down, I was really irritated, but my quarterback helped me out, got my mind straight, and he helped me get everything going according to plan.”

After falling behind by two scores, the run-heavy Na Alii outscored the Warriors 28-3 for the next two-and-a-half quarters before a last-minute Kamehameha Maui touchdown closed the gap.

Na Alii quarterback Kalelepono Wong got his team on the board when he dove in from a yard out with 5:03 left in the first half, making it 15-7.

Na Alii went 60 yards in nine plays on that drive, including five runs by Zackious for 31 yards.

“The mistakes don’t matter if you can come back and fix it and that’s exactly what he did tonight,” Wong said of his running mate — the junior QB finished with 78 yards rushing and was 2-for-4 passing for 24 yards. “I’m so proud of this team, proud of him, proud of everybody.”

Wong was born on July 6, 2006.

“I was just a baby,” Wong said of the historic 2006 King Kekaulike team. “This means the world to me, I’m so happy that I could be a part of it and we have more to come, there’s more to come for this team.”

Zackious’ electric 64-yard touchdown run and two-point conversion run tied the game 15-15 with 1:26 left in the third quarter.

“That’s what he does,” Wong said of Zackious.

Both of the skill position Na Alii were overjoyed to see Nui Crozier, a 6-4, 410-pound guard, back blocking out the sun in front of them. Crozier missed the previous four games with a knee injury, but was back to form on Saturday.

“He’s back, he’s back, he helped us a whole lot today,” Wong said. “He set all of our mindsets, got the vibe, he brought the vibe back, and that’s just him.”

Zackious was overjoyed to hide behind his senior teammate prior to bursting past defenders before they knew he had the ball.

“(Expletive), it’s great to see him back,” Zackious said.

Crozier was near tears after the school alma mater was sung and fans poured down their cheers on the team.

“This is great, man, this is, I don’t know,” he said. “I’m shocked, if I’m being honest. I don’t know, it feels great after all the hard work.

“We made it, we made history.”

Crozier said he was worried “a little bit” when it was 15-0, “but I had confidence in my boys. Just a little pep talk and then, boom.”

He said his knee “feels better, it feels great.”

After the Warriors regained the lead 18-15 on a 45-yard field goal by Trenton Kiesel 10 seconds into the fourth quarter, Zackious scored on a 5-yard run with 7:43 to play to give Na Alii a 22-18 lead they would not relinquish.

After an interception by King Kekaulike’s Jake Yoro, Ahe Sumbicay capped a 67-yard, 10-play drive with a 16-yard scoring run to push the Na Alii lead to 28-18 with 1:51 to go.

King Kekaulike finished with 397 yards rushing on 50 carries and threw the ball just four times.

The Warriors got within three on an 8-yard scoring pass from Makana Kamaka-Brayce to Dylan Schnitzer with 48 seconds left — the scoring play was set up by a 56-yard pass from Kamaka-Brayce to Frank Abreu — but the ensuing onside kick attempt landed out of bounds and Na Alii ran out the clock with two kneel downs.

The Warriors took a 15-7 lead into halftime after their defense forced the three key fumbles to thwart Na Alii drives.

After Na Alii took the opening kickoff 52 yards in four plays, Zackious fumbled and Kamehameha Maui’s Paani Yap recovered on the Warriors’ 16-yard line.

After the teams traded punts, Kamehameha Maui marched 84 yards in nine plays and scored when Heno Stone-Han hauled in a 43-yard pass from Kamaka-Brayce with 2:24 left in the first quarter.

After Kamehameha Maui’s Ronin Souza recovered a fumble on the next Na Alii possession, the Warriors needed just five plays to push the lead to 15-0. Abreu hauled in a 27-yard touchdown pass from Kamaka-Brayce on fourth-and-18 with 11:42 left in the first half.

King Kekaulike endured a 41-game losing streak from 2014 to 2019. Last season, they were 0-6.

“I’m so proud of this team, they overcame adversity tonight, they played as a team and that’s all that we asked for all season was for them to just play as a team, do it together, and they’ll be rewarded in the end,” King Kekaulike coach Tyson Valle said.

Kamehameha Maui saw its season end at 3-7 after playing in its first state championship game in late December.

“They played well tonight and beat us,” Kamehameha Maui coach Ulima Afoa said. “There ar­e some things that we didn’t do well, so credit to them.”

Afoa added, “There’s a lot of offseason work that we have to do. We didn’t do as much of it this year because I think a lot of guys were still riding off of last year. So, we have to get better at it, we have to go back to the drawing board and we will eventually get to the point where we’re perennially in this scene.”

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com.

Kamehameha Maui 7 8 0 10–25

King Kekaulike 0 7 8 13–28

First Quarter

KSM–Heno Stone-Han 43 pass from Makana Kamaka-Brayce (Makaha Pang kick), 2:24.

Second Quarter

KSM–Frank Abreu 27 pass from Kamaka-Brayce (Keegan Gantala run), 11:42.

KK–Kalelepono Wong 1 run (Kaleo Gallen kick), 5:03.

Third Quarter

KK–Tysin Zackious 64 run (Zackious run), 1:26.

Fourth Quarter

KSM–FG Trenton Kiesel 45, 11:50.

KK–Zackious 5 run (Gallen kick), 7:43.

KK–Ahe Sumibcay 16 run (kick failed), 1:51.

KSM–Dylan Schnitzer 8 pass from Kamaka-Brayce (Pang kick), 0:48.

KSM KK

First downs 13 22

Rushes-yards 18-18 50-397

Passing yards 236 24

Total offense 254 421

Return yards 73 94

Comp-Att-Int 15-28-1 2-4-0

Fumbles-lost 1-0 6-3

Penalties-yards 11-66 6-66

Punts-avg 5-44.0 3-37.3

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Kamehameha Maui, Teiva Kauhaa-Po 9-26, team 1-1, Joshua Kerr 1-(minus 1), Kamaka-Brayce 7-(minus 8); King Kekaulike, Zakious 21-221, Wong 9-78, Kalani Puu 12-59, Oakley Dillon 3-17, Sumibcay 2-13, Kamakalei Stone 1-9, team 2-0.

PASSING–Kamehameha Maui, Kamaka-Brayce 15-28-1–236; King Kekaulike, Wong 2-4-0–24.

RECEIVING–Kamehameha Maui, Stone-Han 7-63, Abreu 4-117, Schnitzer 3-36, Kauhaa-Po 1-20; King Kekaulike, Puu 2-24.

MISSED FIELD GOALS–none.

*****

State Football Championships

DIVISION I

Friday, Nov. 11 • Quarterfinals

Aiea at No. 3 Lahainaluna, 7 p.m.

No. 5 Kapaa at No. 4 Waipahu, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 19 • Semifinals

Waipahu-Kapaa winner at No. 1 Iolani, 3 p.m.

Lahainaluna-Aiea winner at No. 2 Konawaena, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 26 • Championship

Semifinal winners at Mililani, 7 p.m.

DIVISION II

Saturday, Nov. 12 • 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.