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State runner-up Warriors ponder what-ifs as they look to the future

By Robert Collias 6 min read

MILILANI, Oahu -- As he choked back tears behind his facemask, Kamehameha Schools Maui wide receiver Frank Kahoa Abreu wondered about some of the what-ifs on Saturday night at John Kauinana Stadium.

Abreu had just been part of the team captains who accepted the Warriors' second First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Division II runner-up trophy in the last three years after a 31-28 loss to Waimea.

Abreu, who had 26 catches for 463 yards and seven touchdowns in five and a half games this season, did not play because of a partially torn posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, an injury he suffered in a 42-14 win over King Kekaulike on Oct. 27.

"I just feel like I left my boys hanging," Abreu said. "You know, just a tough loss, wish I could have ended off on a better note. I just wish I could have played with them boys."

His prep football career ended in uniform, but Abreu spent his time Saturday cheering on his team instead of playing. It appeared from the stands that he might play as he came off the field pumped after the coin toss, doing the official signal that the Warriors would receive the opening kickoff as he jumped up and down.

But moments earlier he was ruled out of playing as a precaution -- he has a lot of football to play after verbally committing to accept a football scholarship to the University of Hawaii.

"If I play, we just smoke them, they had no chance if I was to play because they couldn't guard all of us," Abreu said.

He added that he is now looking to the football future for a couple of reasons, first and foremost being his coming career in Manoa. UH sees the 6-foot-5, 215-pound Abreu as a tight end, a position he is looking forward to embracing.

"Oh, really excited, man. I'm just grateful I can continue my football career and having a good time," he said.

Abreu is also looking forward to watching the Warriors continue to develop their program, where his younger brother Frank Kapohai Abreu, now a freshman, is sure to be a big part of the future.

"I mean, it's awesome, I hope they can bring home a state title -- wish I could have done it, but dang it, I will keep watching them and I will keep supporting them to the end," Kahoa Abreu said. "It's going to be hard, I will never play high school football again, but it was just a great time to spend time with these boys and play with my brother."

Kanekoa Maielua-Kekiwi had eight tackles, one behind fellow senior Pa'ani Yap for the team lead in the state title tilt. Both are part of the group of 19 seniors who played their final football game for KSM on Saturday.

"I'm really proud ... everything I do is to try to build this legacy that we've been trying to build with Coach (Ulima) Afoa," Maielua-Kekiwi said. "We're just trying to make this program big."

Maielua-Kekiwi added, "I definitely think things are on the right track here -- our schemes, our defense, everything, our work ethic, everything has improved since my sophomore year and I can see it changing. That's the thing I'm most proud of from this season."

The 7-2 record that the Warriors finish the season with is the best season in school history.

"I think we're all proud of that," Maielua-Kekiwi said. "We put in all the time that we needed in order to achieve that and I think for the years to come we should have a strong team."

Like Maielua-Kekiwi, quarterback Makana Kamaka-Brayce is planning to extend his football career in junior college next year. Kamaka-Brayce is the all-time passing yardage leader in KSM history, and more than half of his 4,000-plus yards went to Kahoa Abreu.

"The seniors our sophomore year, I feel like they kind of started the tradition of just a winning program and I'm proud that I was able to be a part of it," Kamaka-Brayce said. "It's just up to the young guys now."

KSM head coach Ulima Afoa said the foundation set by this senior class has been immeasurable -- their freshman football season was wiped out by COVID, while their sophomore and senior seasons each had drastic changes to the schedule due to the pandemic and then the Aug. 8 wildfires.

The Warriors lost 61-7 to Kapaa in the 2021 state title game when several of their players were left home due to positive COVID tests.

"Certainly a lot closer and the idea with this is that the program keeps getting better and this is kind of a normal place for us to show up," Afoa said. "... A lot of what-ifs, but we're happy that we're here. Our kids played their hearts out and really that's all I can ask of them."

Afoa said being the last Maui Interscholastic League team standing was significant after the wildfires.

"We're the lone representative in the (D-II) state tournament from Maui, so it was an added bonus to us," he said. "But it also can be an added burden, depending on how you look at it -- we were happy to take that role on, not only to represent Kamehameha, but also to represent all of Maui."

Nohi Casco, a junior defensive back and all-purpose standout, joined Kahoa Abreu on the sideline after suffering a lower leg injury in a 31-10 state semifinal win over Pac-5 on Nov. 18.

"When you get some of your best players not being able to play, I mean, it shows up in some respect," Afoa said. "So, the things that we used to do we couldn't do, and so it was the next man up. They gotta come up and be big."

Afoa said the excruciating loss was just another step on the path to establishing the program.

"Well, that's what we're building this program towards, is that we can stack classes behind each other and then every year we're going to be competing for that MIL title and being in the state tournament," Afoa said. "But, you know, we focus on taking care of the things we can control and we focus on meeting our standards. Normally if we meet our standards, we usually come out on top."

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com.

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