Kahuku football

Latest news

Latest news

Prime Time, Nick Saban and Tausili Akana

By Paul Honda on January 7, 2022

Deion Sanders and Nick Saban are a part of Tausili Akana’s life. Not besties-level, but close enough to be on the wish lists of the two prominent college coaches. Over the course of 2021-22 academic year, nine more scholarship offers have arrived in the hands of Akana. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound outside linebacker now has 42 offers as a junior. He is ranked No. 1 among linebackers in the class of 2023 by 247sports.com. Deion Sanders, who has brought immense attention […]

Kahuku closes 2021 at No. 1, Kapaa at all-time high No. 8

By Paul Honda on January 3, 2022

While Open Division state champion Kahuku closed out the year at No. 1, Punahou, Kapaa and Waianae finished on an uptick in Monday’s Star-Advertiser Football Top 10. Division I state champion ‘Iolani (11-0) completed the year at No. 5. Kapaa won the D-II state title last week and dominated the division from start to finish. The Warriors finished the season at No. 8, the highest ranking in school history. Football Top 10 Jan. 3 Rank School (1st) Pts LW 1. […]

Kahuku a unanimous No. 1 in Football Top 10

By Paul Honda on December 27, 2021

Kahuku collected all 12 first-place votes and is No. 1 in the Star-Advertiser Football Top 10 for a 10th week in a row. The OIA champion overwhelmed ILH champion Saint Louis, 49-14, on Thursday to capture the Open Division state title. ‘Iolani, the Division I state champion after a 38-0 shutout of MIL champion Lahainaluna, bumped one notch higher to No. 5. Kapaa, which will play Kamehameha-Maui for the D-II state crown on Thursday, entered the poll at No. 9 […]

Kana Loa Kaluna’s big night is a dream come true

By Paul Honda on December 24, 2021

Kana Loa Kaluna had a choice. He could have followed older brother Kaulana, who had a superb football career at Kaimuki under then-coach David Tautofi. Kana Loa’s dream, though, was elsewhere. After a cancelled junior year and the chance to play more as a senior, the Kahuku running back made his biggest impact on Thursday night. Kaluna rushed for 138 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries as Kahuku dethroned Saint Louis, 49-14, for the Open Division state title. Making […]

Former waterboy Kainoa Carvalho makes title-game dream come true for Kahuku

By Paul Honda on December 24, 2021

In every possible environment, Kainoa Carvalho has stepped up. Placekicker. Kick returner. Wide receiver. Even a little running back. The 5-foot-7, 160-pound playmaker bided his time as Kahuku used defense and special teams to take an early lead over Saint Louis. When the Crusaders changed its look in the second half, Carvalho got single coverage and wound up in the end zone twice. He finished with six receptions for 135 yards and two TDs. He sent three wind-aided kickoffs out […]

Kahuku’s Leonard Ah You is a human wrecking ball in state title win

By Paul Honda on December 24, 2021

Thursday morning was different for Leonard Ah You and his neighbors in Laie. He was still asleep when the loudest of noises blared through the neighborhood. “I was woken up at 7 o’clock this morning. Auntie Peni Toilolo, she was blasting the tomahawk chop song driving through the community, telling everybody to wake up on the loudspeaker,” said Ah You, who had a state championship football game to play in another 12 hours. “I was like, oh man, the pressure’s […]

A perfect ’10’: Liona Lefau is everywhere in Kahuku’s state-title win

By Paul Honda on December 24, 2021

Where there’s one to begin the job, there’s another to finish it. When coaches say a game can change on three or four plays, they’re also inferring that elite players like Liona Lefau and Leonard Ah You are on the field. Lefau and Ah You capped a perfect season for Kahuku with scintillating plays on defense, offense and special teams in a 49-14 dusting of No. 2-ranked Saint Louis on Thursday night. Big Red’s perfect 10-0 season was punctuated by […]

Jason Mariteragi rebounds from injury, sparks Kahuku to 1st state title since 2015

By Paul Honda on December 24, 2021

Long ago, in another space and time, a young football player named Jason Mariteragi landed a varsity football team. Young Mariteragi wafs a freshman quarterback. “We brought him up to varsity,” Kahuku coach Sterling Carvalho said. “He was 120 pounds.” On Thursday night, all the promise of the humble field general came to fruition. Mariteragi, who suffered a midseason injury and returned only two weeks ago, was nearly flawless in Kahuku’s stunningly lopsided 49-14 victory over Saint Louis for the […]