For the third year in a row, the high school football season will end with a clash between the two most storied prep football programs in the state.
No. 1 Saint Louis (9-0) and its 14 Prep Bowls and four state titles faces No. 2 Kahuku (11-1), which has won eight state championships. Kahuku dominated the Crusaders, 39-14, in 2015 before Saint Louis came back to win last season’s showdown, 30-14.
Looks like we will start at 9:55 p.m.
Saint Louis 31, Kahuku 28
OFFICIAL BOX SCORE
at Aloha Stadium
Kahuku (11-2) 7 0 7 14 — 28
Saint Louis (10-0) 7 7 10 7 — 31
Kah—Thorton Alapa 5 pass from Sol-Jay Maiava (Duke Heffernan kick)
StL–Mitchell Quinn 11 pass from Chevan Cordeiro (Jacob Tobias kick)
StL—Quinn 95 pass from Cordeiro (Tobias kick)
StL—FG Tobias 28
StL—Isaiah Tufaga 40 interception return (Tobias kick)
Kah—Wes Alo-Maiava 23 pass from Maiava (Heffernan kick)
Kah—Toalei Lefau 8 pass from Maiava (Heffernan kick)
Kah—Kaonohi Kaniho 59 pass from Maiava (Heffernan kick)
StL—Jonah Panoke 53 pass from Cordeiro (Tobias kick)
RUSHING—Kahuku: Maiava 14-94, Enoch Nawahine 19-67, Wes Alo-Maiava 5-37, Lefau 1-4, Alex Fonoimoana-Vaomu 1-2. Saint Louis: Cordeiro 20-19, Micah Mashima 1-1, team 1-(minus 1).
PASSING—Kahuku: Maiava 17-28-2-252, Alapa 0-1-0-0. Saint Louis: Cordeiro 30-44-2-440.
RECEIVING—Kahuku: Alapa 5-56, Nawahine 4-49, Kaniho 2-69, Peter John Mataira 2-12, Kainoa Crismon 1-23, Alo-Maiava 1-23, Duke Heffernan 1-12, Lefau 1-8. Saint Louis: Chance Beyer 9-96, Panoke 8-152, Quinn 5-131, Kainalu Reyes-Hackney 3-46, Koali Nishigaya 3-7, Roman Wilson 1-7, Dominic Tominiko 1-1.
RUSHING—Kahuku: Maiava 13-100, Enoch Nawahine 18-69, Wes Alo-Maiava 5-37, Toalei Lefau 1-4, Alex Fonoimoana-Vaomu 1-2. Saint Louis: Cordeiro 18-35, Micah Mashima 1-1, team 3-(minus 16).
PASSING—Kahuku: Maiava 17-28-1-252, Alapa 0-1-0-0. Saint Louis: Cordeiro 29-42-2-441.
RECEIVING—Kahuku: Alapa 5-56, Nawahine 5-47, Kaniho 2-69, Peter John Mataira 2-12, Kainoa Crismon 1-23, Alo-Maiava 1-23, Duke Heffernan 1-12, Lefau 1-8. Saint Louis: Panoke 8-152, Chance Beyer 8-89, Quinn 5-130, Kainalu Reyes-Hackney 4-53, Koali Nishigaya 2-9, Roman Wilson 1-7, Dominic Tominiko 1-1.
Saint Louis wins its fifth state title and 19th championship overall. Game ends at 1:04 a.m.
(:29) Kahuku ball on its 40. Nawahine with a DIVING CATCH at the 33. Maiava scrambles out of bounds with 2 seconds to go at the 30 of Saint Louis. FINAL PLAY OF THE GAME COMING UP. Maiava hit as he throws. INCOMPLETE INSIDE THE 5. BALL GAME. CRUSADERS WIN. Throw was actually ruled an INT by Purcell.
Quinn returns the punt to the Crusaders’ 47. 46 seconds to go. Here we go. JUMP BALL IS WON BY JONAH PANOKE. HOLY SMOKES. 53-YARD TD PASS. SAINT LOUIS IN FRONT. 31-28, :37. Cordeiro unofficially at 441 passing yards.
(2:35) Ball on the 10 after Kahuku called for unsportsmanlike conduct on the interception. Saint Louis timeout. Second-and-9. Maiava gets out of two tackles but goes out of bounds at the 15. He gets 4 but Saint Louis doesn’t have to use a timeout. Third-and-5. They call a pass. Maiava with a DIME to Kaniho for 10 yards. That moves the chains. Under 2 minutes. Second-and-7. False start. Second-and-12. Option pitch to Nawahine who gets 1 yard but goes out of bounds. Clock stops. Saint Louis will save a timeout. Saint Louis calls timeout with 54 seconds to go. Kahuku will punt from its 30. Oh My. Saint Louis has to use a timeout with Kahuku lining up to punt. That’s their final timeout. Stunning mismanagement by both teams down the stretch.
(6:20) Saint Louis ball on its 21. Two passes complete to Quinn for 11 yards. Quinn now with 130 yards on five grabs. Fatu Atuaia, who was named to the Polynesian Bowl on Thursday, gets Kahuku’s sixth sack. Cordeiro on third-and-16 drops a DIME to Panoke over the middle for 40 yards to the 34. Crazy. What a game. What a night. Third-and-1 at the 25. Pass to Beyer for 14 yards. Ball on the 2 after a pass and a roughing the passer call. Pass from the 2 is TIPPED and PICKED OFF by Nalu Emerson. KAHUKU GETS THE TURNOVER. 2:35 on the clock.
(6:51) Kahuku ball on its 11. Saint Louis called for roughing the passer. Now encroachment on Saint Louis. Deep throw and another flag comes out on the sideline. Saint Louis called for holding. Three straight penalties on the Crusaders. Maiava with a deep ball and it’s CAUGHT. KAONOHI KANIHO. SEE. YOU. LATER. 59-yard TD and Kahuku leads 28-24. 21 unanswered by the Red Raiders.
(10:09) Saint Louis ball on its 23. First handoff to a RB goes for 1 yard. Feso Malufau shoots through and sacks Cordeiro on second-and-2 for a loss of 8. Third-and-10 at the 44. Cordeiro breaks contain and runs 15 yards to the 29 for a first down. Cordeiro to Beyer for 15 yards and Cordeiro is over 300 yards passing in the game. Timeout Kahuku with Saint Louis first-and-10 at the 14. 7:01 on clock. Cordeiro dancing through tacklers to the 10…FUMBLE. Falatea on the force Malufau on the recovery Kahuku ball.
Kickoff is nearly recovered by Kahuku but I think the ball went out of bounds.
(:10) Kahuku ball on its 43. Second-and-9 to start the fourth quarter. Maiava with the pitch to Hanawahine for 14 yards into Saint Louis territory. Maiava rips off a 23-yard run to the 8. Kahuku sideline coming to life. Maiava scrambles and hits Toalei Lefau for an 8-yard TD. It’s a THREE-POINT GAME. 24-21 Crusaders, 10:09, Q4.
(2:45) Crusaders start on their 27. Cordeiro rips off a 17-yard scamper. Cordeiro misses an open Quinn for a TD and then has his third-down pass batted down by Miki Ah You. Fourth-and-4 at the Kahuku 37 and Saint Louis will go. Unbelievable run by Cordeiro who slips and slides and slithers his way through tacklers for a 6-yard gain and a first down. Kahuku had its chance there to stop him and get the ball. Third-and-13 coming up at the Kahuku 34. Quinn might have run a wrong route or it came out of Cordeiro’s hand funny. Either way, incomplete pass. Saint Louis will go though. Miscommunication on the snap and Cordeiro has to fall on it. Kahuku ball.
(5:30) Kahuku ball on its 20. Nawahine with three strong runs and a defensive PI pushes the ball across midfield into Saint Louis territory. Wes Alo-Maiava gets his first carry of the game and it goes for 27 yards to the 19. Maiava finds Alo-Maiava on the 23-yard TD and Kahuku gets an answer it desperately needed. 24-14, 2:52, Q3. That stops a 24-point scoring run by Saint Louis.
(6:32) Kahuku ball on its 20. Maiava’s pass is way underthrown and DB Isaiah Tufaga with the 40-yard INT return for a TD. 24-7 Crusaders.
(9:58) Crusaders ball on their 43. Cordeiro marching right down the field complete four of his first five throws. He scrambles for 5 on third-and-1 and it’s first-and-goal at the 7. Bad snap and Cordeiro recovers but it’s now third-and-goal from the 13. Screen to Dominic Tominiko is the first touch for a Saint Louis RB but he only gets 1 yard. Jacob Tobias hits a 28-yard field goal. 17-7, 6:32.
(12:00) Kahuku ball on its 20. Red Raiders pick up a first down but Cody Hee with a big stick on third down. Incomplete pass and punt.
Kahuku will get the ball first.
HALFTIME BOX SCORE
at Aloha Stadium
Kahuku (11-1) 7 0
Saint Louis (9-0) 7 7
Kah—Thorton Alapa 5 pass from Sol-Jay Maiava (Duke Heffernan kick)
StL–Mitchell Quinn 10 pass from Chevan Cordeiro (Jacob Tobias kick)
StL—Quinn 95 pass from Cordeiro (Tobias kick)
RUSHING—Kahuku: Maiava 9-63, Enoch Nawahine 9-28, Alex Fonoimoana-Vaomu 1-2. Saint Louis: Cordeiro 8-(minus 10).
PASSING—Kahuku: Maiava 9-16-0-104, Alapa 0-1-0-0. Saint Louis: Cordeiro 10-14-1-198.
RECEIVING—Kahuku: Alapa 3-35, Nawahine 3-20, Peter John Mataira 2-12, Kainoa Crismon 1-23, Duke Heffernan 1-12. Saint Louis: Jonah Panoke 5-51, Quinn 2-105, Kainalu Reyes-Hackney 2-32, Chance Beyer 1-10.
(:25) Ball on the Crusaders’ 5. Saint Louis takes a knee. Halftime.
(4:54) Kahuku ball on its 20. Purcell plants Nawahine for no gain. Maiava to Peter John Mataira, whose first catch is 11 yards. Maiava runs for 10. Now Maiava again up the middle for 12. Third-and-5 as Isaiah Tufaga with the big hit on Mataira for only a 1-yard gain. Broken coverage and Maiava hits Alapa for 20 yards. Nawahine for 12 yards and it’s first-and-goal at the 10. Impressive response from Kahuku. Saint Louis DB Kai Kaneshiro with a great pass breakup in the end zone to save a TD. Maiava goes down at the 16. Ball might have come loose. Flag down. No fumble. Kahuku called for a hold. Ball back to the 26. Maiava fires a bullet to Kainoa Crismon for a 23-yard gain to the 3. Timeout Kahuku. Fourth-and-goal at the 3. Decision time here. Red Raiders will go for it. Option to Nawahine, who is STUFFED for a loss of 2. Saint Louis ball.
(5:06) Crusaders start from their 5 as Latu sticks a punt in the ground at the 1 and gets the backward bounce. MITCHELL QUINN 1-ON-1. IT’S CAUGHT. BREAKAWAY SPEED. 95-yard TD pass from Cordeiro to Quinn. 14-7, 4:54, Q2.
(6:31) Kahuku ball at midfield. Nawahine runs for 5 and Purcell is hit with a 15-yard face-mask to move the ball to the 30. Nawahine breaks off a 20-yard run for Kahuku’s best run but it’s called back by an illegal block. Kahuku calls timeout and then comes back out in a 5-wide empty set and Maiava gets 14 on the QB draw. High throw is NEARLY picked off by Wily. Fourth down.
(8:32) Saint Louis ball on its 20. False start on Saint Louis. Quinn gets a step on Kaniho and Kaniho with the defensive PI to save a huge gain over the top. Aaron Fonoimoana-Vaomu with his second sack and fourth of the game for Kahuku. Alex Fonoimoana-Vaomu gets beat deep but does an amazing job to catch up and swat the pass away. Third-and-15. Inside screen to Panoke for 6 yards. Punt time.
(10:36) Kahuku ball on its 44. Maiava to Heffernan for 12 yards and DB Kama Moore is taken out by friendly fire. This could be a big blow. Many people think he’s the best cover corner in the state. It’s a left shoulder/arm/wrist injury it looks like from up here. Maiava rips off a 33-yard run but a flag is down. OL Inoke Vimahi called for unnecessary roughness. Maiava stopped for a gain of 1 and nearly fumbles but he’s ruled down. Incomplete pass and Kahuku will punt.
(11:07) Crusaders ball on their 15. Cordeiro scrambles for 5. Third-and-5 and the ball is a tad low to Reyes-Hackney, who almost makes an incredible catch but the ball bounces away. Saint Louis three-and-out.
(3:23) Kahuku ball on its 21. Third-and-7 on the 24. Maiava finds Alapa for 10 yards to move the chains. Nice throw. Maiava to Nawahine for 14 yards into Crusaders territory. Maiava loses 5 on the run on the final play of the first quarter. DB Junior Wily with a big hit to force a drop. Tuitele with a big sack on third down and Kahuku will punt.
(6:08) Saint Louis ball on its 23. Pass to Panoke for 11 yards and a first down, but then Aaron Fonoimoana-Vaomu gets Kahuku’s third sack already. Third-and-9 and Cordeiro breaks contain and scrambles for 15 yards to midfield. Four in a row completed by Cordeiro, who finds Panoke for 11. Cordeiro to Kainalu Reyes-Hackney for 18 yards to the 20. A 10-yard pass to Chance Beyer makes it first-and-goal at the 10. 10-yard out to Mitchell Quinn is an 11-yard TD pass for Saint Louis. 7-7, 3:30. Cordeiro 7-8, 86 yards, TD since pick on first throw.
(9:06) Kahuku ball on its 44. Maiava has a TD to Kaonohi Kaniho down the sideline but overthrows the receiver. RB Enoch Nawahine loses 2 yards on the TFL by Faatui Tuitele. Third-and-12. Fonoimoana-Vaomu with a run to the 35 but a block in the back is called. Ball moves back to the 50. Third-and-20. Pass to Nawahine for 8 yards. Kahuku will punt.
(10:47) Crusaders ball on their 21. Saint Louis has to use a timeout before it runs a play. Lauina Falatea blitz’s off the edge and sacks Cordeiro for a loss of 12. Cordeiro hits Jonah Panoke for 12 yards but Kahuku brings the all-out blitz on third down and Falatea sacks Cordeiro again. Punt.
(11:04) Kahuku ball on the 5. Kahuku starting QB Sol-Jay Maiava with a 5-yard TD pass to backup QB Thorton Alapa. Red Raiders strike in 62 seconds.
(11:56) Crusaders start on their 20. Chevan Cordeiro at QB for the Crusaders. Cordeiro picks up 6 on the scramble. Cordeiro’s first pass is PICKED OFF by Alex Fonoimoana-Vaomu. Kahuku ball at the Saint Louis 5.
Kahuku wins the toss and will defer. Crusaders will get the ball first.
TEAM CAPTAINS
Kahuku: Samson Reed, Sol-Jay Maiava, Miki Ah You, Sekope Latu
Saint Louis: Chevan Cordeiro, Noa Purcell, Eliki Tanuvasa, Isaiah Tufaga
Kahuku going with the all-white jersey combo. The South end zone is about 80 percent filled in on the bottom.
*******
GAMEDAY: Kahuku vs. Saint Louis
Q&A: Kahuku coach Makoa Freitas
Q&A: Saint Louis coach Cal Lee
Q&A: Saint Louis offensive coordinator Ron Lee
Saint Louis prepared for Saturday’s main event
Kahuku cool and confident
Kahuku dominates when it’s 1 vs. 2
Stats and roster: Kahuku
Stats and roster: Saint Louis
All you do is whine. Now you are inventing boogiemen and showing your own ignorance. I was and continue to be quite complimentary of Kahuku’s game play, they almost beat a more talented team, but they came up short. SL did not play its best game, and I thought they gave up too much yardage because they played too much man coverage and cover 3. I have been a DC myself when I have the time which hasn’t been as often enough as I would like. They could have played better, that’s my assessment, but they played well enough to win. They had an emotional let down when they were up by 17, which should have never happened.
BUT…as far as I can see that game was called as fair as I can see. If anything I think SL got the bad end on a couple calls, if you ask me. I saw some holding on two of Kahuku’s touchdowns, and that defensive holding on 7 before the go ahead touchdown was non existent but as I said to you the last time, the only one complaining about the referees seems to be you.
Kahuku lost. They played a great game but they lost. They didn’t lose because of the referees, they lost because Saint Louis beat them. Say it with me…..Saint Louis won. Not they won because Cal paid the referees, they won. They scored more points.
LET ME REMPHASIZE WHAT YOU MISSED. Good Coaches, Good Players, and Good Sportsman, don’t complain about the referees. They take their lumps when they lose. It sucks. I have been there in College for the Conference Championship. It sucks, but if you have any class, you just man up. You don’t bitch about the refs, it’s classless. From what I can see it was as fair as it gets. No one team got hosed any more than the other.
One observation brother, you got issues. You got blinders on. As far as OIA, ILH, or any other league, or school, you obviously have some serious inferiority issues because you are inventing phantoms where none existed. I could care less whether what Kahuku does or doesn’t do. Actually, if truth be known, I don’t gain any satisfaction from Kahuku failing or any school for that matter. I just wish the best for all the kids and that they got to participate in a great experience. They lost. The Sun will rise tomorrow.
You on the other hand appear to have some serious mental issues with your desire for Saint Louis to fail, you are more invested in Saint Louis failing than you are about whether your own kids played a great game, as I mentioned earlier, Kahuku played above itself. That’s a complimentary statement unlike your own inability to recognize that Saint Louis has some fantastic athletes and played a decent game although not a great game, which should be obvious. Some of that credit goes to Kahuku for playing a great game, unfortunately for Kahuku fans, it wasn’t enough.
Something to consider while you are stewing ….maybe Saint Louis would have played a better game if they hadn’t had to play the # 3 seed and then the # 2 seed in back to back weeks and had gotten the benefit of being the number 1 seed. Doesn’t matter, they won, with the deck stacked against them. More proud of them for that, than anything else.
That inability to recognize that says more about your own inferiority than anything I can ever say to you.
Good luck in life, you will need it.
Let the players play, coaches coach and spectators cheer, it was a GREAT game!
Only one team takes home the koa trophy, but Winners on both sides of the field tonight.
Win with humility and lose with class.
.
Nobody mentioned the fumble by Maiava, which was not called. Funny, he wasn’t down, and he still had forward progress.
Looking forward to Part IV approximately 364 days from now!
What a great game, was there to the very end. Some folks on the St. Louis side actually started heading for the parking lot after Kahuku made that first down on last drive….they missed a helluava finish. Just worn out today by the rollercoaster of emotions and getting to bed at 2:30am this morning!! Pure joy on the StL side after that last TD, family, friends and strangers alike “high fiving” and hugging each other in celebration. The Brotherhood will have a great Turkey Day this year. My hats off to players and coaches on both sides. Played hard and said all the right things after the battle. Very impresssed with the Kahuku fans, they were out in full force and were definitely a factor. Even after that devastating finish, they stayed loud and proud and was in full support of their team. From the StL side, the sound and sight of the everyone in Red was impressive and probably very intimidating to the Crusaders on the field. Saints took all the blows and offense delivered in a big way. IMO this year’s team might be a better all around squad than last season’s. Congrats to both teams, it was a game for the ages.
On a final note, to all the crybabies and excuse makers who claim to be Red Raider fans and also to all trollers and life’s losers who claim to be private school supporters (i.e., Education First/Too Meke 2)…grow up and take a cue from the players, coaches and mature fans. Conduct yourself with class and and quit the anonymous internet big man schtick. The kids act more like adults than you wannabe experts.
Yep, excellent point. I forgot that, he did fumble before going down but evidently the refs had already blown the play dead.
Never a good idea to complain about the officiating, it’s what losers do and displays poor sportsmanship.
It was a great game. Kids played their hearts out on both sides. One team rose above the challenges they were faced with and they could have folded easily, the Cordiero fumble in the red zone on the 9 trying to get extra yardage, or the interception at the 2 for a touchback, SL could have folded, they didn’t. They found a way to win when things weren’t going their way. That’s what true champions do. Respect for those coaches and kids. They beat # 3 and # 2 in back to back weeks. They played an awesome second half in the Mililani game and they played great at time in this game but they didn’t complete the task and let Kahuku get back in the game. They were up 17 and they thought it was over. It wasn’t and they had a let down but they overcame and still pulled it out.
FYI on a thread back in October, Billy Hull mentioned that site finally blocked Education First. Hull said that user was going by at least three other screen names..BG Grad, phILHarmonic, RRFL living the lie and a few others. The guy also claimed he was some big timer but always avoided meeting up with other posters when pressed. Funny when internet heroes are exposed as the real life zeroes that they really are. Rule of Thumb…if you’re trying to impress total strangers on the internet with your so-called lifestyle, you probably don’t have one.
808, if you think I have ever posted here before, I haven’t. I think I have made a total of about 6 posts on Hawaii Prep World the only thing I thought was jacked up was the seeding and I think it makes what SL did just that more impressive. If your comments weren’t directed at me, no issues.
It’s all about the kids. Congrats to SL for winning a great game.
Crazy Seeding/Education First: Spew all the hate you want to Kahuku. We all know where your loyalties lie: with the ILH Agenda. And that’s okay. Stay on the sidelines and watch next year when Red Raider Nation takes the koa trophy back to laie where it belongs. We’ll beat Saint Louis, the ILH Agenda, and even the rigged refs. You can just sit there behind your keyboard and spew your hatred for us. RRFL!
Too Meke 2 = anywaaays imposter = Education First. Hope you find what you’re looking for in your everyday life and get tired of making a fool of yourself on this website. Try medical marijuana or Prozac.
Mahalo to all the REAL posters and fans of Hawaii HS football. Great season, Happy Holidays to you all.
808, like I said, I have posted on a total of two threads starting in November this year about the time the seeding for the tournament came out. Hell I don’t even live in Hawaii anymore, I live on the mainland but occasionally come back to Oahu for work. My parents still live in Hawaii but I haven’t for a long time.
I don’t have the time to routinely post on message boards and consequently don’t usually pay much attention to this stuff. Thanks for the heads up on this persona Too Meke/anywaays/Education first. Apparently he’s been kicked off here before and is probably why he is trying to depict me as some poster who used the handle education first. Nope. I have a total of less than ten total posts on Hawaii Prep World and this may be my last. Nothing to discuss anymore. I am a SL grad myself and I know the coaching staff, and just visited with them recently when I was home before the state tournament. I am happy to see that SL won, but to Kahuku’s credit they played a great game.
I will always be convinced that the OIA and HHSAA had it out for them by stacking the deck against St. Louis. In a 4 team tourney, 1 gets 4 and 2 gets 3. I would bet a hefty sum that Kahuku looked past Waianae and prepared for SL for two weeks, which they wouldn’t have been able to do had they had to play Mililani again. So Mililani got hosed because I bet they could have beat Kahuku if they got to play them again but the more jacked up thing is that Kahuku got the benefit of being the # 1 seed without earning it…which is why they got caught with their pants down….and almost looked past Waianae which is why that game was way closer than it should have been.
The fact that SL did what it did despite the stacked deck just makes this more sweet for the coaching staff and the kids.
This team may end up as the greatest of all time because of that. Hard to compare across the years but the format may push them over the top for what the coaches and the kids accomplished.
In any case, that’s my longwinded way of saying I am likely out of this process. Observation. There are some real haters out there. Truly unfortunate that some of the people on this board can’t have a honest discussion without all the vitriol and negativity. Blaming referees is simply classless. If anything I think SL may have gotten the worse end of the sum total of the calls but it’s part of the game. Winners find a way to win even when things aren’t going your way. The mark of a man, isn’t what he does when everything is going right, character is defined by what you do when things aren’t going right. SL overcame some mistakes, a let down and still figured out how to win when they didn’t play their best game and did it all with a stacked deck against them. Hats off to Cal and the coaching staff, as well as every kid on that team. Crusader strong!!
Everyone will see the non calls offences against their team. There was plenty to go around. I think i have a reason why so many non calls were not called. On one particular play there was a face mask. Three flags came flying in at the same time. Three officials were all watching the same area? I believe that is why so many offenses were not called.
A taunting call after a tackle was not called near the beginning of the game. If they had called that one, subsequent extra curricular activities might have been averted. The tackle just happened, did they close their eyes after the whistle?
It was a good game, it just ended in St L favor. Congratulations on your 5th championship.