The appetizer was so very good that it seemed quite possible the main course would turn out bland.
But instead, the third game of Saturday’s tripleheader at Aloha Stadium was a crazy-good show-stopper for football connoisseurs and an incredible capper for Hawaii’s football-hungry fans, who got an extra-sweet treat in the first game of the day — Lahainaluna’s 75-69 seven-overtime win over Konawaena in the D-II championship game.
With a kickoff at 9:58 p.m. Saturday, and the final play happening on Sunday morning after 1 a.m., there probably weren’t many fans who went home sorely disappointed after the back-and-forth showdown finally landed in favor of No. 1 Saint Louis, which scored the winning touchdown with 37 ticks left on the clock in a 31-28 victory over No. 2 Kahuku.
When the Crusaders (10-0) took a 24-7 lead over the Red Raiders (11-2) on Isaiah Tufaga‘s 40-yard interception return with 5:30 to go in the third quarter, those who would rather be home under the covers may have been letting the idea of leaving Aloha Stadium enter their minds. That would have been a big blunder.
Like their tomahawk-chopping, white-towel waving, red-clad fans, Kahuku just doesn’t give up. Ever.
So, it was time to see just how deep they could dig inside and come up with a response.
First, quarterback Sol-Jay Maiava connected with Wes Alo-Maiva for a 23-yard touchdown to make it 24-14. Then, with 10:09 left, after a gutsy defensive stop, Kahuku cut the lead to 24-21 as fullback Toalei Lefau broke open in the end zone to catch an 8-yard Maiava pass.
On Saint Louis’ next possession, Kahuku’s defense delivered a stunning blow, when Saint Louis quarterback Chevan Cordeiro fumbled on a hit by Draeton Thompson and the ball popped up into the waiting arms of teammate Feso Malufau.
That amazing turn of events with 6:49 to go appeared to tip the scales in Kahuku’s favor just a bit, and it tipped a bit more 24 seconds later when Maiava unloaded a 59-yard TD strike to Kaonohi Kaniho down the right sideline for a 28-24 edge. The Crusaders’ Kai Kaneshiro appeared to have Kaniho covered, but the pass just got over his hands and into Kaniho’s.
The Crusaders marched and looked primed to score right away, but the Red Raiders’ Aaron Fonoimoana-Vaomu tipped a Cordeiro pass and the ball popped up (sound familiar?) into the waiting hands of teammate Nalu Emerson in the end zone with 2:35 left.
But that apparent knockout was a long way from the Saint Louis actually hitting the canvas for the 10 count.
Kahuku picked up a first down on a daring Maiava-to-Kaniho pass — with the wily veteran DB Tufaga in the area. Another daring play, a pitch to running back Enoch Nawahine, worked against the Red Raiders. He gained 4 yards, but went out of bounds, stopping the clock. When the Red Raiders failed to get another first down, they punted with 54 seconds to go and seemingly still in pretty good shape.
Not quite.
With 37 seconds left, Cordeiro saw a one-on-one matchup on the right side, threw it long and receiver Jonah Panoke went up to wrest the ball away from Kahuku’s Alex Fonoimoana-Vaomu, who then fell while Panoke went the rest of the way into the end zone to complete the 53-yard touchdown for what held up as the winning score.
Despite the lack of time, the Red Raiders still drove all the way to the Crusaders’ 30 with 2 seconds left. Maiava tried a long pass that bounced off the turf incomplete to end it.
“Chev just told me I’ve got to make a big play and we didn’t have a lot of time and I knew that this might be our only chance,” Panoke said. “So I knew I had to go out there and do my best. I knew it was coming to me. He kind of gave me that look. Receivers on both sides were doing streaks and he just took that shot. I knew I had to make a big play. This was my only chance, so I knew I had to just do it. It was difficult, but you just have to outwork everybody and you just have to have faith in everything you do. It feels amazing to end the season with another victory and another ring. Chev is a great quarterback. I’ve played with him since the second grade in Mighty Mites Pop Warner.”
Here is Cordeiro’s take on that game-winning TD: “The play was both X and Z receivers doing deep routes. I chose to go with Jonah because he was 1-on-1. I just threw it up and he made a great catch. It’s amazing. We worked hard this whole offseason and throughout the season for this moment. To come back and win against Kahuku, a great team — there’s nothing else we can ask for.
“To be honest, I was a little worried with such little time, but I had all my teammates and they all believed in me and I believed in them and we finished the job. Kahuku is amazing. Their D is good. Their offense is good. They brought their ‘A’ game and it was a really good game. I worried a little when they went ahead, too, but it wasn’t the first time we’ve been down. We just had to get back up and score.”
Coach Cal Lee and many on his staff headed for the North end zone to the bus not long after the victory that sewed up back-to-back championship seasons and gave the Crusaders two out of the last three with Kahuku as the opponent in the finale. Saint Louis won its fifth top-tier state championship to go along with the 14 Prep Bowls (the predecessor to the state tourney) its won. Lee has been a part of 17 of those titles as the head coach.
Lee responsed three times to a postgame text message early and then later Sunday morning.
“What a game,” was Lee’s answer, when asked for a one-sentence comment. Later, he wrote, “Reminds me of 1983. We came from behind to win.”
In that game 34 years ago, the Crusaders beat Nanakuli 15-12 for their first Prep Bowl crown.
Lee gave high praise to Cordeiro in his third text: “He never gave up and battled the adversity and made the biggest play when we needed it.”
Many on the Kahuku side took it hard, but not all. Coach Makoa Freitas‘ voice cracked a bit when he talked about the love he has for his team and the effort they put in.
“It was a close game, one of those things where someone has to win and someone has to lose,” Freitas said.
When asked about the loss on that Panoke 1-on-1 grab, he said, “That’s OK. We’ll live with that.
“I thought, as usual, our team came and played their hearts out. We won the OIA and upheld the legacy of that. Unfortunately, we couldn’t come away from this one with a win, but we’ll be back. I’m not going to second guess. The team played hard and I’m proud of them.”
Maiava was as cool as a cucumber after the loss.
“I’m fine,” Maiava said. “It’s football. Gotta be a winner and gotta be a loser. I’m glad we didn’t lose by giving up and putting our heads down. We lost with our heads high and kept fighting. That’s how I like to lose. No one likes to lose, especially like that. We still want to win. But sometimes, you gotta be a loser. My teammates, they’re going to be all right. Football is just a game. Our fans are loving us still. I want to say thank you to them and my family for always supporting us.
Maiava gave props to Cordeiro, too.
“Chevan, he’s a great QB. I go up against my defense every day and the way he was scrambling and making plays on his feet, it shows a lot of heart in him.”
Aaron Fonoimoana-Vaomu, the linebacker who tipped the ball to Emerson on the play that nearly secured a win for Kahuku, talked about how the tables turned.
“From that moment, we thought we had them and that was the mistake we made because we weren’t humble,” he said. “I feel like if we were more humble, we would have made it. They played until the whistle was blown, so hat’s off to them. They’re a great team. I appreciate them. What a game. Win or lose, we’ve still got our fans. I just love them so much. That’s the spirit of Kahuku. It’s all one community.”
Great game, great effort and great attitude by our boys of the Red Raider nation. You proved once again we still belong among the top in Hawaii. Rest up, and prepare for next sport and next season. Study hard and keep it up.
Hats off to Crusaders, well be there next year, hope to see you too.
Good game RedRaiders and congratulations Crusaders. Big tyme players make big tyme plays. Hats off to the Crusaders. LeeBoy and ILH congrats. See you guys next year.
Hell of a game, congrats to both teams. It’s gets better every year.
Too bad Farrington was never in the conversation this year! 16 years with Randall Okimoto, good talent, and nothing to show, should be the writing on the wall for Harold Tanaka (AD). Hats off to St. Louis and Kahuku, great game!
Awesome game! Congrats to the Crusaders. Hold your heads up Big Red, love your heart! Still RRFL!!!
Seasons come and seasons go that is the nature of things proud of both teams both QB’s looked good and played well under pressure and will be key next year. The ref’s did there best but I think replay should be used on big games leaves no doubt if you can have 7 OT in a game lol you can make time to have instant replay. Any team could of won last night Happy for both teams. At the end of the day were together on a island we should be proud living on now its time to revamp some things and schedule some live mainland competition let’s get it on!!!:)
Thank you RED RAIDER NATION 4 the AWESOME community PRIDE. From one end of the stadium to the other end a see of RED and white flag toma hawk waving fans. LOVE the pride. Football is done for now. RED RAIDER is the defending Basketball CHAMPS!!!! Bring on all challenges and the KAHUKU RED REDRAIDER will once again reign as CHAMPS in 2018.
Did anyone hear me honking my horn all the way home? I was in the White Honda Echo.
RRFL
Kahuku fans talked so much crap the whole season. I Can’t count how many times you said you would blow the doors off the crusaders. Stuff like “St Lulu only won because of Tua”. Happy St Louis sent you packing home again empty handed and they even did it with a bunch of kids nobody really gave a chance to. Cordeiro was unheralded and over looked at start of season, as was Quinn. Great job Crusaders!
“Football conoisseurs”; give me a break. 🙄
Decent victory (see comment below) . . . time to work on your car selection. An Echo? And your Prediction Quotient isn’t exactly a high score—so much for the St. Lou’/RR game being rescheduled to another day as you mentioned, no? “Garans” or some other colloquialism.
And it’s also time to bring in officials from the outside (read: no one from Hawaii, no one with connections with Hawaii) to ref’ these games. I mean, the only thing they seemed to be missing were “I’m with St. Louis! 🤺” buttons or shirts.
Essentially, as a Roman Catholic, I’m glad St. Louis won. With all this talk anout Christianity going to the wayside, iit’s great whenever followers of Christ can show victory. But if shenanigans are behind this, well . . . God is watching the game, too, you know?
I’m proud of our Kahuku boys and the fans that made the drive all the way out to Aloha Stadium into the early morning and the fans around the world who tuned in.
Unfortunately, a great state championship game was forever tarnished by the fact that the refs were OBVIOUSLY biased and paid off to go against Kahuku. Between Saint Lulu’s recruiting and the ILH agenda paying off the refs, you have an entire state rooting for Kahuku to fail.
FACT: The refereeing during the OIA finals against Mililani was so highly biased against Kahuku because the HHSAA didn’t want Big Red in the finals.
FACT: The refereeing in the semis against Waianae was also extremely biased. Kahuku wasn’t shooting itself in the foot. They were being juiced on EVERY call.
FACT: Saint Lulu was holding on almost EVERY PLAY. EVERY PLAY. Nothing is called for them. Ticky tack roughing the passer calls. A targeting/defenseless receiver penalty that was first correctly called than overruled. It was CLEAR that the refs were against us and there needs to be an investigation of any conflicts of interests with the refs.
One game of bad refs is an anomaly. Three in a row is a conspiracy.
Keep your heads up, boys. You guys played hard for your community. We’re all proud of you. The entire state and the refs were against you and gunning for you to fail but you fought until the end. On an even and level playing field, this game wouldn’t have been close. The hate for the North Shore community is astounding.
This state title for Saint Lulu should have an asterisk next to it. Because the officials were bought off. at the best, they were incompetent. at the worst, it was a conspiracy. You decide. RRFL!
you dont know how good you are until you go up against kahuku. well st. louis you have proven that you are a good team. congratulations on a great victory.and to my red raiders awesome season. St. Louis and Kahuku make this hawaii high school football so exiting. Thank you. Cant wait for next season.
to all you keyboard warriors, have a safe holiday and trash talking begins in august. see you all back here.
Kahuku fans. Always losing with class and dignity, sarcasm intended. Football is all you have. St. Louis took it away from you again. Whatever you need to do to cry yourself to sleep at night.
Anywaaaays posting his opinions as FACTS as usual. Might as well call that thing on your face an asshole because all that comes out of it is shit. Kahuku O line had choke holding but no calls. And as it was pointed out, the refs made calls on both sides. Kahuku 9 STL 8. That’s a fact dummy. Get it right. Learn to lose with class. Like I said, you not the enemy of the state because you win, you the enemy cause you are classless losers. For a community who claims to follow God, you’d never know from the way your fans act. Recruit more like you do for basketball LOSERS
anywaaaays!! November 19, 2017 9:11 am
This state title for Saint Lulu should have an asterisk next to it. Because the officials were bought off. at the best, they were incompetent. at the worst, it was a conspiracy. You decide. RRFL!
———————-
All of the Kahuku Titles should have an asterisk since they were playing with kids in their mid 20’s. And since none of them really have to do school work it gives them more time to focus on football.
Now be a good little boy anywaaays, and go to church in your Waialua neighborhood.
Hats off to the Red Raiders Nation and Kahuku Football you brought the best out of everyone and have no reason to hang your heads! Proud of Saint Louis holding true to your National Ranking and it is what it is you have to recruit to get better if you don’t keep watching these Powerhouse football teams that do WIN! I hate people who think you don’t need to recruit, they never coached before!
Kahuku fans want to talk conspiracies and rigging, you need to first answer why St. Louis the no 1 team in the state played mililani the no 3 team and not Waianae the no 4 team in the quarter finals. That’s how tournaments work. Top seed gets bottom seed. Talk about trying to rig it.
Congrats St Louis! You won fair and square. I didn’t watch the game until the end. Woke up just in time at 4am.
Heard the refs were bad, but bad both ways. Such is life.
Proud you the boys and coaches. Big Reds starters mostly underclassman. Coming back bigger and better next year. 1st year of new offense and we barely lose on a Hail Mary pass? Can’t wait until next year!!
Until August then gents! Congrats again to Crusaders! I’m out!
Win or Lose, Red Raider For Eternity!! Best community this whole earth!!
St Louis didn’t take anything away from Kahuku! We all watched the same game right??? Smdh. St Louis may have taken home the W but they sure as hell did not beat Kahuku.
EXACTLY, pahea808. The refs beat Kahuku. Saint Lulu just took home the W just like the ILH agenda intended.
@FightingHawaiianofNotreDame, you want an answer to that question? Do your homework thoroughly then go talk to the donkeys that made all the new changes to the bubbogum system before you run your mouth.
@pahea808 the donkeys were the oia who threatened to pull out the championship if they didn’t get their way. They didn’t want 2 ilh teams in there. No matter how good it is for the competition. Look what Kapolei did to Punahou last year. In the end it worked out. St. Louis went through both teams. They earned their championship. No matter how much whining we have to endure from fans like you.
What a game! Congrats to all these young men who left it all on the field. But I hate to rain on your parade Recruitaders. Had this game been played with unbiased officials, the state championship would be back on the north shore. What was this a going away, thank you 4 putting hawaii on the map, ride off into the sunset homage to Cal Lee. The so called Trump-Russia collusion has nothing on the HSAA-Referee-ILH collusion. Why was there a need for a conference on so much of the penalties? How’s about this radical idea, schedule next years state championship on a Fri. before a Sat. UH game and use the ncaa refs. No bias n no ties 2 any of the players, coaches, or schools. Sorry just my little rant on what I saw with my eye’s. P.S. I’m not a Kahuku homer or have a dog in this fight but just a football fan enjoying what these young men left on the field. Probably go down as one of the best championship game ever.
No excuses be classy guys
I’ll tell you what those conferences by the refs was for: they were talking about how they could sell their penalty calls as legit without overly arousing suspicion. the game was rigged from the start. As far as I’m concerned and any other unbiased observer, the fact that Kahuku almost won the game despite the refs rigging the game means that Kahuku should have the trophy.
We need an independent investigation about this issue because it’s criminal. Can the state AG appoint a special counsel to investigate the ILH agenda? because it’s getting disgusting how they recruit and then literally rob our kids of championships.
FightingHawaiiansofNotreDame = Education First. Just ignore him. He just trolls and hates. He isn’t worth anyone’s time.
Why should St.Louis get the #1 seed anyway. They play only 2 other teams, granted it’s Kam n Pun., but both r finesse teams. While OIA schools go through the grind of 8-9 games vs different opponents. Yeah there r cupcakes but playing a rugged Waianae, Farrington, Mililani etc.., on the road takes it’s toll. So if St.L played Waianae what would be the motivation 4 either Kahuku or Mililani play any of their starters in an OIA championship that would pretty much meaningless. Plus playing a rugged Waianae squad would leave a team a bit beat up. So playing a Mililani was actually a blessing 4 the well rested, almost a month to get healthy Crusaders. Solution: A 10 team super conference that was discussed a couple of years back. Top 4 makes states. If u can survive that regular season u deserve a chance 4 the state title.
Really, the corruption here goes to the top, just like Larry Mehau. The hawaii referee union is controlled by the ILH Agenda. The goal here is not only to increase prestige of their schools (FACT: without football, all the football factory schools like Saint Lulu, Punahou, and Kamehameha would fall apart because those schools offer NOTHING except a football team), but to maintain the power of the ILH Agenda.
Think about this: Cal Lee, the supposed “godfather” of hawaii football, is a fixture in the ILH. A few years ago, he coached for UH to learn more how to recruit players using college processes. Then after, he had a failed bid to be an OHA Trustee. If he became an OHA Trustee, he woudl have access to millions of dollars and political power.
What the ILH agenda is trying to do is rig the state tournament with the officials so that Saint Lulu will win to increase Cal Lee’s prestige so he can win an OHA Trustee bid. From there, he will have resources and a government position to further ILH interests. Wake up, people. This is bigger than football. This is why Kahuku needs to win. To fight this corruption.
Complain about the refs this and the refs that… We can go back and nitpick things about the refs all night. There was holding by both teams and at least 2 of Kahukus TD drives was helped by bogus penalties against St Louis. The kids and the coaches decided the game, not the refs!! so nevermind crying and acting like babies… Just shush your mouf and your typing fingers… go church! You fwams!!
Anywaaaaays!! Your theory on the ILH and refs.. LOL What kine kava you been drinking?? Better check cause might have meth inside.. lol
Awesome game for the fans and Kahuku always brings it when they play STL.
Bad calls and no calls for both teams by the refs. It goes both ways.
This is the worst I’ve seen Chevan play, but the better team did win. Although he pulled out the win, if he played like he normally does, I believe the score wouldn’t have been that close.
Kahuku played to the end and fought back hard. So respect to the OIA champs.
On a side note, I’m always sitting in the sea of red, but last night was the first time I heard so many F bombs being said from the Kahuku fans.
Let’s see if STL can defend the title next year.
@FightingHawaiianforNotreDame, I not whining. Just stating a truth and fact. It sounds more like you the doing all the whining enough for everybody. Look, we can go back and forth on this but what good is that going to do? Do we have control over what the OIA or ILH does??? NO! Whether it was OIA or the ILH it is obvious that the system is FLAWED and does not reflect accurate rankings and positions in any bracket. Decisions shouldbe made in the best interests of all involved and not the…
(you can fill in the blank there)
@pahea808 Haven’t whined at all. All the whining about refs is from you and other classy RRFL fans. Missed/bad calls both ways. Refs are human. Just stating a fact that the OIA controls the playoffs. Keep whining about the refs. Whatever you need to cry yourself to sleep at night because St Louis just destroyed your whole universe. Take the L and man up. See if you can hold on to a head coach for more than 2 years before the villagers run him off with pitch forks and torches.
2dahouse you heard so many f bombs on the kahuku sideline because we knew that the game was rigged against us
Fact – St Louis beat Kahuku for the State Title for 2017 last night.
Fact – Paul Honda said that he checked the IP addresses and “anywaaays” uses more than 4 different screen names.
Quality of officiating, format for the placement of teams, and who is the better team is all opinion.
Opinion – Some of the Kahuku posters in here are the biggest crybabies. But when you have nothing good going on in your life other than football I can understand why it’s so important.
ALL THESE EXCUSES AND THEORIES FROM THE NORTH SHORE… REALLY GUYS? MAYBE MAIAVA SHOULD NOT BE TALKING SHIT ABOUT THE REFS IN HIS POST GAME INTERVIEWS WITH 1 GAME LEFT NEXT TIME… BACHI
the question id like to ask is what up with the clock management.. if kahuku runs the clock game is over. they gave st lou the chance and got burned. first thing coaches should tell the boys is dont go out of bounds.
@Too Meke 2. Amen! The life out there is boring! They should take up writing fictional novels with the time they have and the stories and conspiracy theories they come up with.
I’d like to see the open tournament like the college system, just take the top 4 ranked teams (of course this could be subjective too). Whether it’s all OIA, ILH or whatever combo it may be. This way we will always see the best teams playing for a championship. No disrespect to Waianae, but I’m not convinced that they were one if the top 4 in the state.
@anywaaaays!!
I don’t think stuff like “get that F-ing kid” is directed at the refs. But then again, a few idiots doesn’t represent the loyal Laie fans…
All the “advantages” of the ILH, all the “recruits”, & STILL needed the refs to win! & I hate kahuku! But they got robbed!…all that “coaches” & GURUS lol at ST LOUIS! 4 nothing….no respect 4 them or ILH….WEAK….cannot beat em, cheat em lol……RESPECT TO THE OIA!!!!….by the way KAM & PUN. Would get beat by Millilani & Waianae!!
All I gotta say is best offense in the state scored 24 points and Kahukus offense scored 28? Hmmmmmmm….
I agree about Mililani beating kam or pun, but not so sure about waianae.
I believe waianae had a controlled scrimmage against pun and pun scored easily like 5 times and waianae had a hard time moving the ball and scored maybe once.
So I don’t think waianae would be an automatic win like Mililani would against the 2 ILH teams.
@FH4ND, and your post is not whining??? Lmao…bye felicia!!! All these comments just cracks me up. They need to remove the OIA and ILH altogether and fuse into One league altogether to represent Hawaii
All u bandwagon people, claiming kahuku, shame on all u guys . The game was blown out like how mililani was blowing kahuku out too, and again like the luckiest team in the world , they almost pulled it off. Stop blaming the refs, tired of hearing the same old thing every time kahuku lose . Now u red raiders knows how it feels to lose in the worse way, in the last seconds , feels sore ah. Like how the red raiders been winning championships all in the last seconds. Red raiders should be called ” miracle of Hawaii
“. Saint Louis was getting bored at let kahuku back in the game cause they can strike at any moment. Again cry baby kahuku people like usual , 80 percent of all u people is non athletes talking on here, shame on all u guys. And if wasn’t for the kahuku qb, kahuku would be nobody’s , the qb is kahuku , they should’ve called saint Louis vs maiava, cause really that’s y they were still lingering around all the way to championship game . Get grip raiders saint Louis is the kings of Hawaii football , and remember the only reason u are nationally known or recognized is because of saint Louis. So all u red raiders thank the crusaders for putting u on the map . Nuff said , go back and cry in your shoe box
There doesn’t need to be a merger. The ILH should just play by themselves in their pathetic 4 team league. They wanna recruit and play dirty and pay off refs, and make super teams, then they can do it in their own league. The purest form of high school football is played in the OIA. True champions win the games on the field, not by recruiting and conspiring with the refs to rob kids of their championships.
Westside = Education First. Jesus, guy. How many user names do you have? Why do you hate Kahuku so much? It’s okay. We were born hated. We’re the enemies of the state, so much so that the refs are conspiring against us too. RRFL!
I got no problem with the Crusaders recruiting the best players from around the state more power to them. But there’s just something with having kids from within your own community who have come up through the peewee football to big boys football to jv and eventually to varsity football. It’s the pride that comes from sharing not just a school but a part of the island. I’m sure Crusader nation consider themselves a community but I’m talking about kids who literally live next door to each other. Regardless it was one hell of a game and can’t wait til next season. Let’s agree to disagree and talk about this on our next kava session. CheeHoo
There is no “Crusader Nation.” There’s only people throwing around money to buy football titles and buy off officials. Big Red fought through adversity even though everyone was against them, including the officials. You fought hard, boys. You fought a rigged and corrupt system in a rigged game. RRFL!
All u cry baby’s out there blaming refs lol so shame. You guys forget the score was 24-7 lol and saint Louis handed u back in the game. Red raiders are arrogant people who need to face reality , kahuku being dominant ? Hell no edging teams and squeezing butts to win ain’t dominating . That’s just luck , check the history , crusaders dominate Hawaii and especially over kahuku. And Oreo bowl does count as state championships , so don’t try and find another way out of it red raiders lol. You got lots more to accomplish to even be close to what saint Louis did lol. It won’t happen in my time or my kids life time. It’s ok red raiders want to be like crusaders lol but just can’t , go back cry in your shoe box band wagoners
Awesome epic game thank you players and coach’s from Saint Louis and Kahuku for putting on one of the greatest games I have had the experience to watch live and keeping the energy up until 1am in da aloha stadium. One thing is for sure Hawaii highschool football is top quality and produces great football players for the next level.