HALAWA — Top-ranked Saint Louis rolled past No. 4 Kahuku, 49-22, in First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Open Division Football State Championships semifinals in front of 5,250 fans at Hawaiian Financial FCU Field at Aloha Stadium Friday. The Crusaders advance to the title game for the third-straight year to take on Mililani in the nightcap of a tripleheader on Nov. 24. Kahuku ends their season at 7-5 overall, but battled through everything that came their way. "I'm proud of our kids. T

Kahuku Red Raider football player Robert Sauvao unleash a pass to teammate Lokana Enos against the Saint Louis Crusaders in a game Friday night at Aloha Stadium. George Lee / Star-Advertiser Most football teams have off years. Kahuku, usually, is not one of them. But this year, despite the fact that the Red Raiders made the final four of the Open Division, will go down as an off year. They finished 7-5 and ended it by getting beaten by rival Saint Louis 49-22 in the Open Divi

BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM Saint Louis linebacker Kila Kamakawiwo‘ole, right, wrapped up Kahuku running back Toalei Lefau during the regular-season meeting between the Crusaders and Red Raiders on Sept. 7 at Aloha Stadium. Saint Louis-Kahuku, chapter 2, in the year 2018. The first meeting on Sept. 7 was a 30-14 win for Saint Louis, ranked No. 1 in the Star-Advertiser Top 10. The two-time defending state champion Crusaders are also nationally ranked. The Hawaii fo

HALAWA — Dillon Gabriel threw for 374 yards and three touchdowns to help No. 3 Mililani to a 27-7 win over No. 4 Kahuku in the title game of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Open Division tournament at Hawaiian Financial Federal Credit Union Field at Aloha Stadium Friday night. The Trojans (9-2) recorded their sixth consecutive victory and second over the Red Raiders (7-4) this season to capture their fourth league football crown and first since 2014. "Hats off to Kah

Kahuku fullback Toalei Lefau was brought down by Mililani linebacker Darius Muasau. Photo by George F. Lee/Star-Advertiser.com The roller coaster doesn’t end for the Kahuku Red Raiders. For Mililani, the blend of experimental laboratory and tough-nosed fundamentals continue well into Coach Rod York’s ninth season. Kahuku’s 27-7 loss to Mililani in the OIA Open championship game on Friday night at Aloha Stadium was, in many ways, a sequel to the first meeting between the t

JAMM AQUINO/JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM Mililani wide receiver Cy Kuboyama-Hayashi, right, was chased down by Kahuku linebacker Aaron Fonoimoana-Vaomu, bottom, and defensive back Alex Fonoimoana-Vaomu during the teams’ regular-season meeting on Sept. 29 at Kahuku. Mililani snapped the Red Raiders’ home winning streak with a 38-10 victory. Somehow, some way, the Kahuku Red Raiders keep overcoming adversity and heartbreak. Injuries to key players like Miki Ah You and Kaonohi Kan

Kahuku's Tausili Fiatoa and Nalu Emerson celebrate after a defensive play. Sylvia Lee | SL Nearly three weeks after it was on the wrong end of a game-winning play in a heartbreaking one-point loss, the Kahuku defense came through in a big way in Friday night's 27-7 playoff victory over host Campbell in Ewa Beach. The Red Raiders got their revenge against the Sabers, who rallied their way to a 28-27 win the last time the teams faced off in the regular season. This time around,

The Red Raiders celebrate in the end zone after Peter John Mataira scored on a 26-yard pick-six in the second quarter. Sylvia Lee | SL EWA BEACH — Two minutes and one second made all the difference for No. 5 Kahuku Friday night. The Red Raiders got three quick scores late in the second quarter — including a pair of interception returns for touchdowns — to rally past No. 4 Campbell, 27-7, in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Open Division semifinal before a crowd of about

STEVEN ERLER / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER Kahuku defensive back Peter John Mataira (6) returns an interception for 31-yards for a touchdown. Defense has won Kahuku many a playoff game in its storied history. The fifth-ranked Red Raiders stepped up on Friday night with pick-6 returns by Peter John Mataira and Ilaisa Fotu en route to a 27-7 win over Campbell on a rare rainy night in Ewa Beach. The win secured a state-tournament berth for Kahuku, which had lost at Campbe

STEVEN ERLER / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER Kahuku running back Toalei Lefau finds a large opening for a gain of yards on Friday. When the Kahuku community lost program legend Tommy Heffernan Sr. on Tuesday, the team was supposed to take the day off. That is until grandson Duke, a senior on this year’s squad, and the rest of the family had something to say about it. “Knowing my papa, if he was here right now and he saw all of us crying, he would tell us to shut up,” he said

Kahuku wide receiver Duke Heffernan (2) walked to midfield with family members for the coin toss and then a moment of silence for Tommy Heffernan Sr. before Friday's game against Kapolei. Photo by Steven Erler/Special to the Star-Advertiser. Many tributes were paid to the late Tommy Heffernan Sr., who passed away on Tuesday, at Kahuku on Friday night. A shrine with pictures of Heffernan was placed outside of the Red Raiders’ locker room along with a chair that had his cloth

Kahuku RB/FB Toalei Lefau runs the ball up the field against the Farrington defense. Leighland Tagawa | SL KALIHI — Fifth-ranked Kahuku got back on track with a 34-8 win over No. 13 Farrington in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Open Division game at Edward 'Skippa' Diaz Stadium at Kusunoki Field on a rainy Friday night. The Red Raiders snap a two-game losing streak to even out at 2-2 in the OIA standings, 5-3 overall. Kahuku hosts Kapolei on Friday, Oct. 19 to close out

BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM Kahuku defensive back Kai Noeau celebrated after scooping up a dropped lateral pass and returning it for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of the Red Raiders’ win at Farrington on Friday. Following its first back-to-back losses in the regular season since 1996, Kahuku held a players-only meeting at the start of the week. “They know that they needed to right the ship,” Kahuku coach Sterling Carvalho said. An 80-yard touchdown pass fr

BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM Kahuku safety Frisco Aveau headed up field after picking off a Chris Afe-Alaivanu pass in the fourth quarter of Friday’s game at Skippa Diaz Stadium. It’s usually a given on the North Shore, but back-to-back losses the past two weeks made Friday’s playoff-clinching victory for Kahuku an important one. Quarterback Robbie Sauvao tossed two first-quarter touchdown passes and Zealand Matagi rushed for 72 yards and another score in a 34-8

There are few streaks that never end. It’s just that Kahuku’s 51-game home winning streak seemed unbreakable. Omnipotent. It carried an aura of its own, and the invincibility permeated life on the North Shore. That came to a halt on Saturday night with a resounding 38-10 loss to No. 4 Mililani (6-2, 4-0 OIA Open). No. 2 Kahuku (4-2, 1-1) simply couldn’t get access to the state’s all-time career record holder in passing yardage, Dillon Gabriel. The southpaw passed for 312