No human is invincible. But, ahhh, Liona Lefau is coming pretty close on the high school football field lately.
There was hubbub about Lefau before the season started — due to the many Division I FBS colleges that were recruiting the Kahuku linebacker/tight end.
And for anyone watching high school football in 2021, it’s not hard to notice this young man.
In nearly every game, on the Red Raiders’ first defensive play from scrimmage, the first “pop” you hear is Lefau sticking an opposing running back. More often than not, he’s in the vicinity of the tackle being made even if it’s not him making the tackle.
And Lefau comes up big at crucial moments.
In Kahuku’s first game against Mililani this season, with the score tied 6-6 late in the second quarter, Lefau lined up as a wideout at about the 10-yard line and scored a touchdown on a pass from Waika Carvalho that turned the tide Kahuku’s way in what became a 55-20 victory.
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ALSO AT BedrockSportsHawaii.com:
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>> No. 1 Kahuku Claws Back To Upend No. 3 Mililani 21-14 For OIA Open Football Championship
>> Kaiser Re-Enters Bedrock Sports Hawaii’s Top 10 At No. 10
>> HPA Soars Into Football State Tourney on Mason Hunt’s 32-Yard Field Goal As Time Expires
>> Hawaii High School Football Command Center (master schedule, scores, previous game stories)
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But his signature game, if you want to call it that, came the second time the two teams met. This game was a lot closer and Lefau broke a 14-all tie by with a 26-yard TD catch and run on a play the team calls the “Summer Special.” Three Mililani defenders on his back got a ride into the the end zone with him. That late game TD gave the Red Raiders (8-0), the No. 1 -ranked team in the Bedrock Sports Hawaii Top 10, a 21-14 victory over the Trojans in the OIA Open Championship game.
What Lefau said after the game cinched his selection as Bedrock Sports Hawaii’s football player of the week.
“It’s pretty simple,” he told Bedrock Sports Hawaii after the game about the trio of defenders draped on his back. “I wanted it more. It’s that simple.”
Then, when ssked if he knew how many tacklers were on him, Lefau said, “I don’t know, but I didn’t care if all 11 were on me.”
The quote itself gave Lefau enough to surpass Hawaii Preparatory Academy’s Mason Hunt for player of the week honors. Hunt kicked a 32-yard field goal with time expiring for a 3-0 victory over Kamehameha-Hawaii, the BIIF D-II championship and a spot in the state tournament.
A four-star recruit, Lefau has offers from Arizona State, BYU, Hawaii, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, Oregon, Pittsburgh, San Diego State, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Washington State and Wisconsin.
“I think he’s super,” Campbell coach Darren Johnson told Bedrock Sports Hawaii about Lefau on Tuesday. “He comes from a great lineage of football. I think he’s the youngest one in his family, so maybe he’ll get to reap all the rewards (at the next levels, college and NFL). His dad and brothers are great people and football payers and now it’s his turn to follow in the their shoes. They talk about people saying don’t hang out with you’re older brother. But maybe he was smart to do that.”
Liona Lefau is Bedrock Sports Hawaii’s football player of the week.
Lefau (whose first name is pronounced LEE-ong-a) also had eight tackles, an interception and a quarterback hurry in the league title game.
Although Lefau is not related to Manti Te’o, the former Punahou, Notre Dame and NFL linebacker and one-time Heisman Trophy candidate, their families are close.
“My mom’s sister married Manti’s dad’s brother,” Lefau told Bedrock Sports Hawaii via Twitter.
Liona Lefau’s brother Pesa Lefau was a Kahuku linebacker on the 2015 top-tier state championship team. Another brother, Toalei Lefau, was a Red Raiders running back in recent seasons. And Malosi Lefau, a senior, is a Red Raiders safety this year.
Kahuku needs two more wins for a ninth state championship and first since 2015.
The Red Raiders meet Johnson’s team — No. 5 Campbell (a team that previously lost to Kahuku 49-23) on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the Open Division semifinals of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Football State Championships at Farrington’s Skippa Diaz Stadium.
The winner of that game will take on the winner of Saturday’s other semifinal — No. 2 Saint Louis (5-3) vs. No. 3 Mililani (5-2) — on Thursday, Dec. 23, in the Open championship game at Farrington at 7 p.m.
In 2019, the underdog Sabers’ upset bid against Kahuku fell short, 21-19, in the state Open semifinals.
Asked if he’s got any surprises awaiting the Red Raiders this time around, Johnson, a former Kahuku football standout, said, “I’ve got nothing up my sleeve. I just hope my guys show up and play good football. It’s like we’re backed into a corner. Are we going to fight or lay down?”
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Editor’s note: Although it was initially reported, Liona Lefau and Manti Te’o are not first cousins and the story has been clarified.
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