FOCUS ON FOOTBALL: QB Waika Crawford’s Steady Hand Shepherds Kahuku Past Punahou 20-0 For Second Straight Open State Championship

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With so many athletic specimens and powerful offensive and defensive weapons on the Kahuku football team, it can be easy to take the quarterback position for granted.

You’ve got running back Vaaimalae Fonoti gouging and squirming his way for yardage up the middle and receivers like Kainoa and Kaimana Carvalho finding open spaces to take short passes for long gains. You’ve got genuine hammers like Leonard Ah You and Liona Lefau controlling the line of scrimmage on defense and about 20 (exaggerating a little bit) defensive backs who can cover and hit.

But you throw in any ol’ quarterback and there could be some serious struggles.

Not so for the guy who has led the way at the position all season long for the Red Raiders and who has done it steadily and in what teammates feel is underrated fashion

Waika Crawford is his name and he did so many things well all year. He did them all again Friday night in leading Kahuku past Punahou 20-0 for the Open Division title in the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Football State Championships at the Mililani High field.

Highest on the list of things Crawford has done all season is run for the tough yardage in clutch situations, those times when the Red Raiders really needed it on third and fourth down. It was also common to see him stand in the pocket and unleash a bullet or put a nice touch on a short pass to constantly keep the chains moving.

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In Friday’s state championship — Kahuku’s second in a row and 10th overall — Crawford did all of these things again.

With 4:52 left in the first quarter, he faked a handoff and lunged off tackle for a 1-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead. Because of the sleight of hand and exploding pile of players just inside the end zone, it was hard to see who had the ball. Sure enough, though, as the players peeled off, it was Crawford whose face could be seen, still prone on the ground, clutching the ball.

But it was the team’s second touchdown where Crawford really shined.

With just 27 seconds left in the first half, he somehow escaped a heavy rush (one in which it looked like he was definitely going down) and hit Mana Carvalho in stride in the end zone for a 13-yard score and a 17-0 lead.

All told, Crawford went 15-for-27 for 177 yards passing and he also rushed nine times for 69 yards. Those numbers are not going to help a fantasy team too much, but for those Red Raiders For Life fans, it’s huge.

“I feel like I did my job today, trying to do my best for the team,” Crawford told Bedrock Sports Hawaii. “I always feel like I could have done better. It feels so good. We were all raised champions. This is in our blood. Winning is in our blood, so we just had to come through and play as one family. I love all my boys. We all worked so hard to make this possible. Big shoutout to them for putting their head down and grinding every day. It wasn’t easy as times, but we just stuck with it.”

And that brings us full circle back to the overriding thought here: Game Management. Waika Crawford was the man for the job. He doesn’t have to throw the ball 40 yards down field. A fake here, a juke here and a successful burst and lunge past the first down marker is worth a lot more in (you heard it here first) Kahuku bucks.

“That’s my best friend,” Ah You said about Crawford. “He’s practically my brother. He grew up with me and stayed at my house every single summer. To see him come out and do his thing — I knew it was coming. Tonight was his night.”

Senior offensive tackle Roebuck Rupp added to the chorus singing the praises of the Red Raiders’ QB: “He’s totally underrated, He’s probably the best quarterback right now in the state. He doesn’t get enough (credit).”

In some areas, numbers did matter for Kahuku on Friday. As in Fonoti’s 112 yards on 23 carries. As in Kainoa Carvalho’s nine catches for 79 yards and field goals of 21 and 40 yards. As in Lefau’s six tackles.

One of the final daggers for the Red Raiders (12-2) came with 5:44 to go and Punahou (9-2) in possession of the ball at the Red Raiders’ 2. A Buff ‘N Blue touchdown in that situation gives them life.

But no. Ah You forced and recovered a fumble to pretty much sew it up.

Ah You, who was one of the first players to grab the team flag after the win and who then led the team in a supremely tight demonstration of the haka, was certainly happy, but he knows Kahuku left some things on the table this season.’

“It wasn’t the road we planned,” he said. “We wanted to beat the two out of state teams (losses to highly ranked St. John Bosco of Bellflower, California, and St. Frances Academy 0f Baltimore), but we did our thing. We won the state championship and that’s all we can ask for.”

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ALSO AT BedrockSportsHawaii.com:

FOCUS ON FOOTBALL: Common Opponent Tells Us Waipahu Vs. Konawaena Could Be A Blockbuster D-I State Title Game

Waimea And King Kekaulike To Make Momentous Appearance In D-II Football State Championship Game

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The Season As It Unfolds:

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