Kahuku quarterback Waika Tamatoa Crawford came into a close first half against Mililani last Saturday, and five touchdown passes later, he and the Red Raiders walked away with a 55-20 victory.
That performance, in relief of the injured Jason Mariteragi, earned Crawford the Bedrock Sports Hawaii player of the week honor.
Kahuku quarterback Waika Crawford. (From Waika Crawford’s Twitter page).
The victory put Kahuku in the driver’s seat, all alone at the top of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Open Division football standings.
When Mariteragi got hurt, the score was 6-6 and Crawford immediately went to work, throwing a 13-yard second-quarter TD pass to Liona Lefau for the lead. He eventually made two TD tosses to Kainoa Carvalho and one each to Kruze Keanu and Jamerus Tai Hook.
Carvalh0, with 194 receiving yards, 90 kickoff return yards, two field goals and five extra points, was also considered for player of the week honors.
“Waika has been pushing Jason at every practice,” Kahuku coach Sterling Carvalho told Bedrock Sports Hawaii on the phone Tuesday. “And it’s been that way for a long time. They push each other. That’s why our offense didn’t change when Toa (Waika’s nickname) came in. We ran with Toa. And it was no surprise to us. It shows you the hard work he and Jason have put in during the offseason. They’ve been working their butts off with their timing with the receivers. This was not a matter of getting lucky. This has been in motion. We knew what Toa was capable of.”
The Red Raiders (5-0) went into the Mililani game ranked No. 3 in the Bedrock Sports Hawaii Top 10, No. 1 by Hawaii Prep World and No. 2 by Scoring Live.
In new rankings this week, Kahuku is No. 1 in the latter two. Bedrock’s latest rankings are expected later today.
Carvalho and his Red Raiders have a week off. The coach plans to watch Mililani (3-1) at Campbell (4-0) on Saturday. Kahuku returns to action in two weeks at Campbell.
—–
OTHER INVIGORATING TALES at BedrockSportsHawaii.com, including: Kauai Female Football Defensive Back Shania Kelley Is Becoming A KIF Fan Favorite
—–
The coach added some words about the Red Raiders’ extra special bond this year.
“This group has been playing together ever since Pop Warner and Big Boys days and now they’re here,” he said. “You can see already the instant chemistry. It’s a band of brothers. Maybe a little tighter this year because of COVID. Before we as coaches could run practices, they had player-initiated practices. It created a stronger bond and they took on ownership of the team.”
Kahuku passed its biggest test so far by routing Mililani. Campbell awaits. After that, it’s the OIA playoffs and the fight for a berth in the state playoffs.
The Red Raiders are working toward that OIA title but are also trying to dethrone Saint Louis (last week’s No. 1 in the Bedrock and Scoring Live polls), the four-time defending state Open champions.
Video of Crawford from a Pylon tournament on the mainland and from his sophomore season at Sammamish High (Washington) is below.
