No. 8 Lahainaluna took a major step toward conquering the state at a higher level on Friday by tripping No. 6 Konawaena 30-7 in the Division I semifinals of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Football State Championships.
Ian-Jay Cabanilla ran the ball against Konawaena during Friday’s 31-7 state D-I semifinal win. He wound up scoring a rushing touchdown in the game, and on defense, he came up with two interceptions. (Image credit: Andrew Lee / Hawaii High School Athletic Association).
Early in the game at Farrington’s Skippa Diaz Stadium, with the teams fighting and threatening back and forth, it looked like it might be a repeat performance of the seven-overtime game the two teams played in 2017.
But no. What started a two resilient squads quickly turned into one virtually mistake-free team and one full-on mistake-prone team. And it was those Lunas (7-0) who walked away in the end with the 23-point victory.
Lahainaluna got it done with seven interceptions, including two by Ian-Jay Cabanilla.
And now it’s on to the semifinals for the Lunas, who moved up to Division I after winning four straight D-II championships. They can bring the D-I title back to Maui at the same Farrington site next Thursday, when they play ‘Iolani (10-0), a 21-0 winner over Aiea (4-3) in the nightcap semifinal.
“Honestly, it wasn’t our best game,” said Lahainaluna defensive back Noah Arase, who had seven tackles, including a sack, and a key pass breakup in the end zone early in the game. “We worked on (pass defense) a lot. It was the No. 1 thing we worked on. We felt like we knew their routes, so I appreciate the coaches for helping us out on that.”
Blare Sylva-Viela had a huge two-way game for MIL champion and top-seeded Lahainaluna, with 100 yards and a TD rushing as well as an interception and eight tackles on defense.
Noah Arase and Blare Sylva-Viela were two of the Lunas’ top performers in the win over Konawaena.
“I watched the (Lunas) when I was a kid in those four state championships,” Sylva-Viela said. “And it’s all on us now. It’s very, very humbling and I feel it very, very much in the heart.”
Anetello Flores, Christian Clarion, Kuola Watson and Kahi Magno also picked off passes for the Lunas.
Flores also contributed with field goals of 19, 30 and 30 yards.
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But what about the next step in Thursday’s final?
“We’re very excited,” Arase said. “A lot of us have never been to a championship before.”
The Wildcats were only 13 points down until Flores’ third field goal made it 23-7 with 7:04 left.
Konawaena’s Kamaehu Makanui had 10 catches for 86 yards, and teammate Kawelu Kaiawe pounded the ball 19 times for 78 rushing yards and a TD.
Anthony Torres was one of the defensive stalwarts for the BIIF D-I champion and fourth-seeded Wildcats (6-1), with nine tackles, including three for loss.
Kamaehu Makanui and Anthony Torres turned in big games for the Wildcats in a losing effort.
“All we needed were two scores,” Torres said. “We were hoping to come out with a quick score in the second half (Konawaena trailed 20-7 after two quarters) and then for our defense to shut them down. We were hoping to keep it up on offense, too, but just had two many turnovers. That’s all. I am proud of our boys. We’re a family.”
