Kahuku was less than a minute away from what would have been an incredible football upset Friday night in front of their sea of red fans on the North Shore.
MaxPreps’ national No. 3 St. Frances (Baltimore) was in town and the Red Raiders (6-2) gave them all they could handle before losing 22-15.
It was an 8-all game heading into the fourth quarter until Kahuku running back Vaaimalae Fonoti scored from 1-yard out for a 15-8 Red Raiders edge with just 8:54 left.
But back came the Panthers (5-0), who have victories over teams from Illinois, Texas, Florida and South Carolina in their previous four games. First, Dashawn Womack recovered a fumble and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown that cut the gap to 15-14 with just 3:32 to go. Kahuku remained in front by that 1-point margin after St. Frances’ failed 2-point conversion pass.
Things looked rosy for Kahuku when Falealii Atuaia intercepted a St. Frances pass on the Panthers’ next possession, but the Red Raiders, after one first down, punted it away.
After that, with 1:45 to go, St. Francis needed 84 yards to the Kahuku end zone, although a field goal would have been good enough.
And the Panthers worked the 2-minute drill to perfection, scoring with 0nly 39 seconds left on Michael Van Buren’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Kyree Benton. Durell Robinson then tacked on a 2-point run for the final 22-15 count.
Fonoti finished with 61 yards rushing and two TDs. Red Raiders quarterback Wake Crawford was held to 102 yards passing and was sacked four times.
Ryan Manning had a big night for St. Frances with eight catches for 176 yards.
On defense, Womack finished with two fumble recoveries and two sacks for the Panthers, and Kahuku’s Leonard Ah You had two tackles for loss, an interception, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry.
