FROM BEDROCK SPORTS HAWAII, Oct. 1, 2022
Editor’s note: Since Bedrock’s relaunch on Sept. 1, we are looking back at some big moments from the archives while preparing to publish all-new stories for our readers. This one is about a player’s next-day reaction to a major national high school football near-upset on Oahu’s North Shore.
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It was a painful Saturday morning for Leonard Ah You.
The Kahuku linebacker woke up only to remember that the enormous upset his Red Raiders had in mind and that had come so close was, in the end, not to be. Instead, St. Frances Academy (Baltimore), the No. 3 team in MaxPreps’ national rankings, walked away with a 22-15 win Friday night on the North Shore.
The big dream of vanquishing the Panthers turned out to be more realistic than most people in the know realized. But it all slipped away in the final minute of a game many people in Hawaii will be talking about for a long, long time.
To set the situation: Kahuku led 15-14 with just 1:45 left.
In Ah You’s mind, this is the time to clamp down. This is what defensive guys live for.
“That last drive, they shouldn’t have scored,” Ah You told Bedrock the next morning via phone. “We tried our best, but we slacked off a couple of plays. We’ll learn from it and move on.”
Asked to clarify what he meant by “slacked off,” the linebacker, who had two tackles for loss, an interception, a pass breakup and a QB hurry in the game, said, “We watched the film this morning. You see a lot of people getting lazy and not doing our responsibilities.”
Sounds like finger pointing, right? No way.
That finger was pointing mostly at himself.
“I was jogging to the play,” he added. “Everything matters.”
The Kahuku fans were going wild, anticipating the possibility of a grand finish. But an 84-yard drive, capped by Michael Van Buren’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Kyree Benton with just 39 seconds left made the final difference for the Panthers and spoiled the massive celebration the small town was yearning for.
One thing is for sure, the whole state would be completely buzzing right now if Kahuku had won. Actually, it would have reverberated around the country.
“The Red Sea was there for us and our families and I really wish we could have won for them,” said Ah You, who is an uncommitted D-I college recruit. “It was a close game and we just didn’t finish, but you can’t do anything about it now. I really wanted to win one of these games against nationally ranked teams.”
On Sept. 17, the Red Raiders lost to MaxPreps No. 1 St. John Bosco 34-7 in Bellflower, California.
When asked about the significance of coming so close, Ah You added: “It shows that we have a seat at the table — that we had it in our hands and didn’t finish.”
The senior will always remember one of the great plays a teammate made.
“Fale Atuaia’s interception was huge,” he said. “For a sophomore to make a play in that type of game, it just says it all.”
That pickoff came on the Panthers’ second-to-last possession, when they were still trailing 15-14. Had Kahuku won, that play likely would have gone down as the game-clincher.
With the win, St. Frances (5-0) has now beaten teams from five different states — Florida, Illinois, Texas, South Carolina, and now, Hawaii.