If this was a movie scene, the audience would see a slow zoom in on the figure of Kamehameha defensive back Hunter Kaulana Ah Loo.
He is sitting at about the 40-yard line, just over the big white stripe of the sideline into out-of-bounds territory at Aloha Stadium on Friday night.
Make that: EMPTY Aloha Stadium.
Hunter Kaulana Ah Loo is crying. His pain is intense, as if the feeling in his gut deep down inside his core is unbearable.
Most of the rest of his Kamehameha teammates are gathered with coaches about 20 yards downfield at the other 40-yard line. Perhaps they are getting a final word from head coach Abu Maafala for a season well done.
A few stragglers from that huddle come over to console Ah Loo, and one assistant coach stands behind him, mostly to make sure he has someone nearby in his time of suffering.
And that movie shot? On the screen, everything else fades away — the teammates, the hulking stadium sentenced to death and about to be torn down after serving Hawaii for 46 amazing years, the coaches, the Fieldturf. All that is left to see is Ah Loo sitting, sobbing, hurting, face down in his arms. All around him fades to a hazy white.
This reporter attempted to take a cellphone photo of Ah Loo sitting there, but one of his teammates asked me to not do so. Sure thing, I said. But, ahhh, the ART will suffer.
Hunter Kaulana Ah Loo, shown during a regular-season game against Punahou. (Image credit: Hunter Kaulana Ah Loo’s Twitter page).
So why is Ah Loo at the forefront of this story and not all of the other warrior (small w) Warriors (big W)?
Well, as a group, they had one screamingly amazing season. It’s hard to beat Saint Louis once, but they did it twice to the four-time state Open Division champion Crusaders in the regular season. And then, without leading rusher Noah Bartley who was limited to a few touches due to an ankle injury, it all slipped away. In the end, their attempt to take down Hawaii’s football giants came up just short. Trailing by only 7 with 11 minutes left, they wound up losing the ILH championship game, 35-21.
And it was Ah Loo who personified Kamehameha’s undying effort despite the loss.
No. 1 Saint Louis (now 5-3 and headed to states) came into the game pretty confident that it would repeat what it did last week while facing elimination against this same Kamehameha squad. Yes, those Crusaders shook off earlier season defeats to the Warriors of 23-21 and 34-31 by dominating 41-7 on Oct. 29 to set up Friday’s winner-take-all matchup.
It wasn’t long after Friday’s opening kickoff that Saint Louis began to feel the pushback. This time, Kamehameha was not going to cave so easily.
On Saint Louis’ first series, Ah Loo came around the left corner, found Crusaders quarterback AJ Bianco and put him down on the turf. A few plays later, Bianco scrambled and, mistakenly, fired a dart right into the hands of Ah Loo, who immediately dashed 26 yards — running with a purpose, like his life depended on it — to the Saint Louis 18.
That set up Kealii Ah Yat’s quarterback sneak touchdown for a 7-0 Kamehameha lead.
Late in the second quarter, after Saint Louis fought back to go up 14-7, Ah Loo pulled off some serious magic to keep the Warriors within striking distance.
This time, Ah Loo showed a skill for thievery. After a catch, Crusaders receiver Jaysen de Laura sped like a blur from about the Kamehameha 5 and on into the end zone. Somehow the ball did not get there with him.
Let’s go back to movie-ville. On the big screen, you see de Laura at full speed diving across the goal line and then you watch him in a close-up shot get up without the ball. There is commotion at the 3 and so the camera pans a little bit right and there is the Warriors’ Evan Rau holding the ball up high.
What you might have missed if you were watching just de Laura is that at the 3, Ah Loo put both hands on the football and pulled it out.
So now in our pretend film scene, you see the beautiful theft and the ball popping loose on slow motion. Oh, but the image doesn’t last. It is replaced a split second later, as if in a dream, by the faded-in image of a solo Ah Loo sitting there after the game, gutturally groaning and surrounded by that white haze.
The Bedrock Sports Hawaii video above shows Hunter Kaulana Ah Loo stripping the ball to thwart a Saint Louis drive.
That play allowed the Warriors to stay within 14-7 and soon after tied it up for a 14-all halftime score with a 97-yard TD drive.
“I’m just heartbroken,” Ah Loo told Bedrock Sports Hawaii soon after getting up from the cold carpet. “We balled everything and gave everything we’ve got. They’re (the Crusaders) a good team. I love our boys and I’m so proud of them. They gave everything they’ve got.”
The ball is on the ground after Ah Loo (center) stripped Jaysen de Laura (diving across the goal line) of it. (Image credit: Nick Abramo/Bedrock Sports Hawaii).
It was Saint Louis quarterback AJ Bianco who carried his team to victory with 117 rushing and 358 passing yards. He was the one who got it done when push came to shove.
Before heading to the team bus, Ah Loo accepted his team’s player of the game award from OC-16 TV and one of his teammates told him right away, “You earned this.”
For sure.
The history books will show Saint Louis won on this night, perhaps the final football game ever played at Aloha Stadium, and the story that will be carried forth will be about Bianco and his boys. And rightly so.
What Ah Loo and the Warriors did will surely fade in the eyes of most fans. They ultimately went down after coming so close, but they went down fighting.
—–
ALSO AT BedrockSportsHawaii.com:
>> AJ Bianco Spearheads Saint Louis’ Final Ascent To ILH Championship, 35-21
>> Bedrock Sports Hawaii’s Friday Football Scoreboard
>> Ten Videos From The Saint Louis Crusaders’ 35-21 ILH Championship Victory Over Kamehameha
—–
