Yes, Kahuku football is all about a physicality that hasn’t been matched by anyone in the state in recent years.

But anyone who has been paying attention knows the top-ranked Red Raiders haven’t shied away from their share of trick plays either.

In the game that mattered most, Kahuku unleashed its best one yet — a 66-yard hook-and-ladder touchdown in the final seconds of the first half that was the pivotal moment of a 42-20 victory over Punahou in the Division I championship game of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA State Football Championships at Aloha Stadium.

Instead of sitting on the ball on their own 34-yard line with 16 seconds left in the half, the Red Raiders called for a pass from quarterback Lasi Livai to Will Cravens over the middle.

As the Buffanblu converged on Cravens, who was about to hit the ground, he dumped the ball off behind him to a sprinting Kawehena Johnson, who hit the sideline and turned it up field for officially a 53-yard touchdown, giving Punahou the intermission to ponder what had just happened.

“That was tough going into the half,” Punahou coach Kale Ane said. “It was a great play call. … They caught us off guard.”

Double-reverses, fake punts, backward lateral passes, you name it. Kahuku has dialed it all up over the final month of the season.

It’s a big reason the Red Raiders’ impressive finish to the season included beating No. 2 Punahou, No. 3 Mililani and No. 4 Farrington by a combined score of 139-47.

Kahuku scored at least 40 points in all three games.

“It was all of the trick plays we ran,” Kahuku coach Reggie Torres said. “The thing is, we’ve been working on those plays all season and we haven’t used it.

“It’s all about finding the right time and our offensive coordinator has been finding the right time to do it.”

The Buffanblu responded with two TDs in the third quarter, but couldn’t make up for the hook-and-ladder play at the end of the half.

With its lead cut to seven, Kahuku went back to its bread and butter, and Aofaga Wily again delivered in the final game of his historic career. He set the school’s career rushing record on a 38-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter, passing Mark Atuaia.

He’s just the third running back in Hawaii high school history to top 4,000 career rushing yards and 50 touchdowns, and his final total of 4,205 trails only ‘Iolani’s Joe Igber.

“It’s the motivation to get to the top,” Wily said. “The thing is, just bringing (the title) home to our family and our fans out here … we just love it.”

Now two-time defending state champion Kahuku’s 18-game winning streak includes close calls in the OIA playoffs against Waianae and Leilehua. It was then that the offensive playbook opened up, leaving the rest of the state far, far behind.

“It’s the playoffs — lose or go home,” said Johnson, who had 154 all-purpose yards, three tackles and two interceptions. “You don’t want to lose in the playoffs, so we came with all kinds of stuff.”

And left with another state championship.