Kahuku was strong across the board in all-OIA Open Division
By Billy Hull bhull@staradvertiser.com
Jan. 23, 2022
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JAMM AQUINO / JAN. 10
Pictured are Kahuku Offensive Player of the Year Kainoa Carvalho, left, Kahuku Coach of the Year Sterling Carvalho and Kahuku Defensive Player of the Year Liona Lefau.
The dominance of state champion Kahuku was evidenced by its sweep of the major awards on this year’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser All-State tea
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The dominance of state champion Kahuku was evidenced by its sweep of the major awards on this year’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser All-State team.
The all-league honors prove it was truly a team effort out on the North Shore.
Sixteen Red Raiders earned first-team honors this season after they blew away the competition.
Eight of the starting 11 on defense hail from Kahuku, which allowed just 10.5 points per game in league play and less than 10 points a game overall en route to another undefeated season and a record ninth state championship.
Offensive Player of the Year Kainoa Carvalho and defensive winner Liona Lefau garnered a lot of the spotlight, but they had a ton of help from a talent-rich roster.
Offensive linemen Judah Kaio, Sione Heimuli and Brayden Mailo helped protect first-team quarterback Jason Mariteragi, giving him plenty of time to find Carvalho and Kealoha Kaio in Kahuku’s much-developed passing game.
Defensive linemen Donavyn Atuaia and Isaiah Tuliloa weren’t always the guys recording the stats on individual plays, but the attention they received up front allowed for Kahuku’s trio of first-team linebackers — Lefau, Leonard Ah You and Kruze Keanu — to finish the job.
Junior safety Brock Fonoimoana was a ball hawk as the last line of defense, but his aggressiveness was helped out knowing he had fellow first-teamers Chansen Garcia and Malosi Lefau back there with him, making sure there were no holes in the defense to be exploited.
The end result was a 28th OIA championship for the Red Raiders, and with six of its first-team selections underclassmen, the future is equally bright.
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