Lahainaluna makes emotional return to the football field

WAILUKU >> Normalcy never felt so good for Lahaina on an afternoon and evening of high school football, when just taking the field meant everything.

The Lahainaluna High School football teams represented their community with pride Saturday, and that’s all that really mattered — even to supporters in faraway places like Japan and Oklahoma.

The fact that the Lunas won both their varsity and junior varsity games was a bonus.

Lahainaluna won four state Division II championships in a row, from 2016 through 2019. But, for now, success is measured in being allowed to compete and represent their grief-stricken community.

“Now that the town’s destroyed and the people are displaced, this team is one of the only things left from before,” said Lahainaluna senior lineman Hanalei Kauhaahaa. “So we’re hoping to use our success to show our people that the old Lahaina town is not completely lost.”

A sellout crowd of 5,000 was present at War Memorial Stadium to see the Lunas dominate the Baldwin Bears 42-0. Most fans were clad in Lahainaluna red. Some on the Baldwin side of the field wore the Bears color, light blue, but those shirts also prominently featured the word “LAHAINA.”

The crowd was so big that it was announced that concession stands were completely sold out before halftime of the varsity game.

“It’s a big thing here for the Lunas,” said Lahainaluna graduate Rocky Haia, as she cheered on her nephew, James Laborte, a freshman on the Lahainaluna junior varsity team that beat Baldwin’s JV 14-9.

The contest between the varsity teams of both schools followed on a balmy evening less than two months after most of the Lahainaluna players and coaches saw their homes destroyed by a wind-whipped wildfire that ravaged the historic town Aug. 8 and killed at least 98 people.

As customary at Maui Interscholastic League events since the disaster, there was a moment of silence to remember “family and friends no longer with us.”

Many issues remain unresolved for the survivors and questions unanswered about the deadly fire that also caused an estimated $5.5 billion in damage. But this was an evening for some measure of healing, and a marker on the way back to life the way it was.

John and Janet Hudson of Edmund, Okla., and Takashi and Hisae Hisano of Kobe, Japan, were among many who were there in spirit.

The Hudsons and Hisanos are friends of Roy Sakamoto, Lahainaluna Class of 1960, and his wife, Betty. The three families donated $5,000 each to ensure that every Lahainaluna student and staff member got a “Luna Strong” T-shirt to wear at the game.

“We’re in the real estate business and clients called from all over, asking what they can do to help,” said Roy Sakamoto, who spearheaded the T-shirt effort. “Some we directed to the Hawai‘i Community Foundation’s Maui Strong fund. Some wanted to do something more directly involved. Yeah, so these good friends from Oklahoma and Japan helped us.”

The Sakamotos and their daughter, Julie Sherlock, were among those filling the stands Saturday.

“No matter what your beliefs are, this is a community thing, about the real spirit of Lahaina. It’s amazing. I can see how they sold out in 20 minutes,” Roy Sakamoto said.

Wailuku attorney Glen Pascual is a 1988 Lahainaluna graduate and the Lunas’ unofficial team photographer.

“I think the people I know who don’t want tourism back now are fully supportive of the game coming back,” Pascual said. “They don’t want these kids being denied the opportunity. It’s way different than the tourism issue.”

The Luna players expressed gratitude for the support from many corners, including a Zoom meeting with Pittsburgh Steelers players Nate and Nick Herbig, who are from Kauai.

Retired quarterback Drew Brees made a surprise Zoom visit this week. The future Hall of Famer played most of his career with the New Orleans Saints.

Brees told the Lunas about the Saints winning the Super Bowl in 2010, less than five years after Hurricane Katrina caused nearly 2,000 fatalities and damage estimated at around $100 billion — including to the Saints home stadium, the Louisiana Superdome.

Brees was made aware of the Lunas’ plight by a mutual friend of Lahainaluna graduate and famed waterman Archie Kalepa.

“That was pretty nuts,” Lahainaluna senior lineman Morgan “Bula” Montgomery said. “We never thought something like that would happen. It kind of puts another chip on our shoulder, in a good way, inspires us.”

Montgomery was among the nearly 90% of Lahainaluna student-athletes to lose their homes to the fire.

“Our house went down,” Montgomery said. “We were home. At first we thought we were safe. But as the fire worked its way down, house by house, we knew we had to get out.

“There really was no warning.”

Like other high school teams throughout the state, the Lunas had been practicing in the summer to prepare for this season. But Lahainaluna was forced to stop and evaluate if the players and their parents wanted to try to make a go of a 2023 football season.

The coaches — many who have been with the program for decades — were willing to do what the players and their families wanted.

“These (coaches) are serious people who love the school and the kids and aren’t going to do anything to hurt them,” Pascual said.

The team restarted practice Sept. 7. They were at a serious disadvantage, having to restart — and at a practice field not designed for football at the South Maui Community Park in Kihei. For example, there are no goal posts (but that didn’t faze sophomore kicker Joseph Archangel, who made all six extra-point kicks for the Lunas on Saturday).

“That was just a speed bump in the road,” said Montgomery, a team captain who played center in Saturday’s game despite a broken wrist.

Much of team’s equipment and the players’ gear was destroyed in the fire. The Downtown Athletic Club of Hawaii helped address that by soliciting donations from the state’s business community and pro athletes from Hawaii. One of them, Philadelphia Eagles backup quarterback Marcus Mariota, donated football shoes and money to help with team expenses.

Assistant coach Garret Tihada’s father, Lanny, was the Lunas head coach in the 1970s and ’80s. Two of his nephews play football at Lahainaluna.

“We’re just grateful to have a place to practice,” he said. “And for all the support we’ve been getting from many different sources.”

That includes student team managers.

“My family is very involved in this school and program,” said Liahona Kaniho, a senior team manager.

Her uncle, Aloha Kaniho, is head coach of the JV team and coaches the varsity defensive backs.

Another manager, junior Zyon Auwae, said she saw the long days of hard work preparing for Saturday’s games as an opportunity.

“To me, this gives us a chance to show what Lahaina is all about,” she said. “This is to show the pride of where we come from, and that strength can come from tragedy.”

It’s about tradition for the oldest school west of the Rocky Mountains, co-head coach Dean Rickard said.

“You look at the surnames and you see the same ones resurface over and over,” he said. “It’s why they call us the ‘mini-Kahuku.’”

Hawaiian historian and Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama teacher ‘Umi Perkins recently finished writing a Hawaiian history textbook designed for high school students. In it, he documents how Lahaina was the capital of Hawaii during the reigns of several monarchs.

“I am a Lahainaluna graduate,” he said. “But it is historical fact.”

Or as Pascual said, “Lahaina is a lot more than a tourism destination.”

The Lunas are scheduled to play a five-game regular season, including two home games at Sue Cooley Stadium overlooking the ruins of their hometown. The first is scheduled for Oct. 21 against Baldwin.