Game brings hope and inspiration to Lahaina community

KIHEI >> Maybe someday there will be a movie about them.

Today, though, it’s back to the grind of practice for the Lahainaluna High School football teams.

It’s also back to school for them and their classmates. And — for all of Lahaina — it’s back to the reality of grieving, assessing other losses and continuing to rebuild.

In some ways, life will never be the same for survivors of the deadly wildfire that decimated one of Hawaii’s most historic and famous towns less than two months ago.

But, for a couple of hours Saturday at War Memorial Stadium, teenagers dedicated to their teammates, their ohana, their school and their hometown gave and received what is often most needed in the aftermath of tragedy: hope and inspiration.

Most Lahainaluna student- athletes and coaches lost their homes, and friends and family died in the Aug. 8 wildfire. With nearly 100 fatalities, it is the most deadly fire in the U.S. since 1918.

Many residents lost nearly everything. But if Lahainaluna’s high school football teams are any indicator, “Luna Strong” is not just a catchphrase, and Lahaina possesses a strong spirit of resilience and unity that is contagious.

“After what happened, we wanted to get out there and make something positive happen for our community,” senior lineman and team captain Morgan “Bula” Montgomery said. “Something for everyone, from the kupuna to the keiki.”

The Lunas beat the Baldwin Bears in both games, but the real victory was that Lahainaluna has a team at all, let alone varsity and junior varsity squads.

Immediately after the fire, there were, of course, many priorities ahead of high school sports. But, eventually, it had to be addressed. Would the Lunas play this season?

The coaches were willing, partly because they know what the football program — which won four state championships from 2016 to 2019 — means to the community. But they also sense that now, more than ever, these teens need something to be a part of.

“Our job as coaches is to develop good, productive members of society and to teach them to pass that forward,” said co-head coach Dean Rickard, a class of 1982 Lahainaluna football player and retired Maui Police Department deputy and acting chief.

A sell-out crowd of 5,000 attended Saturday’s games. Most, including some of host Baldwin’s fans, wore Lahainaluna’s school color.

“All that red on both sides of the field,” Rickard said. “We didn’t need to give any pep talk. It was a sight to see.

“Only in Hawaii,” he added.

The outpouring of unity and aloha Saturday went beyond school allegiances and football: At halftime of the varsity game, it was announced that Baldwin donated $10,000 to the Lahainaluna band.

On this night, everyone was a Luna fan to at least some degree. Many had reasons to support both schools; former Lahainaluna star Hercules Mataafa is now a Baldwin assistant coach because his nephew Toa Mataafa-Grove is a Bears senior linebacker/running back.

Lahainaluna students, who have been attending school in Kihei, are scheduled to return to campus Oct. 16.

The Luna football teams have been practicing at South Maui Community Park in Kihei since Sept. 7. They move back to their school field Friday, Rickard said.

“Many of us are still spread out, displaced everywhere,” Rickard said. “We’re all just happy to get back to our home field and to our locker room and showers.”

Their first home game at Sue Cooley Stadium is scheduled for Oct. 21, against Baldwin.