A lot has happened in five years for the Waipahu Marauders.

They can add two-time Division I football state champion to their done list.

OIA champion Waipahu exploded in the second half for a 53-28 win over defending state champion Konawaena on Saturday night in the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA State Championships at John Kauinana Stadium. Waipahu’s patient, explosive offense evolved over the course of a season that began 0-3 with nonleague losses to Open Division foes.

“We were balanced on offense, keep them guessing, nickel and dime it and keep getting first downs. What I saw to end that Farrington (OIA title game), we all loved as coaches in the film room. Mix run and pass. Hold on to the football,” Waipahu coach Bryson Carvalho said.

Waipahu’s first and only state football title came in 2018 under Carvalho, who has also become a father to two children since then.

“Today, we watched a clip of ‘Passion of the Christ.’ When he was on his knees, the first thing he said was, ‘My heart is ready.’ That was my question to these kids. Is your heart ready for tonight? Because they’ve been through a ton this year.”

Waipahu changed some defensive coaches three games into the season. The change worked for Carvalho and the team, he said.

“Hats off to our defensive staff that came in. They changed the complexion of our defense. They do a great job of changing coverage,” Carvalho said. “Keeping them guessing.”

Waipahu completed the season 8-4 overall. BIIF champion Konawaena closed out 11-2. The Marauders lost to Konawaena in the final last year, 38-28.

“This feels great because of the adversity this team went through, and the community support. Walking out of the locker room to the bus, we had over 100 people cheering them on. A motorcycle crew escorted us to the game,” Carvalho said.

Seniors Eric Stephens and Jayden Chanel, two of their stellar playmakers, were active on offense and defense. Their athleticism helped limit Konawaena’s Zedekiah Anahu-Ambrosio to five catches for 34 yards.

Stephens finished with 12 receptions for 117 yards and a TD. Chanel had eight catches for 89 yards and a TD. Tai Aipia-Barrett finished with nine hauls for 127 yards and a TD. Quarterback Elijah Mendoza finished with 415 yards (39-for-59) and four TDs.

“We were staying positive. Coaches staying positive. We were all good and bounced back with that W,” Stephens said of the wild third quarter.

Chanel had an interception to highlight a full night of football.

“We started 0-3 and we had to slow it down. It was rough, everyone was looking down, but with each win everybody’s mindsets got better,” Chanel said.

Konawaena’s lack of depth, depending on many two-way players, took a toll. Waipahu has nearly four times the enrollment of Konawaena, but the Wildcats kept running on fumes.

“We just ran out of gas. We had five to six guys going both ways,” Konawaena coach Brad Uemoto said. “Tackling became an issue. We put so much effort into the defensive side that we just had low fuel.“

The ’Cats had two major goal-line stands before Waipahu pulled away.

“That’s who our kids are. I’m proud of our kids for doing those things. That’s them, every year and every week, to make those plays,” Uemoto said.

On a cool evening, the Marauders defense limited the defending state champions to 72 yards of total offense in the first half, but Konawaena rallied from an 11-point deficit for a 21-18 lead.

Action aplenty from the start, Konawaena drove to the Waipahu 14-yard line on the game’s opening series, but quarterback Keoki Alani was picked off by Stephens at the 1-yard line.

The Marauders drove 89 yards but stalled out at the Konawaena 10-yard line. During Waipahu’s next drive, the Marauders fumbled and two-way ironman Keawe Navas Loa scooped up the pigskin, racing to the end zone for a 65-yard return. The Wildcats led 7-0 with 2:11 left in the first quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, Stephens took a reverse lateral and raced down the right sideline for a 75-yard TD. That tied the game with 1:56 to go in the opening quarter.

Konawaena cornerback Carmine Fautanu-Taetuna stripped the ball from Stephens after a completion and recovered at the Wildcats’ 31-yard line, their second takeaway as the first quarter ended.

Waipahu’s patience paid off with a 14-play, 54-yard scoring march. Mendoza launched an 18-yard TD pass to Aipia-Barrett, who made a spectacular diving catch in the left corner of the end zone. On the 2-point conversion, Aipia-Barrett’s jump pass to Chazen Rodillas-Vesido expanded the lead to 15-7 with 8:02 left in the first half.

With Konawaena’s offense sputtering, Waipahu got the ball back in the final two minutes got a 19-yard field goal from Ezekiel Stewart on the final play of the first half.

The Wildcats stopped Waipahu on a three-and-out to begin the second half, using run blitzes to stop Faafetai Failauga, who rushed for 61 yards in the first half. The Wildcats then drove to pay dirt in just five plays. Navas Loa, who had just three carries in the first half, had three more during the drive for 49 yards, including a 5-yard TD to bring Konawaena within 18-14 with 9:39 to go in the third quarter.

Waipahu drove to the Konawaena 1-yard line, but was stonewalled on fourth-and-goal with eight minutes remaining in the third stanza.

Konawaena then drove 99 yards in just five plays. A miraculous leaping 39-yard reception by Abraham Ogata kept the drive alive. Navas Loa’s 55-yard catch-and-run moments later gave Konawaena a 21-18 lead with 4:24 remaining in the third quarter.

With 3:44 left in the third stanza, Stephens caught a pass and stayed down with a leg injury. Konawaena’s offense produced chunk plays almost at will until a bad snap led to an 18-yard loss.

Stephens returned and tipped a pass by Alani that was picked off by Elijah Nahoopii. That set up a 23-yard TD pass from Mendoza to Chanel to give Waipahu a 25-21 lead with 38.8 seconds to go in the third quarter.

Konawaena drove to the Waipahu 30-yard line, where Alani picked up a first down on fourth-and-2 but fumbled the football. Chanel recovered the bouncing ball in the end zone for a touchback.

Waipahu took advantage of the gift, driving 80 yards for a TD. Mendoza’s 37-yard bomb to Stephens in solo coverage opened Waipahu’s lead to 31-21 with 9:47 remaining.

Two snaps later, Waipahu defensive lineman Kenson Casil recovered a fumble by Navas Loa at the Konawaena 40-yard line. A few seconds later, Anahu-Ambrosio picked off a deep throw by Chanel on a double pass.

Failauga’s 7-yard TD catch and Waipahu’s 2-point play pushed the lead to 39-21 with 5:49 left.

Konawaena answered with a 71-yard kickoff return for a TD by Aliimanu Tan. The Wildcats were within 39-28 with 5:37 on the clock.

On the ensuing kickoff, Chanel fumbled the ball, but Stephens recovered for the Marauders. Two plays later, a Mendoza pass was deflected at the line of scrimmage, but Stephens dove for it and got the catch. Failauga finished off the series with a 32-yard TD with 3:37 to play

Aaron Dumaslan’s 27-yard pick-6 sealed the scoring for Waipahu with 3:07 remaining.