Kahuku and Campbell didn’t get to play during the regular season after a power outage halted their game. On Friday, Kahuku’s defense was energized after a rough start in a 24-6 victory over Campbell in the semifinals of the OIA Open Division Tournament at Mililani.
“I’m happy for our kids and happy for the people that supported these kids,” Kahuku coach Nihoa Pule said.
The No. 1 Red Raiders allowed a touchdown on the Sabers’ first possession, then went into shutdown mode to gain the right to play for their 31st OIA crown. Kahuku (7-3, 5-0) will play Kapolei for the title on Nov. 8 at Farrington. The Red Raiders also qualified for the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Open Division Championships, which start Nov. 21.
“We just try to get better and better every day and not stop. We’ve been wanting to do that from the beginning,” said Kahuku receiver Christian Sanford-Tupuola, who had four catches for 116 yards and a touchdown—all in the first half.
No. 6 Campbell (6-3, 2-3) will play Mililani next week for third place and the league’s final state tournament berth.
Kahuku and Campbell were set to meet Sept. 20 on the North Shore, but the game was halted late in the first quarter due to a power outage. The contest was rescheduled for Oct. 17, but it wasn’t played because it had no bearing on the standings. Both teams hadn’t played since Oct. 10.
Red Raiders’ quarterback Troy Mariteragi completed 10 of 18 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns, while Blake Alo had 10 rushes for 67 yards. Kahuku gained 223 yards total, compared to Campbell’s 178.
Campbell, the No. 4 seed, scored on its first possession with Brayden Medeiros’ 20-yard pass to Shaison Kupukaa, who out-leaped a Kahuku defender in the back of the end zone and just got a foot down with 1:07 left in the opening quarter. The PAT kick was blocked. The drive consisted of 12 plays and covered 88 yards.
“That’s on me. I’m the one who calls the plays,” Pule said. “I’ll take full blame. It wasn’t the kids. My coaches made adjustments and the kids adjusted well.”
Kahuku, the No. 1 seed, answered quickly on a 79-yard scoring pass from Mariteragi to Sanford-Tupuola, who was uncovered over the middle, with 10 seconds remaining in the quarter. Jadyn Parker’s PAT kick made it 7-6 in favor of the Red Raiders.
“I just saw that we had a wide-open gap and we’ve been running that play the whole three weeks,” Sanford-Tupuola said. “We got better at it every day. We came to the field, put it in the game and it worked.”
The defenses played well in the second quarter. Kahuku ran 13 plays and gained 37 yards, while Campbell ran 13 plays and had 19 yards.
The Red Raiders extended the lead to 14-6 on Taimua Pule’s 40-yard interception return on the fourth play from scrimmage of the second half.
“It really just was my corners and linebackers,” said Taimua Pule, the son of the coach. “My corner Brody Palolo, he’s calling out the plays and I started trusting him. I got the ball and I took it to the house.”
Coach Pule admitted some frustration: “I’ll be proud after the season. Right now I’m a little frustrated because I had a ‘backer that should have had that pick.”
Kahuku’s defense came up with fourth-down stops near midfield on Campbell’s next two possessions. The Red Raiders cashed in on the second stop with Parker’s 52-yard field goal with the wind to make it 17-6 with 14:42 left in the game.
Kahuku extended the lead to 24-6 with 4:58 left on Mariteragi’s 11-yard pass to Rhino Aumua.
Campbell quarterback Brayden Medeiros completed 14 of 28 passes for 115 yards, and James Tuazon had 13 rushes for 52 yards.
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2025/11/01/sports/hawaii-prep-world/kahuku-earns-oia-title-chance-after-defeating-campbell/