It was a tale of two halves, as Lahainaluna came back from a 7-26 first half deficit to win their third consecutive D2 Football State championship 34-32 over Kapa'a at Aloha Stadium. The Lunas were led by SpectrumOC16 Impact Player of the Game Joshua Tihada who had 152 yards rushing on 27 carries and scored 4 TDs, including 3 rushing TD that made him the HHSAA all-time rushing TD leader. Nainoa Irish was 10-15 passing for 132 yards and ran for 71 yards on 11 carries. The Lunas took an early 7-0 lead on their opening drive of the game, capped by a sweet 28 yard TD pass from Nainoa Irish to Joshua Tihada. Scoring first, however, can sometimes lead to a let down for the scoring team. Mishandled snaps, tentativeness on offense, arm/shoulder tackling, missed tackles suddenly plagued the Lunas. Kapa'a went on to score 26 unanswered points, highlighted by huge plays including a Banashihan run of 53 yards, a pass to Alapai for 52 yards, 27 yard pass to Pagtolingan that led directly to TDs for Kapaa. Even when the Lunas defense manage to slow Kapaa down, their kicker Lagunes-Rapoza kicked an HHSAA record 55 yard field goal. Kapa'a intercepted a Kalae Storer pass with 1:36 left in the second and starting from their own 15 yard line, drove it down to the Lunas 28, highlighted by a Banasihan 46 yard run that fortunately Kai Casco was able to chase down and make a TD-saving tackle. Kapa'a managed to tack on another FG, a 45 yarder as time expired to take a 26-7 lead into the half. With the quality and number of seniors on the Lunas, and Coach Watson talking to the team at halftime, I expected a different Lunas team - the real Lunas -to come out in the second half. It did not happen right away. On the Lunas' first possession of the 2nd half, Irish was intercepted and it was returned to the Lunas 7 yard line. With their backs literally against the wall, the game was over if the Lunas allowed Kapaa to score. A hard hit by Elijah Oliveira-Kalalau on Banasihan popped the ball loose, and Kai Casco jumped on the ball and recovered it at the 1 yard line. Helped by 3 Kapaa offsides penalties, the Lunas drove 99 yards on 13 plays for a TD to make it 14-26. On their next possession, the Lunas scored again, highlighted by a Josh Tihada 51 yard run, to make it 21-26 early in the 4th quarter. The Lunas defense, now playing with renewed energy, were back to their relentless, gang-tackling style. They forced another 3 and out. The Lunas marched down field, highlighted by slashing QB runs by Irish of 17, 11, 6 and 6 yards. Josh Tihada scored from 4 yards out and just like that, the Lunas had the lead 27-26 with 7:02 left. Lunas went for 2 but failed. The Lunas D came up huge again, as Kamalei Watson came up with the interception on a half-back pass play by Kapa'a. He returned it 33 yards to the Kapa'a 28 but a blindside block put it back on the Kapa'a 43. No problem. This time, Derek Perez almost broke one but tripped himself up for a 14 yard gain. On his next opportunity, Perez did not trip, slashing it up the middle to daylight untouched for a 23 yard touchdown run. Lunas up 34-26 with 4:05 left. Of course, the Lunas always gotta make it exciting. Kapa'a drove the ball right back downfield, highlighted by a run of 27 yards by QB Davis and a 20 yard run by Banasihan. On 4th and 1 from the 1, Kapa'a scored on a play action pass with 2:17 left to make it 34-32. After a Lunas timeout, the defense came up big, pressuring Davis into a pass that was too high in the corner, resulting in failed 2-point conversion. The Lunas recovered the ensuing onside kick attempt and ran out the clock, highlighted by a first down that initially called first down, then required a measurement, which confirmed the first down by a nose. Lunas win. What a comeback. Total team effort on both offense and defense.