HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETN.COM
Once Friday's Division I state final was over, Kahuku quarterback Richard Torres rushed to find his head coach -- Reggie Torres, also his father. "I grabbed my dad and gave him a big hug," Torres said. "We started crying."
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Kahuku kids put pressure aside
With the contest coming down to the end, the Red Raiders acted like they had been there before
Maybe they're just the same as all children.
They're kids, really, a bunch of incredibly big keiki, under pressure. When Kahuku tied the game at 6-all on Friday night, Red Raider and Crusader faithful -- nearly 19,000 in all at Aloha Stadium -- pondered the next act.
After all, with 23 seconds left, Kahuku went from a dismal situation to a potentially brilliant scenario. However, place-kicker Kaika Sasaoka had missed wide left on an earlier field-goal try. Wide, wide left.
So, after Richard Torres threw a perfect 14-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Kapu to tie the game, all eyes were on No. 57.
"In that last minute," nose guard Kaniela Tuipulotu said, "I had a feeling we'd score. But the extra point is the one that really got me."
Saint Louis didn't hesitate. The Crusaders called a time out, hoping to put the big chill on Sasaoka.
Kahuku coach Reggie Torres used the occasion to remind his team that all was well.
"There's no pressure. If we miss it, it's a tie," he said, noting that there are no overtimes in the state championship finals. Overtime periods are used only by necessity, as in playoff games that require advancement.
None of that mattered to Sasaoka.
"I told myself to regroup and think. Just do it like I do every day. I wouldn't really say I was nervous, maybe a little, but I blocked it out," he said. "This wasn't about doing it for me. It was for everybody."
Seconds later, with a snap that was true and a flawless hold, Sasaoka drilled the football right through the uprights. Kahuku led for the first time, 7-6, and snuffed out Saint Louis' final drive to win its fifth state championship.
It didn't take much time for Richard Torres to find his head coach.
"I grabbed my dad and gave him a big hug," the senior said. "We started crying."
Kahuku's path to the title wasn't a cakewalk by any means. In Torres' first year at the helm, the Red Raiders lost early, to Punahou, and late in the regular season to McKinley. The offense was punishing, if predictable, behind a wall of mammoth linemen.
For all of their smashmouth strategy, it was clarity of thought, minds united on the sideline and scrimmage line, that was the difference between Kahuku and its final two outstanding opponents.
Last week's trick "double pass" touchdown to beat a talented Baldwin squad, 22-20. Then, Friday's last-minute touchdown drive, with a play that had not been called all night: Backside post corner.
"It was a united call. Sterling (Carvalho) did a good job," Torres said of his offensive coordinator. "Our other coaches had seen the opening."
Sasaoka got his redemption. Torres, who excels at defensive back, made the permanent switch to quarterback after Shiloah Te'o chose to play defense. The rising tide of concerns regarding Kahuku's point production wasn't easy to escape for coach or quarterback.
"He makes me feel better inside, knowing he'll back me up," Richard said of his father. "He always says, 'Don't listen to them (critics).' "
It's true. When a game is on the line, there's no time to hear the garble. All that mattered was clarity of thought, and perfection in the clutch. In the end, the only sounds heard for miles and miles became car horns blaring from Halawa to Kahuku.
All for a special bunch of kids.