Kahuku, which has won six of the past seven O'ahu Interscholastic Association titles, is ranked No. 2 in The Advertiser's statewide Top 10 poll of coaches and media. Saint Louis, the 18-time defending Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion, is ranked No. 1.

A week ago, Kahuku fumbled nine times — losing eight — in a shocking 27-8 road defeat to Skyline (Salt Lake City).

"I think that loss was good for us," said Red Raiders receiver Spencer Hafoka, who scored on a 59-yard run and 41-yard reception to help give Kahuku an 18-10 halftime lead last night. "The thing is, it brought us much closer together and showed us all our strengths and weaknesses. It still showed us our potential, and ever since then it's all been about teamwork."

Amazingly, Kahuku won last night's showdown despite fumbling eight times, losing six. But the Red Raiders still were able to ramble past the Crusaders (1-1) using several big plays and a relentless defense.

Ironically, the biggest play came on Saint Louis' only fumble, after the Crusaders gained third-and-goal on the 1-yard line. Stanley Nihipali attempted a quarterback sneak, but was stopped at the line of scrimmage and the ball squirted into the end zone, where Kahuku defensive back Tomasi Fuller fell on it.

Two plays later, Hafoka took a misdirection handoff and dashed 59 yards for a touchdown, and Kahuku never trailed again.

"I thought that was the turning point," Saint Louis coach Delbert Tengan said. "We went from possibly going up 17-6 to being down 12-10. I still thought we were in the ball game after that, but we didn't do a good job of cashing in on their mistakes."

Micah Strickland scored on a 26-yard run to put Kahuku up 24-10 with 2:52 remaining in the third quarter. Then, on the first play of the fourth quarter, Fuller intercepted a Nihipali pass and returned it 87 yards for a touchdown to make it 31-10.

Hafoka's 64-yard touchdown reception from Bronson Ponciano-Ahue gave the Red Raiders a 37-10 lead with 8:53 left.

• KAHUKU (1-1) 6 12 6 13 — 37
• SAINT LOUIS (1-1) 0 10 0 7 — 17

Kah — Redmond Tutor 62 pass from Bronson Ponciano-Ahue (kick failed)
SL — Shaun Kauleinamoku 12 pass from Stanley Nihipali (Jeremy Shea kick)
SL — FG 29 Shea
Kah — Spencer Hafoka 59 run (run failed)
Kah — Hafoka 41 pass from Ponciano-Ahue (run failed)
Kah — Micah Strickland 26 run (pass failed)
Kah — Tomasi Fuller 87 interception return (Tutor kick)
Kah — Hafoka 64 pass from Ponciano-Ahue (kick failed)
SL — Kevin Sullivan 15 run (Shea kick)

RUSHING — Kah: Kamuela Alisa 7-24, Malosi Te'o 5-29, Siaosi Lauhingoa 5-12, Simote Vea 3-21, Micah Strickland 7-85, Hafoka 1-59, Ponciano-Ahue 2-7, Jonathan Rickertson 1-43. SL: Cody Wells 7-9, Andrew Shriver 5-1, Aaron Bain 2-(minus-8), Nihipali 8-(minus-35), Sullivan 7-84.

PASSING — Kah: Ponciano-Ahue 6-7-0—196, Kurtney Silva 0-2-1—0. SL: Nihipali 16-41-1—198, Cameron Higgins 0-3-1—0.

RECEIVING — Kah: Tutor 1-62, Alisa 1-24, Jason Evans 1-4, Hafoka 2-105, Rickertson 1-1. SL: Kauleinamoku 7-70, Ryan Brilhante 2-18, Bain 4-40, Shane Perry 3-70.