"I wanted them to just listen and not watch," said Kurisu, who works as a career/life preparation teacher at his alma mater. "I wanted them to hear the announcer count down the final seconds and hear Leilehua's name called as the winner, but I wanted them to envision themselves out there and not see someone else doing it. I wanted them to wonder what that feels like, and you could feel the energy. You could see it had a powerful effect."

Powerful enough to inspire perhaps the biggest upset in the six-year history of the state tournament.

Kahuku wide receiver Devin Unga had the football stripped from his grip by Leilehua defender Chustin Senas on this first-quarter play. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

In the five meetings before that one, Kahuku had beaten the Mules by an aggregate score of 243-23, including a 76-6 drubbing in 1995 and a 58-0 whitewash in 1998.

Last night, those losses were a distant memory, even though the 1991 win was not.

"Coach (Kurisu) made us listen to the commentators, so we could imagine exactly how it could be," said senior co-captain Guyes Galdeira, a linebacker who made six tackles. "We listened and we envisioned it, and we felt this team could do the same thing."

Of course, it took more than just vision to stop the Red Raiders — it also took hard work and execution. The offense did its part by controlling the ball in the first half, and the defense came up with a huge stop early in the fourth quarter when Kahuku lost the ball on downs on the Mules' 1-yard line.

" 'Attack,' that's all I can say," Galdeira said, when asked about Leilehua's game plan. "We just played our base 4-3 (defense), but you gotta have heart, you gotta want it. From Day One — even during pass league — we practiced swarming to the ball, gang-tackling. And that's what we did tonight."

The Mules held the Red Raiders' vaunted offense to 232 total yards, and Kahuku's third-down conversion rate was just 3 of 9. Cornerback Charles Sanchez led a tight coverage effort on Kahuku's dangerous receiver, Spencer Hafoka, limiting him to three catches for 30 yards.

Hafoka did not make his second catch until 5:07 remaining in the game.

"He stepped it up big-time," Galdeira said of Sanchez, who at 5 feet 6 was giving away seven inches to Hafoka. Galdeira, at 5-6, 175 pounds, went head-to-head against some linemen nine inches taller and 100 pounds heavier.

But the most important statistic for Leilehua last night was 17 points versus 14.

"Our guys are undersized, but they refuse to be blocked," said Kurisu, who was a 5-foot-7, 165-pound lineman himself. "Even if they get blocked, they get right back up. Even if they get run over and sacrifice their body, they understand that it's for a greater cause."

A cause they envisioned vividly hours before kickoff.

"Just listening to that tape, we pictured it and brought it to the field," sophomore quarterback Bryant Moniz said. "It feels great, but it's a feeling you can't describe until you do it yourself."