King Kekaulike High School was looking to prove that last season's Division II state football title was no fluke, while Maui High was looking to beat a Maui Interscholastic League Division I opponent for the first time since 2004.

In the end, Na Ali'i (1-2, 1-0 MIL) held on for a hard-fought 27-19 win that was in doubt until the final play in front of about 1,500 fans at War Memorial Stadium yesterday.

The Sabers (0-3, 0-1) had a shot at forcing the first overtime since the MIL adopted the Kansas-plan rule that gives each team the ball on their opponents' 10-yard line until a winner is declared. The Sabers reached the Kekaulike 15-yard line when Joe Neill got free and hauled in a 32-yard pass from Jordan Inamasu with 20 seconds to play. A 5-yard penalty and three incomplete passes ended the threat and the game.

"I just told the boys that is the hardest win I have had since I have been the coach at King Kekaulike,'' second-year Na Alii coach J.W. Kenton said to The Maui News. "Maui High is much improved and they just gave us everything we could handle. They were one play away and if they score, go for 2, then we are going to the first MIL overtime. I give (Maui High) coach (David) NeSmith all the credit in the world.

"My boys, we are still not quite there yet, but I love them and that is all that matters.''

A tough 90-second stretch early in the third quarter cost Maui High its three-point halftime lead.

Na Ali'i drove 32 yards to set up a 30-yard field goal by Eli Smith that tied the game at 13-13 with 6:03 left in the quarter.

King Kekaulike was back in business immediately when Ikaika Gamponia recovered a fumble on the kickoff on the Maui High 29-yard line.

One play later, Mikey Douglas scored on a 25-yard run. A bad snap forced holder Kawika Purdy to scramble on the PAT, but he got into the end zone for a 21-13 lead with 5:14 left in the third quarter.

Douglas finished with two touchdowns and 110 yards on 17 carries.

It almost got worse for Maui High when Kekaulike's Makana Lum-John recovered a fumble on the next play from scrimmage and Na Alii had the ball at the Maui High 22.

That drive ended on a failed fourth down.

The Sabers closed within 21-19 when quarterback Jordan Inamasu scored from 3 yards out with 10:28 to play. That drive covered 48 yards and took nine plays. It was helped by a 10-yard pass from Inamasu to Travis Manuel on fourth-and-9 that put the ball on the Kekaulike 3 one play before Inamasu scored.

Kekaulike appeared to slam the door shut with a 16-play, 84-yard drive that took 8:02 off the clock. Quarterback Corry Roy capped it with a 1-yard plunge with 2:15 to play to make it 27-19.

The Sabers went 65 yards before falling short at the end. The game was a far cry from the Sabers' two nonleague games to open the season in which they were outscored 78-11.

"We all want to win,'' NeSmith said. "We want to win desperately because we haven't had that in a few years. Most of all our goal was to play and not give up. We played to the end and I am just so proud of my boys for doing that. They deserve so much – what great effort. We knew this was an uphill climb from the get-go, so I am real proud of them. We came a long way.''

Maui High took its first halftime lead of the season — 13-10 — when wide receiver Mitchell Crim went to work with Inamasu.

After the first quarter ended 3-0 in favor of King Kekaulike on a 29-yard field goal by Eli Smith, a pair of Inamasu-to-Crim hookups set up a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Inamasu with 4:59 left in the first half.

The four-play, 65-yard drive featured a 39-yard reception by Crim and a 24-yarder that put the ball on the Kekaulike 1.

Kekaulike responded by going 74 yards in eight plays – Douglas ran five times on the possession for 45 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown run with 1:59 to go before halftime.

The Sabers struck right back when Inamasu hit a flying Crim on a post pattern for a 68-yard touchdown pass on the next play from scrimmage.

The Sabers appeared to have a golden chance to increase the lead when Maui High's James Fenton recovered a fumble at the Kekaulike 32 with 40 seconds to go before halftime. That possession ended when Crim's 44-yard field goal try was short.

Kekaulike had 167 total yards at halftime, while Maui High had 148 — 131 of which belonged to Crim on three receptions.

Crim, limited by a sore knee, caught only one pass for 14 yards in the Sabers' two nonleague games. He finished with six catches for 153 yards.