WAHIAWA — Mule Nation, aka the entire community of Wahiawa, will be behind the underdog Leilehua Mules football team as it vies for an unprecedented second straight state championship tonight.

The OIA Mules play the ILH Punahou Buffanblu for the First Hawaiian Bank State Football Division I championship at Aloha Stadium at 7:30 p.m.

"Football, and the other sports, have always brought the community together," said Helen Kishi, a 1963 Leilehua High School graduate, as she was headed into the Wahiawa Longs Drugs store yesterday.

Aloha Termite owner Shawn Murphy, a 1975 graduate, last year plastered a large "Go Mules!" sign in front of his business, one of the first things motorists see as they head past the Lake Wilson bridge into Wahiawa town.

"Leilehua, brah, they wen win!" Murphy said in mock pidgin when asked why he put the sign up after last year's historic victory over the Saint Louis Crusaders.

The win was improbable not just because Saint Louis was heavily favored, but because the Mules got to the championship game at all. After finishing the regular season 4-4, the team won a string of playoff games behind then-sophomore Andrew Manley following injuries to its two starting quarterbacks.

Murphy recalled that in the hours that followed last year's championship game, the community lined California Avenue, Wahiawa's main street, to greet the team, and whooped it up until 2 or 3 a.m.

Regardless of how they do tonight, the Mules football team will get to be part of a formal parade this year.

The annual Santa Parade is typically held on the first Friday night of December. Following last week's overtime win over the Kahuku Red Raiders, the Wahiawa Community and Business Association elected to postpone the parade until Monday, said Libby Smithe, first vice president and office manager for the group.

"After we're champions," explained Smithe, whose grandson Bronson Smithe is on the team. Among the stars of the parade, without question, will be the 67-member football team and its coaches. "The boys will march, win or lose," she said.

Wahiawa is so small, everyone knows somebody who's either going or has gone to the school, said Abe Po'ola, 48, a Farrington graduate whose family moved to Wahiawa several years ago. "You see the same people every day."

Po'ola, a former Pop Warner coach, believes the Mules have a shot against the vaunted Punahou team. "I think (Leilehua) has got a defense that's pretty quick," he said. "Small but fast."

Retired dentist Dr. Sadao Honda, 85 and a 1941 graduate, is described by some as Leilehua's biggest fan. Honda and wife Jean go to practically every game, including the Mules' recent playoff game on Maui. The Hondas also painted their house Leilehua gold and green.

The community hasn't rallied around the team like this since the days when Hugh Yoshida took the team to championship seasons in 1974 and 1984, Honda said.

Like others in the community, Honda pointed out that what's extra special about the current incarnation of the Leilehua football team is the character of the team and the fact that it places God, family and the team over individual glory.

'IT GOES BEYOND THEM'

Nowhere is that more evident than with its coach, Nolan Tokuda, an 'Aiea High product who has been the Mules' head coach since 2004.

It was Tokuda who had the team adopt the motto: "Faith, family and Friday nights."

"The kids know that it goes beyond them, that it's about our community," Tokuda said, noting that they are reminded that how they perform and behave reflects on Wahiawa. "There's so much pride and sportsmanship. They're the pride of Wahiawa."

While it took a string of seemingly improbable victories to win last year's title, this year's team has shown similar grit. The team lost two games during the season and finished third in the OIA before entering the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association six-team playoff tournament unseeded. It beat No. 3 seed Baldwin on Maui and No. 2 Kahuku in overtime last week to earn the chance to play Punahou, the No. 1 seed.

Despite its successes, however, Tokuda said, he's more proud that the team carries a team 2.9 grade-point average, on par with the other Mules sports teams.

Rather than boast about their football statistics, Tokuda will talk about how 26 players have a 3.0 GPA or higher, including four with 4.0 or higher, and that 16 are taking either honors or advanced placement classes.

"They're not just athletes but student athletes," Tokuda said. If the players did not perform as well in the classroom, he said, "I'm not doing my job."

The team itself is composed of a good cross-section of Wahiawa. About 70 percent were born and raised there, 25 percent are military kids and 5 percent come from other districts.

Junior quarterback Andrew Manley's family has lived in upper Wahiawa near the Petersons Upland Farm for three generations.

RING GOES TO IRAQ

Meanwhile, senior Brad Iaulualo's father had to leave a Mules game mid-game — because he was being deployed to Iraq. Iaulualo has never worn his state championship ring from a year ago because he shipped it to his dad in Iraq.

Players said they're overwhelmed and humbled by the support they get from the community. Thousands of fans, many of them with no current affiliation with the school or players, have been showing up for Mules' games. A contingent even went to Maui.

Edieson Dumlao, a senior wide receiver, has been approached by complete strangers at Whitmore Store in town and asked about the status of the shoulder he banged up in last week's game.

"A lot of hugs, everywhere we go," said senior defensive end/tight end Sione Sami.

The strongest proof of the Mules' popularity involves the "Mule Nation" movement that was started by the Leilehua class of 2009 as a fundraiser for activities such as graduation and prom.

A staggering 1,000 green, yellow and black T-shirts emblazoned with "Mule Nation," "Pride of Central O'ahu" and "Wahiawa Built," have been sold since late October. Senior teacher chairwomen Gail Okada-Fujino and Marlene Asuncion say they've been having a hard time keeping up with demand.

The class has even gotten requests from supporters from the Mainland. Okada-Fujino said they'll get to those after this weekend's game.

Zakry Akagi, senior class president, said roughly 60 percent of the shirts are being scooped up by nonstudents. The class has set up T-shirt sales off campus in front of the Wahiawa Longs, where the shirts have sold briskly.

"The community is really tight and close-knit," Asuncion said.

Lifelong Wahiawa resident Akagi said it makes sense for the community to rally around the team.

"I feel since we come from a small community, it gives us a sense of pride," Akagi said.

City Council member Donovan Dela Cruz, a 1991 graduate, credited the Mule Nation fan base for helping pull the team to victory against Kahuku in the closely fought battle. "The crowd was still energetic even when the team was losing," he said.

Athletic director James Toyota, a 1975 graduate, concurred.

"The community has always been extremely supportive," he said. "We're not the most affluent community around, but we'll give you blood, sweat and tears."