WAILUKU — The Lahainaluna High School football team came into Saturday night's showdown against Kamehameha-Maui in front of about 2,000 fans at War Memorial Stadium with some doubts.

It took precisely one quarter to squelch them all and successfully defend the Maui Interscholastic League Division II crown the Lunas rode to the state championship game last season.

The Lunas put up four touchdowns in the first 12 minutes on the way to a 44-0 win over Kamehameha Maui in a game that had the MIL D-II title hanging in the balance.

The Lunas are now 6-2 overall and 5-1 in MIL play, while their closest pursuers, the Warriors, are 3-5 and 3-3 with one game to play.

The Lunas were coming off a 29-28 loss to Baldwin in a game they led 28-17 with just over two minutes left. Five Lunas, including four starters, watched Saturday's game in street clothes because of injuries and academics.

Lahainaluna promptly caved the roof in on Kamehameha Maui's thoughts of forcing a playoff game for the MIL D-II crown in two weeks.

As they have done for the last three weeks, the Lunas declined to comment on the game because The Maui News runs cumulative weekly individual and team statistics.

''It is the same, just a quiet little protest that we are staying with,'' Lahainaluna co-head coach Garret Tihada said to The Maui News.

The first quarter was a nightmare for the Warriors and included, among other things: a dead-ball personal foul penalty that kept the first touchdown drive alive on the game's first possession after the Kamehameha defense had forced a three-and-out; a 65-yard fumble return by Lunas defensive back T.J. Rickard on a throw that was ruled a lateral but appeared to be a forward pass; an intentional grounding penalty that stopped a promising Kamehameha drive; a high snap that led to a blocked punt; a fumbled kickoff return; and a 13-yard punt.

''A tough first quarter,'' Kamehameha coach Leo Delatori said. ''Tough bounces, but Lahainaluna definitely took advantage of all of it. We just had a tough time rebounding.''

The Lunas gained zero yards on their first three rushes of the night and the offense was headed off the field when the 15-yard personal foul kept their first possession going, moving the ball to midfield. Jostin Carbajal broke off a 35-yard run on the next play, a delay-of-game penalty moved it back five yards, and then quarterback Jake Manning rumbled around the left side for a 20-yard touchdown run with 9 minutes, 15 seconds left in the game.

Kamehameha was coming right back down the field, moving 50 yards in six plays when quarterback Evan Garces, making a return from a leg injury suffered on the first series against Baldwin on Oct. 11, swung a pass out in the flat that appeared to be forward. Everyone except Rickard stopped on the play and no whistle ever blew as Rickard took it to the end zone untouched with 6:54 to go in the first quarter.

Then the Lunas showed off a little-used wide receiver who looks like he could add a lot to their attack in the state tournament. Ty Carter, a starter on the Lahainaluna basketball team, came into the game with two catches on the season. He had three more on Saturday for 81 yards, two of them providing touchdowns in the first quarter.

His first touchdown was a 32-yarder from Manning with 4:57 to go, making the score 21-0. That came after Garces was called for intentional grounding and then Kekoa Mountcastle's punt was blocked by Tulia Tei, giving the ball to the Lunas on the Kamehameha 27-yard line.

Carter's second touchdown was a 16-yarder with eight seconds left in the quarter, two plays after Mountcastle was pressured into a 13-yard punt.

Carter now has five catches for 132 yards, three touchdowns and two first downs on the season.

The Warriors gained some sense of stopping the onslaught in the second quarter until Ivan Delaney intercepted a Garces pass and returned it 39 yards to the Warriors' 1. Imihana Ampong went in on a 1-yard dive two plays later to make the score 35-0 at halftime and turn on the mercy-rule running clock for the entire second half.

Jayson Manning caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from Rickard, the backup quarterback playing slot receiver on a reverse play, late in the third quarter, and Delaney added a 37-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter.

Delatori could only imagine what could have been if the snowball that enveloped his team in the first quarter had been handled. The Warriors got the chance at the key game when Baldwin came back to beat the Lunas with a pair of touchdowns in the last 2:04 of last week's 29-28 thriller.

Now, all that is left for Kamehameha is their final regular-season game against Maui High on Saturday.

''It really has been an exciting season,'' Delatori said. ''I know this game got away from us, but we have had close calls in our losses and in some of our wins.''

Delatori says the Lunas will be worthy representatives in the D-II state tournament. They will most likely host a quarterfinal game at War Memorial Stadium when the state seedings come out next week.

''Oh yeah, I really think so,'' Delatori said. ''There have been some great games in this league this year. There is just so much parity in this league. The MIL is getting better all the time.''

For more Maui news, visit www.mauinews.com.