Campbell appears to grab the second in state title recreation – Aloha State Each day

After a surprising victory over Kahuku within the state semifinals, the Sabers are within the Open Division state championship recreation for the primary time in class historical past.
November 27, 20253 min learn
Campbell’s loss within the 2024 HHSAA Open Division semifinals stung significantly onerous. On the time, the Sabers had been led by senior quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, the state’s all-time highschool passing yardage chief.
For the Sabers, who had by no means reached an HHSAA Open Division state title recreation, 2024 appeared like their golden alternative to take action. A midsection damage to Sagapolutele within the semifinals modified the momentum in a 27-24 loss to eventual state champion Saint Louis.
In 2025, the Sabers had been off to a 5-0 begin, however the majority of its wins had been in opposition to Division I groups. By the point the Sabers obtained by the meat of their schedule, which included three losses in 4 video games, they had been the final group to make the four-team OIA Open Division playoffs.
The Sabers misplaced 24-6 to Kahuku in the OIA semifinals, however clinched the final spot within the state match with a 14-10 win over Mililani within the OIA third place recreation. A rematch with Kahuku would await within the state semis.
Campbell saved itself inside hanging distance your entire method in opposition to Kahuku on Nov. 21, taking a 7-6 lead on Tainoa Lave’s one-yard landing run within the third quarter. Lave’s second landing of the day, a two-yarder with two seconds left, delivered the Sabers a surprising 15-12 victory over the Pink Raiders to punch their ticket to the state title recreation in opposition to Kamehameha, which takes place on Dec. 5 on the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Advanced at 7 p.m. Will probably be the primary prime tier soccer state title recreation since 2014 that does not contain Kahuku or Saint Louis.
“It’s a golden rule to benefit from the subsequent 48 hours, and we’ll come again on Monday and prepare for the following job,” Campbell head coach Darren Johnson advised Aloha State Each day following a current apply. “We obtained two weeks. We obtained to get pleasure from it and it was very pleasurable. However we won’t overlook the final word focus.”
Campbell’s state semifinal victory was a very particular one for Johnson, a 1983 Kahuku alumnus. Not solely did he defeat his alma mater, however the win additionally clinched his first look in a state title recreation in 18 seasons of being a head coach in Hawai‘i. Johnson, who was the pinnacle coach at Kailua from 1996 to 2003 and on the helm at Kaimuki from 2007 to 2008, took over at Campbell in 2017. Previous to Friday, Johnson was 0-7 in state semifinal video games, together with 0-5 at Campbell.
When Johnson determined to take the Campbell job, the Sabers had been coming off a powerful 35-6 loss to ‘Iolani within the 2016 state Division I semifinals, the second tier of highschool soccer within the state.
“We did not wish to play [Division I]. We needed to maneuver up. The imaginative and prescient was to come back right here and win, not come right here and compete,” Johnson mentioned. “The youngsters understanding that we’re nonetheless engaged on it, and nothing’s been perfected, however there was good change, and we’re making an attempt to maintain it that method and making an attempt to get higher.”
Step one in direction of Campbell reaching its targets in 2025 was realizing that no one might change Sagapolutele, who took management of the beginning quarterback job as a real freshman at Cal this fall.
“I do not suppose any [high] faculty in America has a Jaron,” Johnson mentioned bluntly. “I do not suppose anyone tried to comply with his footsteps or something like that, as a result of he left a legacy. And our guys, we’re simply making an attempt to win a recreation. Make them make good selections, the precise selections, and simply transfer the group [down the field].”
Brayden Medeiros was a junior and Sagapolutele’s backup in 2024 when the star quarterback was pressured out of the semifinals. Medeiros went 5-for-11 for 39 yards and was sacked 3 times in aid of Sagapolutele.
“I discovered quite a bit from that recreation, and I felt like I had a chip on my shoulder the entire season and excessive expectations after that recreation,” Medeiros mentioned. “It was a junk feeling strolling off that discipline, and I advised myself I will be again right here in the identical place. I felt like I might show myself going by this entire season.”
Within the win over Kahuku, Medeiros was an environment friendly 11-for-14 with 87 yards, successfully managing the sport whereas distributing the ball to playmakers corresponding to Lave and Brystin Sansano. One of many first folks to congratulate Medeiros after the sport? Sagapolutele, who was watching from afar in Northern California.
“He referred to as me after the sport and he was completely happy, and simply studying from him final 12 months, we have been actually shut,” Medeiros mentioned of Sagapolutele. “He advised me, ‘Simply be your self.’ After the Saint Louis recreation, he advised me to only preserve working, preserve combating, and you will get your shot. It was simply very good to be taught from him and take what he did and apply it to my recreation this 12 months. Him calling me after the sport meant quite a bit.
“Simply successful that recreation felt actually good for me and for the group, particularly with all the load on our shoulders.”
Johnson, 60, has coached for 37 years. A resident of the North Shore, Johnson can also be a guard at O‘ahu Neighborhood Correctional Middle, his day job for the previous 23 years. Johnson’s days contain copious quantities of driving, which permits him the time to suppose and replicate. He says there aren’t any similarities between his two gigs.
“None of them even perceive what it is prefer to be in jail,” Johnson mentioned of his gamers. “All we do is attempt to coach them, attempt to train them to remain the course and so forth, and make good selections. It is all about selections. We do not wish to see them in jail.”
Come Dec. 5, the Sabers are anticipating one other massive contingent from ‘Ewa Seaside to be there as they take the sector in Mānoa for the primary time.
“It means quite a bit,” Medeiros mentioned. “We get a variety of love, a variety of assist, and we all know we nonetheless obtained yet one more. They’ll assist us and have our backs it doesn’t matter what occurs, irrespective of the outcome, and we simply cannot wait to play in entrance of them. We will not wait and we’re prepared for that.”
Added Johnson: “On the time [in 2024], we thought we had been going to win, and we at all times attempt to put together to win, however we fell quick. This 12 months is simply superb, as a result of we’re shifting ahead and making an attempt to get issues proper. Being right here is an efficient factor, however it’s a objective that we gotta end.”
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Christian Shimabuku will be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
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Christian Shimabuku is a Sports activities Reporter for Aloha State Each day.
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