Kahuku defeated reigning national champion No. 3 St. John Bosco
St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) football has been nearly unbeatable in recent years. From 2018 through the first game of 2023, the Braves have lost just six games, five of them against the equally spectacular Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.). Bosco had not lost to a non-California team in more than six years (August 25, 2017).
Kahuka (Hawaii) did something on Saturday that almost no other team has done since its players were in elementary school. Raiders quarterback Tuli Tagovailoa-Amosa scored an 18-yard touchdown with 23 seconds left and the team used a two-point conversion to take a 30-23 lead that would stay.
The Raiders are now 5-1 and have made up for their poor 55-8 loss to Mater Dei the week before.
Trailing 23-22, QB Tuli Tagovailoa-Amosa scores an 18-yard touchdown with :23 minutes remaining to give Kahuku an impressive 30-23 win over No. 3 St. John Bosco. @StarAdvertiser @HawaiiPrepWorld @KahukuSports @boscofootball pic.twitter.com/JOIbYgnwo6
— Hawaii Prep World (@HawaiiPrepWorld) September 17, 2023
The riot almost didn’t happen. Kahuku led 22-3 in the first half behind two touchdowns from wide receiver Mana Carvalho and a 53-yard pick-six from Aiden Manutai, but St. John Bosco is the reigning national champion for a reason. The Braves stormed back with 20 unanswered points, took the lead and needed one last stop in the final minute.
They couldn’t hold on.
STATEMENT MADE💥🤯@KahukuSports @Mana_Carvalho22 #KahukuFB #ESPNhonolulu pic.twitter.com/xEV0gaIlJ8
—ESPN Honolulu (@ESPNHonolulu) September 17, 2023
Although it was a surprising win, Kahuku certainly didn’t come out of nowhere. The Raiders have been an excellent team for quite some time, remaining undefeated in 2021 and becoming champions again in 2022. At the start of the season they were included in the national Super 25 rankings, but were cornered by Mater Dei, which pushed them down the national rankings.
But this is their official entrance. Since the start of the 2017 season, only three different teams had beaten Bosco. Kahuku is now fourth.
