Almost on schedule, the Aloha Stadium stands began to shake, rust flew and a roar once again could be heard rising in Hälawa Valley.

The Kahuku High football team was rallying back, again, in something of almost annual occurrence.

Only this time when the Red Raiders began their trademark second-half surge in a First Hawaiian Bank/Hawai'i High School Athletic Association Division I Football Championship game, Kamehameha Schools was the opponent and it had an answer.

What was the Warriors' most trying stretch last night also turned out to be its most telling in a 34-21 championship victory.

Staring at an evaporating lead and a resurgent foe, the Warriors (12-1) put up back-to-back touchdowns and came up with a big turnover to win their ninth game in a row this season and first state title in five years.

That it was hard-earned and done against previously unbeaten Kahuku (12-1), owner of more HHSAA football hardware than anybody else with five titles, should make the trophy shine all the brighter atop Kapalama Heights today.

For it was the first time in Kahuku's last six title game appearances that the Red Raiders did not take the championship back to the North Shore with them.

The Red Raiders had trailed before to be sure. They were down 23-7 and came back to stun Saint Louis 27-26 in 2003. They'd won in the final seconds against the Crusaders in 2006, 7-6. They had not led until the final minutes against Punahou in a 28-21 win in 2005.

They did it all because they made the big plays, grabbing momentum, intimidating opponents and, eventually, winning the game.

But this would be different. In part because these Warriors were different.

They had a sizeable cushion and they had considerable resilience.

When the red-clad Kahuku partisans in a crowd of 21,661 raised a din and a couple of Red Raiders climbed atop benches to exhort the crowd, the Warriors dug in determined not to let what had been a halftime lead of 20-0 completely escape their grasp.

The Red Raiders narrowed it to 20-14 in the third quarter but would get no closer.

The Warrior defense that had been superb in holding Kahuku without a first-half first down rose to the occasion. And so did running back Ryan Ho, who got his toughest 11 carries and most physical 59 yards of a 24-carry, 121-yard night in the second half to control the clock and the game.

Few bigger than the 27-yard bolt for a touchdown against the blitz with 8 minutes, 2 seconds remaining in the game to make it, 34-14.

The Red Raiders came back like we knew they would. This [0xad][0xad]time, there was somebody who was able to stand up to them when it counted most.