King Kekaulike captured Maui's first football state championship last night, thanks in large part to a kid from Moloka'i.

Na Ali'i forced six Kaua'i turnovers — including two that Randen Abafo returned for touchdowns — and held off Kaua'i, 33-20, for the First Hawaiian Bank Division II title at Aloha Stadium.

King Kekaulike, a public school located on the slopes of Haleakala, is the first Neighbor Island team to win a state crown in football.

"Once we get back home, Maui going be rockin'," said senior Kyle Duarte, who scored on a fumble recovery in the end zone and on a 6-yard touchdown reception. "This was not luck; we played our hearts out."

Na Ali'i (8-3-1) had advanced to the championship game on a bizarre Hail Mary touchdown pass on the final play of last week's 38-37 victory over 'Iolani.

Last night, they won largely behind an intense pressure defense that gave them a 14-0 lead before running a single play on offense.

Abafo started the scoring one minute into the game by batting a pass high into the air, then catching it at the Red Raider 22 and dashing to the end zone untouched.

"I whacked the ball, then (with) 'side-eye' I saw the quarterback look down," Abafo said. "When I caught it, it was all open field. My coach was always telling me I was due for one, and tonight was the night."

King Kekaulike scored another defensive touchdown just 30 seconds later, after Duarte pounced on an errant shotgun snap in the end zone.

"That put us in a hole right away," Kaua'i coach Keli'i Morgado said.

"We knew there was a risk with their defensive pressure, but we had a game plan to deal with that pressure. We just were unable to execute it."

The Red Raiders (9-1) cut the lead to 14-7 after a 22-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Renaud to Pono Matthews, but Na Ali'i answered with Shelton Bangasan's 6-yard TD throw to Duarte.

Kaua'i again cut into the lead, this time with a 31-yard scoring pass from Renaud to Tyrus Ceria-Lux to make it 20-13.

King Kekaulike then produced another defensive touchdown, when linebacker Bronson Lessary jarred the ball loose from Renaud and Abafo picked it up and returned it 38 yards to the end zone. The 26-13 lead held till halftime.

"It was strange (scoring three defensive TDs), but we needed that because we were nervous on offense, making mistakes and missing blocks," Na Ali'i coach J.W. Kenton said.

"Our defense set us up, and Randen played an incredible game."

King Kekaulike pushed the lead to 33-13 three minutes into the second half after Shannon Kamakaokalani's 27-yard touchdown run.

Kaua'i closed it to 33-20 on the second play of the fourth quarter after Brendan Young's 10-yard scoring run, which was set up by Na Ali'i losing the ball on downs on a foiled run out of punt formation.

But the Red Raiders would not score again, as King Kekaulike's defense tightened.

"We knew we had to play much better defense than we did last week," Kenton said. "I have to say, 'Iolani taught us a lot. They threw the ball on us pretty well, but we made adjustments after that and it helped us this week."

The result is an historic win for the Valley Isle.

"There are great teams on Maui, and we play good football over there," said Kenton, who grew up in Melbourne, Fla.

"We were happy to be on the big stage tonight representing our league. These are great boys in up-country (Maui), and they love each other."

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.