Waipahu smashes Aiea to roll to OIA Division I title

PEARL CITY – For the 15th time in program history, the Waipahu Marauders stand atop the OIA football ranks.

Behind a four-touchdown showing from star sophomore quarterback Jake Garcia, the Waipahu varsity football team cruised to a dominant 42-7 victory over Aiea on Friday night at Pearl City High School to claim the 2026 OIA Division I title.

Waipahu (11-1, 9-0 league) struck first, capitalizing on a fumble at midfield by Na Ali’i quickly as Garcia dropped a 49-yard dime to wide receiver Jayse Braun to help grab an 8-0 lead for the Marauders just over three minutes into the action.

Aiea responded with a touchdown of their own at the start of the second quarter, seeing Caizel Jesus-Kapesi connect with wideout Keola Spruill on the first play of the frame for a 16-yard score, bringing Na Ali’i back within one after a slow opening quarter.

That was the closest that Aiea would get, seeing Waipahu answer back on the next drive with the help of a personal foul penalty against Na Ali’i that extended a drive into the redzone for the Marauders. After the flag on Aiea pushed the top seed into the red zone, senior Arona Liaina mashed his way into the endzone from 10 yards out to extend the Waipahu lead to 14-7 with 6:50 left in the first half.

It was the first of two touchdowns in the opening half by Liaina, who also capped off the final drive for Waipahu before halftime with three straight direct snap runs to make it a 20-7 advantage at the break for the Marauders.

Aiea got the kickoff to begin the third quarter, but Waipahu forced a turnover on downs at midfield and promptly added onto the team’s lead with the second Garcia-to-Braun scoring connection on the night as the QB-WR duo hooked up for a 56-yard score.

Lyric Anuenue snagged his only catch of the night later in the frame for a five-yard touchdown and Garcia chipped in his fourth total touchdown of the Division I championship just over a minute later to give a 42-7 lead to the Marauders, starting the mercy-rule moving clock heading into the fourth quarter.

The final frame flew by as neither team found their way to the endzone, seeing a calm finish to a dominant display by Waipahu.

Garcia wrapped up the night with over 300 yards of total offense, completing 13-of-20 pass attempts for 255 yards, three touchdown tosses and his third interception of the year. The sophomore also added 68 yards and another score with his legs as he helped deliver Waipahu’s fifth league championship under longtime head coach Bryson Carvalho.

Sophomore wide receiver Jayse Braun made the most of his four catches, racking up 160 yards receiving and a pair of touchdowns for the Marauders. Senior running back Tristan Pacheco also had a solid night, running for a game-high 75 yards across 12 carries while chipping in a catch for 11 yards as well.

Waipahu senior linebacker Christopher Togiai flew all over the field in the title matchup, racking up 12 tackles (8 solo) for a defense that allowed just a single score throughout the entire night. Arona Liaina added four tackles to go along with his 39 rushing yards and two touchdowns, doing work on both sides of the ball to help extend the win streak to 10 for the Marauders.

Aiea sophomore quarterback Caizel Jesus-Kapesi had an up-and-down evening against the top seed in the Division I tournament, completing 16-of-27 passes for 151 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions while also losing a fumble in the loss.

Senior Legend Byrd-Tauala tallied 49 yards rushing and another 29 yards receiving for the Aiea offense and also chipped in an interception and five solo tackles for Na Ali’i defensively.

Both teams will still advance to the 2026 Hawaii Army National Guard Football Division I championship tournament, which starts next weekend. Waipahu won the Division I state title in 2023, which was the last time the Marauders stood alone at the top of the OIA Division I ranks as well.