Look: Kahuku-St. John Bosco final play includes crushing hit, flying helmet, fuming coaches

When the dust settles, the teams shake hands and the hosts from Hawaii come away with a huge upset

Kahuku (Hawaii) scored one of the upsets of the century in high school football Saturday with a 30-23 home win over national No. 2 St. John Bosco (California).

A game loaded with drama finished about as dramatically as possible, in a football and in an extracurricular sense.

Watch the final play, captured by Spectrum News Hawaii — complete with a bone-crushing, helmet-flying hit, flags thrown, fuming coaches, flags picked up and finally a jubilant Kahuku squad:

Here is the ending to Kahuku and No. 3 St. John Bosco. Nuts.

Eventually called FINAL, 30-23 for the Red Raiders.

Absolute bedlam on the North Shore. pic.twitter.com/Nt2hSGXyMN

— Brian McInnis (@Brian_McInnis) September 17, 2023

The coaches on each side agreed to disagree about whether that final hit by Kahuku linebacker Malaki Soliai-Tui should have resulted in a 15-yard penalty and kept the game going.

St. John Bosco coach Jason Negro contended that in "new football," the hit definitely should have resulted in a flag:

Final play: St. John Bosco coach Jason Negro disagrees with final call by officials. A flag was thrown after Malaki Soliai-Tui’s hit, but was later waved off, ending the game. @StarAdvertiser @KahukuSports @boscofootball pic.twitter.com/TBHbIc2Ywg

— Hawaii Prep World (@HawaiiPrepWorld) September 17, 2023

Kahuku coach Sterling Carvalho saw it differently, calling the hit an exhibition of "great technique" by Soliai-Tui:

Post-game: Kahuku coach Sterling Carvalho on the final play, Malaki Soliai-Tui’s hit on St. John Bosco WR Daniel Odom to seal a 30-23 upset win. “He came in with great technique.” @StarAdvertiser @KahukuSports @boscofootball pic.twitter.com/OmpS3BdgHn

— Hawaii Prep World (@HawaiiPrepWorld) September 17, 2023

It was a payback victory of sorts for Kahuku, the two-time defending Open Division state champion in Hawaii, which lost 34-7 at St. John Bosco last season. 

The Red Raiders were also just a week removed from their worst loss in school history, a 55-8 defeat at Mater Dei (California), the top-ranked team in the national SBLive/Sports Illustrated Power 25. 

But even after that loss, their spirits clearly weren't broken.

Kahuku (5-1) returns to in-state action this week against Nanakuli, while St. John Bosco (4-1) has the week off before facing Santa Margarita on Sept. 29. 

(Kahuku photo by Heston Quan)

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-- Mike Swanson | swanson@scorebooklive | @sblivesports