Kahuku football welcomes transfer quarterback from powerhouse program

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – As the regular season for high school football winds down, two of Hawaii’s top teams face off on Saturday with Kahuku hosting Campbell.
However, in an interesting late-season twist, the Red Raiders have welcomed a transfer from one of the nation’s top programs.
Junior quarterback Matai Fuiava heads to Laie after already making a name for himself at nationally ranked St. John Bosco.
In his first ever varsity start, he pulled out all the stops with over 300 passing yards and three touchdowns in a win over Florida powerhouse Chaminade-Madonna.
“Matai has done a very good job at St. John Bosco, they’re number two school in the nation. We wish he could have played against Mater Dei and played that game out before we left, but the opportunity wasn’t going to wait another two weeks for me,” said Matai’s father, Robert Fuiava.
The Fuiava Ohana was forced to make the difficult decision to relocate to the islands in the middle of Matai’s junior year when an opportunity arose for the family, and the move happened fast — all in a matter of days.
“I talked to him about it Friday and he said let me pray about it. Saturday morning he woke up, he’s like ‘Dad, something is just calling me to the islands,’” said Robert Fuiava.
The Fuiava’s are already familiar with the North Shore, they experienced big red’s love for the game when Bosco visited Kahuku last season.
“I’ve always liked Kahuku since we came out here and lost last year, of course we were bitter because no one likes to lose, but just seeing that environment. We went to go buy shirts for ourselves and a family went out of their way to buy the shirts for us, so that was just a huge deal to us,” said Matai’s older brother, LoPaki Fuiava.
While it’s unclear whether or not he will see the field on Saturday, Matai’s already been working on his connection with star defensive back and receiver Mana Carvalho.
Either way, he knows playing time will have to be earned.
“A lot of people think that he just went there and won the position and it’s his, that’s not true, he still needs to perform this week during practice, we don’t do handouts,” said LoPaki Fuiava.
Matai’s hardest transition has been learning the playbook — and even though, he’s getting thrown right into the mix, he’s already feeling a sense of home.
“These young men just for myself personally, just being around them is motivating and extremely admirable to the coaches on the staff because these are some really well behaved young men,” said LoPaki Fuiava.
The Fuiava family tells Hawaii News Now they planned to move to the islands in a few years anyway.
For now, they’re looking forward to Matai’s first game with the defending champs.
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