Hall pass: Kanawai Noa

No receiver in the history of high school football in Hawaii has covered more ground than Punahou’s Kanawai Noa, but he might have left more yards on the sidelines.

Noa will be inducted into the Enterprise / HHSAA Hall of Honor on June 7 at Dole Cannery Square’s Pomaikai Ballroom.

The three-sport star finished his career with 3,510 receiving yards and 36 touchdowns, passing fellow Hall of Honor inductee Gerald Welch of Saint Louis in his last high school game. As if Noa’s huge number isn’t enough, it could have been so much larger.

Noa, like Welch before him, played on championship teams every time he suited up and was often pulled after the first quarter of blowouts. Noa put up his number in only 28 games to Welch’s 37, and played only 24 quarters in his senior season. All he did in those six games was catch 53 passes for 1,072 yards and 12 touchdowns, his third straight year as the state’s top receiver with more than a grand each year.

He is also Punahou’s top receiver in a single season and in a single game, torching the Crusaders for 243 yards on seven catches with three touchdowns in 2014.

He was first-team all-state for the Star-Advertiser all three years of his career, joining Leilehua’s Adrian Murrell, Welch, Aofaga Wily of Kahuku, Waianae’s Kennedy Tulimasealii and Castle’s Blaze Soares as the only others to do so.

Noa didn’t limit his talents to being the best receiver Hawaii has ever had, though, making the varsity basketball team for four years and contributing to Punahou’s 2012 state title team as a defensive stopper. He also ran track and field on the varsity level for four years, adding a state championship in the 4×400 relay as a junior and qualifying for three events as a senior.

Enjoy seeing Noa tonight at the banquet, he won’t be around long. He plans to start summer school at California-Berkeley in two weeks to get a jump on his academic career as he pursues a degree in computer science. He completed his time at Punahou with a 3.4 grade point average.

Micah Ma'a, Punahou, 2015 (Cindy Ellen Russell)

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Hall of Honor Members