ST. FRANCIS SAINTS (3-1, 1-0 ILH-DII)
Head coach: Kip Akana
Saints roster
VS.
‘IOLANI RAIDERS (1-2, 0-1)
Head coach: Wendell Look
Raiders roster
###
St. Francis 43, ‘Iolani 26, Final
Boxscore
At Eddie Hamada Field
Saint Francis (4-1, 2-0) 6 15 8 14 — 43
‘Iolani (1-3, 0-2) 3 0 15 8 — 26
IOL—FG 27 Mika Makekau
SF—Bubba Akana 1 run (kick failed)
SF—Scott McLeod 33 pass from B. Akana (Tamatoa Atoa pass from B. Akana)
SF—McLeod 4 pass from B. Akana (Atoa kick)
IOL—Justin Genovia 27 pass from Tai-John Mizutani (Makekau kick)
SF—Aina-Chaves 27 run (McLeod pass from Chase Akana)
IOL—Genovia 29 pass from Mizutani (Rayden Kaneshiro pass from Mizutani)
IOL—Mizutani 16 run (Jonah Miyazawa pass from Mizutani)
SF—Aina-Chaves 65 run (kick blocked)
SF—Aina-Chaves 2 run (Sammy Kaleikau pass from B. Akana)
RUSHING—St. Francis: Tyson Shimabukuro 6-25, Aina-Chaves 27-215, B. Akana 7-(-9), team 1-(-2). ‘Iolani: Kaua Nishigaya 9-9, team 1-(-10), Mizutani 11-12, Genovia 1-6, Jake Lee 1-1.
PASSING—St. Francis: B. Akana 19-26-1-172. ‘Iolani: Mizutani 28-43-3-251, Jonah Chong 5-8-0-56.
RECEIVING—St. Francis: McLeod 5-61, Atoa 6-45, Sammy Kaleikau 3-13, Aina-Chaves 2-18, Chase Akana 3-35, ‘Iolani: Carter Kamana 8-64, Jonah Miyazawa 5-47, Justin Genovia 13-113, Nishigaya 1-25, Rayden Kaneshiro 3-20, Cole Ichikawa 2-10, Jake Yokogawa 1-28.
St. Francis 43, ‘Iolani 26, 1:55, Q4
Saints drive to the Raiders 1, but a sack by Kyler Mento sets them back. Aina-Chaves scores on a 2-yard run, his fourth TD of the day. PAT pass from Akana to Kaleikau.
Miyasato picks off Mizutani for the second time this afternoon and returns it to the ‘Iolani 15-yard line. That’s the third pick of the day for the Saints defense.
St. Francis 35, ‘Iolani 26, 5:21, Q4
The Saints are wobbling, but Aina-Chaves blasts up the middle untouched for a 65-yard TD. As soon as he touched the ball he saw daylight and kicked it into another gear. Huge play for the Saints. PAT kick is blocked by Angelo.
St. Francis 29, ‘Iolani 26, 6:04, Q4
The Saints’ turnovers have been an early Christmas present for the Raiders, who drive 51 yards in eight plays. Mizutani scrambles right, cuts back against the grain for a 16-yard TD run. PAT pass from Mizutani to Miyazawa is good, and now it’s a three-point game.
‘Iolani gets to its 37, Mizutani is sacked by Tapena Tuitupou on fourth down.
Saints drive to the 3, fourth and goal. Procedure call. Saints call time out. That’s 12 yellow flags for 77 yards. This team is talented enough to beat everyone in D-II, but not with all these penalties. Akana’s pass to McLeod is too deep, out of the end zone. Raiders ball.
THIRD QUARTER ENDS
The third quarter ends with the Saints driving into the red zone, all on the ground. Ball is at the ‘Iolani 8-yard line.
St. Francis 29, ‘Iolani 18, 3:12, Q3
Raiders score on a 29-yard TD pass from Mizutani to Genovia. PAT pass from Mizutani to Rayden Kaneshiro is good for 2 points.
Alek Miyasato intercepts a sideline pass deep by Mizutani, but four plays later Akana loses the ball in the pocket and Jake Angelo recovers at the Iolani 39.
St. Francis 29, ‘Iolani 10, 6:58, Q3
Saints go to their smashmouth game against a tiring Raiders defense. Aina-Chaves carries five times in a row, capping the march with a 27-yard TD run. Pass from holder Chase Akana to McLeod in the end zone is good for 2 more points.
St. Francis 21, ‘Iolani 10, 9:47, Q3
Mizutani spins out of a potential sack and launches a hail-mary type pass that is deflected into the air at the goal line and pulled down miraculously by Justin Genovia. The down marker was incorrect; it was actually third down (two plays after an illegal forward pass call), so maybe Mizutani didn’t know. Either way, it’s an amazing 27-yard TD pass.
Saints open the second half with a turnover on the second snap. Pass by Akana is underthrown; receiver was wide open on a wheel route, ball picked off by Lanakila Pei near mid-field.
St. Francis 21, ‘Iolani 3, 9:05, Halftime
Raiders with two turnovers, and the Saints have none. Bubba Aina-Chaves with 66 rushing yards (10 carries). Bubba Akana has been superb: 15-for-19, 141 yards, TD, no picks. He has also run for a TD. Saints defense has limited Raiders QB Tai-John Mizutani to 12-for-21 passing, 95 yards, no TDs and one pick.
Boxscore
At Eddie Hamada Field
Saint Francis 6 15 — 21
‘Iolani 3 0 — 3
IOL—FG 27 Mika Makekau
SF—Bubba Akana 1 run (kick failed)
SF—Scott McLeod 33 pass from B. Akana (Tamatoa Atoa pass from B. Akana)
SF—McLeod 4 pass from B. Akana (Atoa kick)
RUSHING—
St. Francis:
Tyson Shimabukuro 2-1,
Bubba Aina-Chaves 10-66,
Bubba Akana 3-8,
‘Iolani:
Kaua Nishigaya 7-9,
team 1-(-10),
Mizutani 3-6,
PASSING—
St. Francis:
B. Akana 15-19-0-141,
‘Iolani:
Mizutani 12-21-1-95,
RECEIVING—
St. Francis:
McLeod 4-57,
Atoa 4-26,
Sammy Kaleikau 3-13,
B. Aina-Chaves 1-10,
Chase Akana 3-35,
‘Iolani:
Carter Kamana 1-12,
Jonah Miyazawa 1-9,
Justin Genovia 6-27,
Nishigaya 1-25,
Rayden Kaneshiro 2-11,
St. Francis 21, ‘Iolani 3, :07, Q2
Kaleo Neves knocks the ball out of Mizutani’s hands; he was scrambling in the pocket with the ball extended. Neves recovers at the ‘Iolani 48 with 2:03 left in the half. Saints drive and score on a 4-yard catch-and-run play by McLeod, who is 6-2, 220 and too strong for any single cornerback I’ve seen this season.
Penalties derail St. Francis’ ensuing series. Punt.
Raiders go three and out, punt. 49-yarder by Mizutani downed at the SF 27.
St. Francis 14, ‘Iolani 3, 9:05, Q2
Saints with a methodical, efficient drive thanks to Akana’s patience in the pocket, a series of sideline routes well executed by his receivers. Akana delivers a 33-yard bomb down the left sideline to Scott McLeod, who appeared to be covered but the ball was on point in the end zone. PAT pass is deflected at the goal line as Akana is being dragged down, but Lachmann Atoa hauls the ball in for 2 points.
FIRST QUARTER ENDS
‘Iolani drives to the SF 18, but Mizutani’s post pass hangs in the air and is picked off behind the goal line by Sammy Kaleikau. He returns it to the SF 29 and the quarter ends with the ball in the Saints’ hands and a 6-3 lead.
St. Francis 6, ‘Iolani 3, 2:42, Q1
Saints march just 47 yards to paydirt after recovering a squib kick near midfield. Bubba Akana very sharp and keeps the ball on a 1-yard run to give the Saints the lead. PAT kick is wide left.
‘Iolani 3, St. Francis 0, ‘Iolani 0, 7:21, Q1
The Raiders drive to the 1-yard line, but an high snap to QB Mizutani is downed at the 10. Field goal by Mika Makekau is perfect from 27 yards out. Disappointing close, but the Raiders have the lead.
St. Francis and ‘Iolani at midfield for the coin toss. Matt Dacuycuy, Scott McLeod, Makana Poole and Wembley Mailei co-captains for the Saints. Jake Angelo and Tai-John Mizutani represent ‘Iolani. Raiders will receive the kickoff. Weather is steamy hot, but trades are 10-15 mph. My estimation.
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NOTES: St. Francis (3-1, 1-0 ILH D-II) is off to its best start in its short history, the Saints have never started the ILH season 2-0. This is also the first time St. Francis has scored 35-plus points in three straight games. They had never even done it twice in a row before this year. St. Francis has never beaten ‘Iolani, going 0-4, and has never finished within 21 points of the Raiders. ‘Iolani quarterback Tai-John Mizutani needs 627 yards to become the 15th Oahu player to reach 6,000 yards in a career. Justin Genovia needs 588 yards to become the ninth Oahu player to reach 2,000 yards. Genovia has accounted for 33 percent of Mizutani’s passing yards this year, down from 45 percent last year. Mizutani leads all D-II passers on Oahu with 996 yards this year, he has completed more passes (71) than St. Francis’ Jonah Aina-Chaves has attempted (70). Bubba Aina-Chaves of St. Francis is second in D-II with 415 yards rushing, and his 8.0 yards per carry is first in the division. Kaua Nishigaya‘s 4.2 yards per carry is ‘Iolani’s highest for its leading rusher since KJ Pascua‘s 5.4 in 2014.
Top performances in series
‘Iolani passing vs. St. Francis: Austin Jim On with 245 yards in 2013
‘Iolani rushing vs. St. Francis: Jordan Ross with 131 in 2013
‘Iolani receiving vs. St. Francis: Keoni-Kordell Makekau with 145 in 2013
St. Francis passing vs. ‘Iolani: Blaze Umiamaka with 103 in 2013
St. Francis rushing vs. ‘Iolani: Ranan Mamiya with 153 in 2013
St. Francis receiving vs. ‘Iolani: Kelii Macalino with 100 in 2013
BUT …. kj pascua also had rushing averages against pushovers like ST. LOUIS, PUNAHOU, AND KAMEHAMEHA defenses which might might factor into him leading KAUA NISHIGAYA at this point in the season. We’ll see at the end if pascua can hold on to title or if he loses the title to NISHIGAYA.