‘Iolani had its streak of six consecutive Division II state titles come to an end last year at the hands of Kauai. What hasn’t ended is a run of 10 straight ILH Division II titles.
The Raiders will try to make it 11 in a row with a victory over Damien tonight. The Monarchs have lost their last 15 games against ‘Iolani but were competitive through two and a half quarters before losing 37-14 in late August.
Kickoff is 5:30 p.m. A Damien win would force a playoff for the overall title next Thursday at Aloha Stadium.
First Quarter
‘Iolani gets the ball first. Austin Jim On with a 9-yard completion to Travis Teruya but Teruya is tackled by Scott Lam on his next catch for a 3-yard pass. Blitz forces Jim On into an overthrow and the Raiders are three-and-out.
Damien comes out with sophomore Justice White running the ball three times for 15 yards and a first down. Monarchs run 11 plays to get to the ‘Iolani 42 but Samson Low is stopped by Christian Naeole on fourth down and ‘Iolani takes over. Four tackles for Naeole on that drive.
Raiders with two false start penalties but Keoni-Kordell Makekau comes up big with exactly 13 yards on third-and-13. Linebacker Kana’i Picanco with a big hit on KJ Pascua for a 4-yard loss to make it third-and-8. Fourth-and-7 and ‘Iolani goes for it and Makekau hauls in a huge 18-yard reception over the middle. Pascua for 5 yards to the 1 and Pascua is in on the 1-yard TD run with 2 seconds left in the first quarter.
Second Quarter
Delay to start the second quarter as we wait for the lights to be turned on. It was awfully dark out there at the end of the first quarter. Damien starts with a second-and-10 on its own 38. Monarchs have to punt after three straight incomplete passes. They tried to go deep to 6-foot-5 receiver Kapiinaokala King twice but the ball never got there. Nice break up by Bradley Hayashi, who could have had a pick.
Raiders start at their own 35 and get three nice runs in a row by Storm Lotomau. Now Pascua picks up 15 yards. Bad sign for Damien as ‘Iolani is picking up big yards on the ground. Pascua with two more runs for 10 yards and a first down but a player down for ‘Iolani. Big No. 64 Joshua Hauanio (6-3, 288), a junior, is down but gets up and is able to walk off on his own. After six straight runs, Raiders go to the air but an ill-advised throw by Jim On is picked off at the 2 by Jarin Manuel. Huge turnover forced by Damien.
White with a 7-yard run but a fumbled exchange is pounced on by QB Dallas Labanon. Third-and-3 and the swing pass to Low goes for only 1 yard as Quinton Slade-Matautia makes the stop. Damien fakes the punt and punter Cody Labanon with a jump pass to Dutch Claybaugh who goes for big yards but fumbles. Teruya recovers for ‘Iolani. Damien would have had a 32-yard gain.
Raiders back to pounding the rock. Six runs get it to the Dmaien 8. Second-and-goal and Tamatane Aga drops a TD pass from Jim On. Third-and-goal and the referee gets in the way of a crossing pass and it’s incomplete. Fourth down and ‘Iolani will kick. Makekau hits thr 26-yard field goal and it’s 10-0 ‘Iolani with 4:13 left in the half.
Damien needs to do something here but instead goes three-and-out as Cameron Chang tackles Labanon on an option keep on third-and-2. Monarchs punt but ‘Iolani is called for holding prior to the punt which gives Damien a first down. King with his first catch of the game for 14 yards. Reverse to Kaeo Arakaki who has a lot of room but Helam Baldomero makes a great running open-field tackle to only allow him to gain 4 yards. Damien calls timeout facing second-and-13 at the ‘Iolani 39 with 1:16 remaining.
Very similar to the first meeting this year when down 10, Damien scored in the final seconds on a jump ball to King in the end zone to make it a three-point game at halftime.
Monarchs try a jump ball again but no communication. Makana LaBoy would have had an easy pick but the ball was too far out of bounds. They try a bomb to King again but he loses his footing amongst three different ‘Iolani defenders, who bat the ball away. Think ‘Iolani has learned from the first game? Fourth down with 1:03 left. What does Damien do here? Monarchs go for it and Labanon has to roll outside. Throws it to nobody and it looks like they will call intentional grounding. Good call. Raiders take over at their own 45 with 58 seconds remaining.
Double move and Connor Ohira lays out for a diving catch good for 32 yards. Heck of an effort. Timeout ‘Iolani with 50 seconds left. Ball on the 23. Jim On escapes a sack and gets a pass of but is blasted by a d lineman for Damien. ‘Iolani sets up a nice screen to Ohira for 17 yards. Claybaugh saves a touchdown with a diving tackle with 23 seconds left. Fifth tackle for Claybaugh. First-and-goal at the 6. Timeout Damien. Raiders try to run Lotomau but he’s stuffed by John Kauwenaole for a 1-yard loss. Swing pass to the side to Teruya for 1 yard. Out of bounds stops clock with 11 seconds left. Third down. White comes on a blitz and sacks Jim On. Last timeout for ‘Iolani with six seconds left. Fourth down. Makekau with a 30-yard field goal and it’s 13-0 going into halftime.
Third Quarter
Rough start for the Monarchs as White is stopped for a 2-yard loss by Kenji Noguchi. Three-and-out and a quick punt.
Raiders start off with a hold and then go three-and-out as Picanco picks up his second tackle for loss for the Monarchs.
‘Iolani gets down to the 13 where it’s fourth-and-1. Raiders go for it and Pascua breaks a tackle in the backfield and gets 2 yards and a first down. A holding call backs ‘Iolani up but Jim On to Tamatane Aga for a 13-yard TD pass and catch and it’s 20-0, 2:55, Q3.
Damien with another three-and-out as ‘Iolani has completely swallowed everything up defensively. Impressive job by defensive coordinator Delbert Tengan tonight.
Naeole blocks the punt and Wyatt Ma’a recovers in the end zone for an ‘Iolani touchdown. Now 27-0, 2:05, Q3.
Monarchs picks up a first down on fourth-and-1 as Low runs for 5 yards. End of the quarter.
Fourth Quarter
Monarchs drive ends on a tipped pass that is intercepted by Slade-Matautia. Looked like the receiver was out of bounds when he touched the ball. Anyway ‘Iolani ball. Third down and Elijah Brown drills Jim On it’s a fumble and Picanco recovers. But they call it an incomplete pass. Looked like two straight bad calls against Damien. ‘Iolani punts.
Damien tries a trick play but Picanco’s pass is incomplete. Another long jump ball and King comes down with it off the tip. 52 yards to the ‘Iolani 22. Another jump ball to the corner that is a little underthrown but King hauls it in for an 11-yard touchdown catch. Two-point conversion is no good. 27-6 with 8:08 left.
Raiders recover the onside kick. Pascua with a 17-yard run for a first down and then rumbles for 3 yards but is down on the play. Looks like a left leg injury. He’s up quickly and walks off on his own. After a false start, Jim On fumbles the snap and Claybaugh recovers. Big game for Claybaugh as Damien has the ball down 21 with seven minutes left.
Labanon with passes over the middle to Jarin Manuel and White for decent gains. Jump ball to King is good for 28 yards down to the 9. Third-and-goal at the 2 and Labanon finds Low out of the backfield for a 2-yard TD. 2-point conversion is good as Labanon throws a jump ball for King who again catches off of the deflection. Now 27-14 with 3:56 remaining.
Raiders recover the onside kick and go 58 yards in four runs. A 43-yard run by Lotomau ends with a 3-yard TD run by Lotomau to make it 34-14. 2:26 remaining. It’ll be 11 ILH Division II titles in a row for ‘Iolani.
Damien tries a pass out of the backfield but Melvin Hoomanawanui slides in to pick it off and that should do it.
Defensive leaders
DAMIEN
Kana’i Picanco, 8 tackles, 2 for loss
Dutch Claybaugh 7 tackles, FR
Elijah Brown 7 tackles, 1 for loss
Justice White, 4 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 sack
Kaeo Arakaki 4 tackles
Scott Lam 4 tackles
Jarin Manuel 4 tackles
John Kauwenaole 3 tackles, 1 for loss
Grayson Bueno 3 tackles
Cody Labanon 2 tackles
Scott Kaeo Jr. 1 tackle
Bransen Apao 1 tackle
Austin Ballesteros 1 tackle
‘IOLANI
Christian Naeole 7 tackles, 1 punt block
Quinton Slade-Matautia 6 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 INT
Helam Baldomero 6 tackles
Wyatt Ma’a 5 tackles 1 for loss, 1 TD
Kenji Noguchi 5 tackles, 1 for loss
Hunter Kam 4 tackles
Bradley Hayashi 2 tackles, 1 INT
Melvin Hoomanawanui 2 tackles, 1 INT
Skky Passi 2 tackles
Bronson Gouveia 2 tackles
Jonah Buchanan 1 TFL
Makana LaBoy 1 tackle
Cameron Chang 1 tackle
Tyler Teruya FR
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