Aiea 34, Radford 19, FINAL 4Q
10:50: Pau.
10:47: Castillo keeps it from 11 yards and heads to the left pylon to tack on another TD. 34-19 Aiea. What a turnaround for Na Alii. That’s 27 unanswered this half.
10:46: Aiea handing off to Miller to try to end this thing. Radford burning its last timeouts in the final minute.
10:43: Dylan Soberano comes through huge for Aiea again, as he picks off Tafisi back at about the Aiea 40 and nearly returns it all the way. Only DJ Alpha’s TD-saving tackle knocked him out at the 1.
10:41: Radford looking to go 63 yards and needs a 2-point conversion in the final 2 minutes.
10:39: There’s the likely final blow for Aiea as Javon Miller weaves through traffic and breaks loose to the left for 62 yards. XP is good and it’s 27-19 Na Alii with 2:10 left.
10:36: Radford faces fourth and 6 from its own 29 and looks to punt with 3:12 left … it’s fair caught at Aiea’s 40.
10:34: Aiea kills a little clock but has to punt. Radford takes over on its 25 with four minutes and change remaining.
10:29: Aiea looks to put the game away with the ball at its 40 and 5:35 to go.
10:28: Radford can’t do anything with the opportunity. They have to punt again. It’s handy having your QB as your punter (Tafisi). Don’t know when the fake will happen.
10:26: Aiea looks to kill clock, but we’ve got another fumble on the field as Aiea crosses midfield! Radford’s Johnathan Jenkins recovers at the Rams’ 40. Huge. Radford has six minutes to work.
10:23: Tafisi gets a 17-yard keeper to start the drive, but then goes incomplete on three straight passes and the Rams punt. Short return and Aiea takes over at its 44 with 7:12 left.
10:19: Aiea punts it with eight minutes left from 10 yards inside Rams territory. Radford takes over at its 10.
10:14: The Rams’ drive stalls near midfield, although Tafisi had a man deep but he couldn’t come down with it at about the Aiea 25. Radford punts. It’s a sky punt that goes almost nowhere. Aiea takes over at the Radford 46.
10:06: PICK SIX ALERT! Senior DB Mana Young-Tavai jumps a route and takes it in from 44 yards. The all-important extra point is good for Aiea, which takes a 20-19 lead at the start of the fourth.
10:05: Radford has it in its own territory leading by six entering the final period.
4Q
10:04: Nothing doing on fourth down for Aiea. Turnover on downs, Radford has it at its 38.
10:02: Castillo doesn’t look comfortable right now. He tosses an option pitch out of bounds for a loss of 4. Can’t connect deep with a man and likewise on a shovel pass. Aiea calls timeout with 23 seconds left in the third, looking at fourth and 14 from the Radford 38.
9:59: Fumble! Radford loses it on its first play of the drive and Aiea recovers. But a miscommunicated snap goes into the backfield and the Rams recover at their 20. …. And the Rams immediately fumble it again on their ensuing play, and Aiea recovers at the Radford 34. Weird, wild stuff.
9:57: Lineman Micah Kealoha limps off hurt for Na Alii.
9:55: Castillo finds Josh Canosa, he of the 95-yard TD at the end of the first half, for a 32-yard gain to get it up into Rams territory. But a short keeper by Castillo followed by back-to-back incompletions means Na Alii has to punt. Radford takes over at its 21 with a minute left in the third.
9:51: Tafisi throws his first pick of the season, as Dylan Soberano takes it at the goal line and returns it out to the Aiea 23. Big-time play.
9:44: Short punt takes a Radford hop, plus a penalty tacked on at the end of the bounce, and the Rams are in outstanding position starting at the Aiea 30.
9:43: It’s a three and out for Na Alii. Haven’t been too many of those tonight, either way.
9:40: Tafisi looks to the end zone on fourth and 9 from the 11. It’s defended well, though, and Aiea takes over on downs at its 11.
9:36: It looked like Radford’s drive stalled at midfield, but Salanoa is feeling the hot dice! He goes for the fake on the punt and gets it, as Tafisi rolls out and finds Ma’a Sunia-Pase for a gain of 25. Clutch.
9:27: They do just that. Aiea finally establishes its run game behind Javon Miller, who takes it 7, 23 and 2 yards in the span of four plays to score the TD for Na Alii. The XP is low and it’s 19-13 Rams.
9:24: Great kickoff return to open the second half by Aiea’s Dylan Soberano. He advances it to the Radford 32. Let’s see if the Rams can start the half with a bang.
HALF
9:07: Radford gets one pass in and allows the clock to expire into halftime. What a return to action for Fred Salanoa. Rams sophomore QB JT Tafisi is 12-for-17 for 124 yards, a TD and no interceptions at the half. His favorite target, Nelson, has six grabs for 56 yards and the 95-yard kickoff return TD.
9:05: Radford might not be done. The Rams recover a successful onside kick and have it at their 42 with 44.2 seconds left.
9:01: OH MY GOODNESS. Damon Nelson returns the 95-yard favor on the ensuing kickoff return by weaving up the middle then breaking along the left sideline, shedding a tackle at about midfield and going untouched the rest of the way. Turnabout is fair play, I guess. The XP try fails and it’s 20-7 Radford (CORRECTION: 19-7 Radford).
8:58: HOLY GAME CHANGER. Radford’s dominant half no longer feels like such. Castillo heaves it deep and it’s a perfect ball to senior slotback Josh Canosa. He catches it in stride and goes untouched from about the Aiea 40 the rest of the 60 yards to complete the 95-yard TD. That was awesome. XP is good with a minute left in the half.
8:57: Radford punts late in the half. It’s fielded within the 10 and reverse momentum nearly results in a safety on Aiea. They have it back out at their 5.
8:56: Some freelancing by Tafisi has pushed Radford back to the Aiea 45 after it was up at the 30 a few plays ago. He’s shown some uncanny playmaking ability already, though, so it’s hard to fault him.
8:49: A couple of incompletions, then there’s some miscommunication on third down and Castillo isn’t ready for the snap. He recovers the fumble but it goes for a loss of 8. Aiea punts and Alpha gets a nice power return to Aiea’s 45.
8:47: The Radford kickoff sails out of bounds. With the penalty, Aiea starts at its 35. Let’s see if they an do something with it.
8:45: Senior running back DJ Alpha, an all-name-team first-teamer, plunges it in from 1 yard. The kick hits off the crossbar and the Rams lead it 13-0.
8:41: Radford is knocking at the 6, though they’re looking at third and 3.
8:38: DE/LB Chaysen Lopez is down hurt for Na Alii. He’s able to limp off on his own after a couple minutes.
8:33: Fourth and 4 from the Aiea 44 …and Tafisi finds Nelson for a sixth time. Radford now 3-for-4 on fourth down conversions tonight.
8:31: Fred Salanoa feels like he’s got some hot dice. He goes for it on fourth and 2 from his own 40 and gives it to Ma’a Sunia-Pase. He picks up 10 after shedding a couple tackles. The drive continues.
8:30: The sophomore QB Tafisi is 8-for-11 for 102 yards though a quarter for the Rams.
2Q
8:24: Castillo has Aiea on the move in response to the touchdown. Na Alii gets up to the Radford 15, then attempt a 32-yard field goal by Tyla Mane. Her kick is low and blocked, though. Radford takes over on its 17 and gets up to the 36 with Nelson’s fifth reception of the game as the first quarter ends.
8:18: This time, Radford capitalizes on fourth down. Tafisi heaves it high for Braden Kent on fourth and 10 from the 36 and he grabs it in WIDE open territory, spins and runs in with no one within 20 feet of him. XP is good and it’s Radford by an early touchdown.
8:13: Aiea goes 3-and-out behind QB Kayson Castillo. He nearly finds a man deep on second down but he can’t hold on. They punt and Radford takes over at the Aiea 36.
8:06: Sophomore JT Tafisi gets the start at QB for the Rams. He quickly finds senior receiver Damon Nelson three straight times to keep the chains moving. But Radford turns it over on downs at the Aiea 22.
8:02: Aiea kicks off to Radford. The return of Fred Salanoa is on. The Rams begin scrimmage at their 22.
7:57: Scoreboard seems to be OK. Alma maters have commenced.
7:50 p.m.: There’s some technical difficulties with the scoreboard the crew up here in the box is trying to get sorted pregame.
7:43 p.m.: Aiea coach Wendell Say says pregame his team has most of its missing players back from last week’s 21-7 loss at Kaiser. He’s hoping QB Kayson Castillo won’t be on his back so much tonight (dropped 12 times vs. Cougars).
Fred Salanoa all smiles as he returns to the sideline as Radford football coach for the first time since winning the D-II state title in 2015.@HawaiiPrepWorld pic.twitter.com/7Alz1Bwif9
— Brian McInnis (@Brian_McInnis) August 10, 2019
7:26 p.m.: JV game comes to a close with Aiea beating Radford 56-20. Varsity game to come maybe a little before 8.
7:08 p.m.: Hang tight, football fans. A spate of scoring, injuries and penalties in the JV game has pushed the projected start well past 7:30. There is running clock with the Aiea JV up 42 points, but every play there is an injury, so the clock stops anyway. The fourth quarter hasn’t started yet.
———-
Series history: Radford leads 27-23
Radford roster
Aiea roster
Right on aiea