Iolani's Storm Lotomau secures the football in midair as he is tackled by Damien's Bransen Apao. Johnny Wilson | Special to SL

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HALAWA – Iolani, ranked No. 2 in the ScoringLive/OC16 Division II Power Rankings, captured its 11th consecutive and 13th overall Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II title with a win over seventh-ranked Damien, 34-14 in the league's postseason finale at Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium Friday night.

The victory also punches Iolani's ticket into the Division II state tourney. Last year, the Raiders (6-3, 5-3 ILH) saw their streak of state titles end at six to the hands of Kauai in the state semifinals. 

"It feels good. I feel happy for (the kids). Their goal coming out was to get back to states and obviously (to do that) you got to win the ILH first so they took (that) first step," Iolani coach Wendell Look said after the game. "Not being in the championship game last year hurt a lot of these kids. The streak got broken so they (were) very determined to get back there."

Damien's season ended at 4-5 and 3-5 in league play. The Monarchs lost to Iolani in their regular season meeting, 37-14.

"You know we game planned as best as we could. We did a good job early in the game stopping them. Unfortunately we weren't able to run the ball as well as we wanted to and we didn't get to what was working for us all season until the second half. We didn't make enough plays, but give credit to Iolani. They game planned us well," said Damien coach Eddie Klaneski. 

Leading the offensive charge for the Raiders were running backs Storm Lotomau and KJ Pascua.  The stocky duo combined for 201 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

"It was huge. We set out to run the ball. We thought we could control the tempo of the game by running the ball and we went out and did a pretty good job of that," Look said on the run game. "They started bringing people into the box, trying to force us to throw the ball – but in this situation we wanted to test our kids and we wanted to go after it. They stepped up to the challenge and I'm proud of them."

Defensively the Raiders held the Monarchs' veer-option attack to just 94 yards in total rushing. Iolani also intercepted Damien quarterback Dallas Labanon three times in the contest.

"The game plan we came out with was solid. We took away the dive and we did a pretty decent job on No. 9 (6-foot-5 Kapiinaokala King) and taking away their seam routes. We said in our game plan that if we did these (things), it would give us a good chance to win the game," explained Wendell Look.

Iolani got its first score of the game after its defense held strong on fourth down, thwarting the Monarchs' opening series. Defensive linemen Sky Passi stopped Damien running back Samson Low on fourth-and-two to give the Raiders possession at their own 42-yard line.

The defensive stop ignited a 13-play drive that culminated with a one-yard blast by Pascua. Evan Minami's PAT gave Iolani a 7-0 lead with two seconds left in the opening period.

Iolani kickoff specialist Keoni-Kordell Makekau booted field goals from 26 and 30 yards in the second quarter to give the Raiders a 13-0 lead at the break. 

Raider quarterback Austin Jim On, who finished the game with 121 yards passing, completed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Tamatane Aga to put Iolani up three scores with 2:55 left in the third quarter. 

Iolani went up 27-0 50 seconds later after Wyatt Maa recovered Christian Naeole's blocked punt on Cody Labanon in the end zone. 

Damien mounted a late rally in the fourth quarter, but ultimately had no answer for Iolani's clock milking run game. Lotomau's four-yard touchdown run with 2:26 left in regulation essentially put the game out of reach for the Monarchs. 

Standouts for the Monarchs were free safety Jarin Manuel (interception) and Kapiinaokala King (eight catches, 124 yards, touchdown).