Football
Iolani rallies to beat La Jolla Country Day, 27-19


  



Sat, Aug 27, 2016 @ Iolani [ 3:00 pm ]


Final 1 2 3 4 T
La Jolla (0-1-0) 6 7 0 619
Iolani (5-8-0) 0 7 17 327
Tai-John Mizutani 217 yd 2 TD
Braxton Burmeister 292 yd 1 TD
KJ Pascua 159 yd 1 TD
Braxton Burmeister 88 yd 1 TD
Justin Genovia 145 yd 2 TD

No. 9 Iolani (3-0 overall) faced its toughest test of the preseason as they rallied from an early deficit to beat La Jolla Country Day (La Jolla, Calif.), 27-19, in the 53rd Annual Father Bray Memorial Classic at Iolani's Kozuki Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Torreys of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) San Diego Section Division V suited up 33 players and many of them went both ways. This was their first game of the season.

"They are a storied program and its a team I knew about for a long time from my college roommate. I'm glad we came out and competed. They were everything I thought they would be. Unfortunately, they made a couple more plays than we did. I couldn't be more proud of my guys today," said La Jolla coach Tyler Hales.

"They are similar to us, they play hard, smart and fast. They are tough kids and they hung in there. It was a good matchup and it was a good challenge," said Iolani coach Wendell Look.

Braxton Burmeister, a University of Arizona commit, went 7-of-8 passing on the first scoring drive that covered 97 yards and took it in for a 5-yard touchdown. The PAT was blocked by Cameron Chang to make it, 6-0.

The dual-threat quarterback finished the game with 292 yards on 32-of-56 passing, one interception and one touchdown. He also rushed for 88 yards on 21 attempts.

"He brings the intangibles. He called his own number because he knew we needed a first down. If we needed 2 or 3 yards, he would change the play so he can run it and get that first down because the team needed it. He left it all out there," said Hales, on Burmeister.

"He's legit and he lived up to the hype. His legs and arm— he can beat you either way. He's a legit Division I quarterback," said Look.

Into the second quarter, Burmeister was hurt after a 7 yard run and came out of the game momentarily. Backup quarterback EJ Kreutzman threw an interception to Kyler Mento. Burmeister would come back into the game.

"He was hurting real bad. That's the first time I've seen him come out of the game, to be perfectly honest," said Hales.

After La Jolla turned it over on downs, Iolani responded four plays later as Mizutani found Justin Genovia for a 24-yard touchdown and Evan Minami's kick gave the Raiders a 7-6 lead.

Tai-John Mizutani went for 217 yards and two touchdowns and Justin Genovia caught 11 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns.

Iolani went three-and-out and punted, the Torreys took over on their own 40. A pass interference on a fourth-and-7 gave La Jolla new life and two plays later, Burmeister threw a 18-yard touchdown to Jaden Dir in traffic and Drew Schmid's kick gave the Torreys a 13-7 lead at halftime. Dir caught nine passes for 91 yards and Casey Mariucci had 11 receptions for 126 yards for the Torreys.

"We had our shots early and we need to capitalize to take what they give us," said Look.

After La Jolla failed to convert a fourth down, the Raiders took over on the Torreys' 38. They handed the rock to Pascua five times, before Mizutani threw a 8-yard score to Genovia to reclaim the lead.

The Torreys only punted once all game and went 3 of 7 for fourth down conversions.

Burmeister drove the Torreys to the red zone, but was picked off in the end zone by Mento, who grabbed his second interception of the game. 

"They were quick and fast, but our defense held their own and they picked us up in the first half," said Mizutani.

The Raiders were able to take advantage of the turnover and wore out La Jolla with the run game. The heat and humidity took its toll on the La Jolla players and the Raiders took advantage by giving the ball to Pascua, who punched it in from 1-yard out 9 seconds before the end of the third quarter. Pascua finished with 159 yards on 31 attempts.

"We started slow, we scored 7. We were trying to do things we don't normally do. Second half we stuck to the fundamentals and it opened up that pass game. We ran the ball great and it opened up the pass game. It was part of the game plan and we knew they were down on guys and a lot of them play both ways. We wanted to push the tempo and KJ had a great day on the ground," said Mizutani.

"First game of the year and we had 33 guys playing today and never played in heat like this," said Hales.

After a short kick, the Torreys used an 11 play drive and Dir ran it from 7 yards off a sweep. Burmeister's run was no good as La Jolla trailed, 24-19 8:05 left in the fourth quarter.

"I felt we got better today by playing a tough battle all the way to the end. I knew it would it be a great matchup and we have the same principles and similar type of school," said Hales.

The Torreys defense held to force Iolani to punt, however, La Jolla turned it over on downs as Dir lost 6 yards. Pascua ran the ball seven times and Minami's 21-yard field goal put the Raiders up, 27-19. Minami was 2-for-3 on field goals and 3-for-3 on PATs.

La Jolla had one last chance, however Burmeister was called for intentional grounding after being hurried by Cameron Chang. Chang was very active on defense finishing the game with a blocked PAT and a sack. The Torreys came up nine yards short of converting the fourth down and Iolani took a knee to run out the clock.

Iolani will open up Interscholastic League of Honolulu play on Friday, Sept. 2 against No. 2 Saint Louis (1-0 overall).

"We are going to face these types of challenges every week. It's going to be tougher, they are more talented and more physical," said Look.



Reach Brandon Ching at [email protected].




Show your support

Every contribution, no matter the size, will help ScoringLive continue its mission to provide the best and most comprehensive coverage of high school sports in the state of Hawaii and beyond.

Please consider making a contribution today.

ADVERTISEMENT


IMAGE GALLERY



MORE STORIES

Radford wins on walk-off wild pitch to turn back Kalaheo

Mataio Tauanuu batted 4-for-4 and scored the game-winning run in back-and-forth game for the Rams.

Punahou continues unbeaten streak, hands Kamehameha second straight loss

Third-ranked Warriors suffered consecutive losses in the regular season for the first time since 2017.

No. 4 Iolani rallies to hand No. 1 Kamehameha first ILH loss

Ethan Akagi and CJ Taira scored the winning runs for the Raiders off a wild pitch to hand the top-ranked...

Punahou pulls away from PAC-5 to notch first ILH win

The Buffanblu ended a five-game skid and broke into the win column to keep the Wolfpack winless in the...

Kalani's Nishigaya headlines All-OIA East selections

Forward/midfielder Kaiulani Nishigaya helped lift Falcons to first-ever league title; Kaiser's Noelani...

Trojans' Fuamatu-Maafala leads All-OIA West picks

Mililani's Iai Fuamatu-Maafala named Player of the Year; Campbell's James Curran named coach of the year.