Peter Caldwell | SL

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Fri, Nov 4, 2016 @ Roosevelt [ 7:00 pm ]

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Moanalua

14

Iolani

17

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Moanalua (5-7-0)	0	7	7	0	14
Iolani (5-8-0)	7	7	3	0	17

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Tai-John Mizutani 234 yd 1 TD

Alakai Yuen 212 yd 2 TD

KJ Pascua 132 yd 1 TD

Alakai Yuen 53 yd

Justin Genovia 168 yd 1 TD

Rylan-Anthony Miguel 98 yd 1 TD

MAKIKI — After going 0-7 in Interscholastic League of Honolulu play, the Raiders finally broke through into the win column for the first time since Aug. 27.

Behind 396 yards of total offense, Iolani (4-7 overall) defeated Moanalua (5-7 overall), 17-14, in the opening round of the First Hawaiian Bank/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I Football State Championships at Roosevelt's Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium on a soggy Friday night.

"I think they earned it and Moanalua played a helluva game. Number 4 (Alakai Yuen) is an exciting player and proved it tonight. We earned it tonight and played a heckuva team and we were fortunate to come out ahead," said Iolani coach Wendell Look.

"This is the most competitive game we played all season. It's amazing to get a win," said Justin Genovia.

The last time the Na Menehune and Raiders met in the state tournament was in 2005, when both schools were in Division II. Iolani advances to play second-seeded Campbell in the semifinals. The Sabers and Raiders last met in 2008 in the Division II state tournament.

"They were similar to us in numbers and physical size and schemes. It was a great game," said Look.

"We actually ran our own plays in practice," said Moanalua coach Savaii Eselu, on preparing for Iolani. "But it's back to the basic stuff, wrapping up and catching the ball despite the elements. It's football."

Iolani place kicker Evan Minami, who was 1-for-2 on the night on field goals, hit a 32-yard field goal with 4:27 left in the third to break the 14-all tie.

Moanalua recovered the fumble with 8:01 left in the fourth quarter, but went three-and-out to give the ball back to Iolani with 7:01 left on the clock. The Raiders drove deeper into Na Menehune territory forcing Moanalua to burn all of their timeouts. KJ Pascua converted a key fourth-and-3 with 1:24 left and Iolani proceeded to take a knee to run out the clock.

"It came down to certain things. It came down to discipline, attitude and will, just like life," said Eselu.

Tai-John Mizutani finished the game with 234 passing yards and a touchdown to Justin Genovia, who caught a game-high six passes for 168 yards. KJ Pascua rushed for 128 yards and a touchdown.

"We haven't played in a while, it's good to get them back in the groove is a worry when you're off three or four weeks. They did a good job," said Look.

Tai-John Mizutani threw a 61-yard touchdown to Justin Genovia with 1:07 left in the first quarter.

"For us, it was all Tai-John. The one where I got a touchdown, I ran a terrible route, but he saw that I was open and threw it over the top and knew I could get it. He's been one of my boys since kindergarten," said Genovia.

Following Junior Fetui-Salavea's interception, Genovia's 40 yard reception set up Pascua's 10-yard score that took 24 seconds to put the Raiders up, 14-0.

The Na Menehune marched 53 yards on seven plays as Yuen found Rylan-Anthony Miguel for a 19-yard touchdown. Yuen accounted for 268 of Moanalua's 248 yards of net offense—195 passing yards, 53 rushing yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Miguel caught seven passes for 81 yards.

Moanalua used an 11 play, 61 yard drive in the third that consumed 4 minutes and 48 seconds to tie the game at 14 after Yuen threw a 6-yard pass to Charles Reed.