HALAWA — A league change, a classification change and 61 years later, the rough ride has ended for Roosevelt football.

Riding their tide-turning defense, the Rough Riders scored two defensive touchdowns in the fourth period to rally past Kaimuki, 28-18, Friday night to capture their first Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II championship before about 2,000 spectators at Hawaiian Financial FCU Field at Aloha Stadium.

"Was awesome, man," Roosevelt coach Kui Kahooilihala said. "I'm proud of the kids, coaches. Just the sacrifice, man, from day one, we started this journey from February."

The Rough Riders (10-2) advance to the six-team Division II state tournament, as does the Bulldogs (8-3), who beat Roosevelt, 13-10, on Aug. 17.

Roosevelt's offense was contained to 136 yards of total offense, but its defense scored the go-ahead and insurance TDs in the fourth period to tame the Bulldogs. Isaac Kaleikau returned a fumble 53 yards to put the Rough Riders ahead, and Marcus Hee returned an interception 73 yards with 23 seconds left in the game to seal the long-awaited title for the Makiki school.

"This is the biggest moment I've had in my teenage life," Hee said.

Added Kaleikau: "We were just thinking about it the whole week. We had a good feeling about this game. We knew already we were going to win because our coach said, ‘Believe' and ‘Believe' is a big word we took to heart. Because of that, everything fell into place."

Kaimuki took an 18-13 lead when Naomas Asuega-Fualaau capped an eight-play, 97-yard drive with an explosive 32-yard run up the middle. A 2-point conversion pass failed.

The Bulldogs defense forced the Rough Riders to punt on their next two series but got a big break early in the fourth period. On third-and-2 at the Roosevelt 40, Hee forced Asuega-Fualaau to fumble to set up Kaleikau's return for the go-ahead TD. Later in the game with the Bulldogs trying to stage a comeback, on third-and-12 at the Kaimuki 49, Hee intercepted a Jonah Faasoa pass and pulled off more escapes than Houdini en route to his 73-yard interception return to seal the win.

In a title game that transcended generations, the pick by Hee was extra special.

"That was my grandpa," Hee said of his desire to reach the end zone for his grandfather, Leroy Pukahi. "He was flowing through me on that interception. It was the most tired I've ever been, but he gave me that energy, he gave me the push to ice that game."

Hee, who shared the team-high with Caine Fitiausi-Fung with 9.5 tackles each, also forced the fumble that allowed Kaleikau to score.

"That was the first fumble recovery I ever had in my life," Kaleikau said. "I said (to Hee), 'Thank you, bro', this is all for you."

"We couldn't score on offense, so I knew deep down in my heart I had to give 130 percent and make a play for my team," Hee said of the forced fumble.

Ironically, Kaimuki dominated offensively with 342 yards of offense. Jonah Stephens led with 120 rushing yards followed by Asuega-Fualaau's 111, including TD runs of 5, 1 and 32 yards. But the Bulldogs lost two fumbles and threw two interceptions. Kaleikau had the other pick, which came off Alex Lemalu on a double-pass play.

Roosevelt scored on its first series of the game with running back Mitchel Camacho scoring from 6 yards. Mason Morishige's PAT gave Roosevelt an early 7-0 lead.

The Bulldogs chipped away with a five-play, 76-yard drive — the bulk of yardage coming on Stephens' 54-yard run — that ended with Asuega-Fualaau's 5-yard TD run. The Bulldogs tried to pass for the 2-point conversion, but Faasoa was sacked to keep Roosevelt's lead at 7-6.

Later in the first, Kaimuki punter had trouble handling a snap and was dropped for a 19-yard loss to the Kaimuki 5. Two plays later, Aalona Monteilh plunged in from the 1, but the PAT was blocked to keep Roosevelt at 13-6.

Kaimuki scored just before the half on Asuega-Fualaau's 3-yard TD run. A 2-point conversion run by Asuega-Fualaau was stopped, so Roosevelt took a 13-12 lead into the break.

Kaimuki engineered its 97-yard drive with Asuega-Fualaau exploding on a 32-yard TD run with 3:35 left in the third period. The Bulldogs would not see the end zone again.

It was Roosevelt's first league crown since 1957, when it captured its third consecutive Interscholastic League of Honolulu championship. In 1970, Roosevelt moved to the OIA along with the other Honolulu public schools and fluctuated between the Red/Division I and White/Division II since 1992. The Rough Riders made the 2007 D2 championship against, ironically, Kaimuki, but lost 21-12.

Roosevelt's ILH title in 1957 came under coach Ticky Vasconcellos, who bears the name of the school's stadium.