'Iolani holds off Castle, 33-28, forces playoff

Leighland Tagawa | SL

KANE'OHE -- 'Iolani built a 31-14 lead in the first three quarters Friday night and then held off Castle's furious fourth-quarter rally to survive, 33-28, and force an Oct. 25 Interscholastic League of Honolulu playoff with Damien for the ILH's Division I state tournament berth.

The Raiders, ranked No. 10 in the latest ScoringLive poll, improved to 8-2 with the road victory, while the Knights' season ends at 2-7.

But Castle definitely went down swinging, and almost threw a devastating monkey wrench into 'Iolani's postseason plans. After fullback Brock Hedani scored on a 2-yard run with 1:53 remaining in the third quarter to seemingly put the Raiders in control at 31-14, the Knights closed it to 31-21 with 5:46 left in the game as Chazz Tom capped an impressive 13-play, 80-yard drive with a 1-yard scoring plunge on fourth-and goal.

Castle then forced 'Iolani into a three-and-out on the ensuing possession and immediately cashed in with a 72-yard touchdown pass play rom Kila Kaio to Jonah Figueroa, who leaped up to snare the spiral at around the Raiders' 35 and then scampered untouched the rest of the way. Cheyden Costa's extra point made it 31-28 with 3:08 still remaining, but his well-executed onside kick bounced high and then out of bounds without a recovery.

After forcing another three-and-out, the Knights got the ball back at their own 3-yard line with 2:05 left, but a bad shotgun snap on second-and-7 resulted in a tackle in the end for a safety and pushing 'Iolani's lead to 33-28.

The Raiders recovered the ensuing onside kick and were able to wind the clock down to 22 seconds by the time the Knights got the ball one last time after fair-catching a punt at their own 21.

Titan Au-Pangelinan, a 6-foot, 240-pound junior listed as a defensive lineman, was then inserted into the game at quarterback and promptly launched a 35-yard incompletion. He then scrambled for 18 yards to the 39, before throwing another long incompletion to end the game.

Castle finished with 304 rushing yards, including 190 on 38 carries by sophomore Kala Estokado-Matthews, who consistently lined up as a direct-snap fullback in a full-house backfield wildcat formation.

"The whole plan was to keep the score low, keep ('Iolani's) offense off the field, and if we moved the ball and made first downs and scored, I think the game would have been more in our favor," said Knights coach John Hao. "We made a couple mistakes in a couple of series, and it happens. But I do try to push perfection on these guys -- in life, they're going to face adversity, and they gotta learn how to rebound from it."

Castle definitely showed the ability to do just that, in both halves.

The Raiders applied the pressure early, taking the opening kickoff and marching 63 yards in just five plays, capped by Jonah Chong's 22-yard TD scamper on a quarterback keeper down the right sideline. Wailoa Manuel's PAT made it 7-0 with just 106 seconds elapsed.

The Knights came back slowly but surely on the ensuing series, piecing together an 18-play, 80-yard drive culminating in Kala Estocado-Matthews' 8-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-4 with 3:20 remaining in the first quarter. Costa's extra point tied it at 7-7.

'Iolani responded with a long (74-yard), patient (18 plays) drive of its own, punctuated by Manuel's 22-yard field to put the Raiders ahead, 10-7, 58 seconds into the second quarter. The Raiders extended the lead to 17-7 on their next series with a 12-play, 65-yard journey capped by Chong's 5-yard TD pass to Manuel, who then converted his second extra point with 4:47 showing on the clock.

But Castle again fought back diligently, assembling a 14-play, 80-yard march ending with Estocado-Matthews' 3-yard scoring run 22 seconds before halftime.

'Iolani pushed the lead to 24-14 four minutes into the third quarter, with Hedani punching it in from two yards out, and then later got a 36-yard punt return by Cole Ichikawa to set up a quick six-play, 30-yard scoring drive capped by Hedani's second touchdown plunge.

By comparison, the Knights started five of their possessions from their own 20-yard line due to Manuel's kickoffs into the end zone, and Manuel also pinned Castle on its own 3-yard line with a 45-yard punt that helped set up the late safety.

The Knights outgained the Raiders, 379 yards to 237, but field position proved to be mostly in 'Iolani's favor.

"We're not used to (bad field position)," Hao said. "Every game, we're (starting drives) somewhere in the 30's or 40's yard range ... But tonight, we had better execution in the offense. We've been trying to get them to finish every game, this is one of the games where we fought all the way. And that's all we ask of them -- it's not how much times you get knocked down, it's how much times you get back up. So it was a good battle."