Iolani defeats Monarchs for state berth

Iolani's Meki Pei celebrates after a defensive stop for the Raiders against Damien. CJ Caraang | SL

Winning a game of inches and opportunity, Iolani held off Damien 21-14 Friday night at Aloha Stadium to secure the Interscholastic League of Honolulu's lone Division I football state tournament berth.

The Raiders improved to 9-2 and will await seeding for the five-team tourney, which starts first round action on Nov. 15. Damien's season ends at 8-3.

"We set out to get to (the state tournament) and win it, and this was the first step," said Iolani coach Wendell Look. "It was a tough game to get back there, but they came through."

Damien certainly presented a huge obstacle, and gained possession trailing just 21-14 with about five minutes still to play. But the Monarchs failed to convert on fourth-and-8 from their own 38-yard line, and elected to punt with 4:01 on the clock and two timeouts remaining. They did not get the ball back again until 21 seconds showed on the clock, starting from their own 24 after the Raiders failed to convert on fourth-and-13. A double-pass gained only minimal yardage, and time eventually expired after a multiple lateral attempt that went backwards.

"At that point, we just made a call to go for it," Damien coach Eddie Klaneski said, referring to the decision at the 4:01 mark. "It was just one of those things where I told our (offensive) coach, 'Can we get it?' He said, 'Yeah,' so we were just trying to push forward and go. We didn't know if we were going to get another opportunity at that point ... and we ended up getting a stop (later)."

The Monarchs lost out on another, more golden opportunity on the game's opening drive, when they marched 64 yards in 10 plays and gained second-and-goal from the 1-yard line. Jake Holtz took the snap from center and tried to leap and stretch the ball into the end zone, but it was knocked loose by Iolani safety Meki Pei, who timed Holtz's leap and met the ball at the goal line.

"They ran that play the last time we played them (on Sept. 20)," Pei said, "so we knew about it."

Nose guard Shaydon Molina said he and his adjacent tackles were responsible to plug the line below, allowing Pei a free path to jump and stop Holtz over the top.

"We had to take the three guys up front, and just trust (Pei) to make the play," Molina said. "It's all about trusting each other."

KC Bell recovered the loose ball for the Raiders on the 1, and on the very next play quarterback Jonah Chong threw to receiver Carter Kamana on a 10-yard curl route, and Kamana spun to the outside and galloped the remaining 89 yards down the sidelines and into the end zone. Wailoa Manuel's extra point made it 7-0 with 7:06 left in the first quarter, when the score easily could have been reversed.

"To me, we got in (on Holtz's sneak), but we just didn't get the call," Klaneski said. "Our coaches upstairs (in the press box) said he was over the goal line, but we didn't get the call, so if you flip that script it's a 14-point swing and that's a huge momentum swinger. We couldn't recover from it."

Iolani extended the lead to 14-0 midway through the second quarter, after Chong's 2-yard scoring pass to Brock Hedani, and then went up 21-7 three minutes into the fourth quarter when Pei recovered a fumbled handoff and dashed 17 yards into the end zone. But Damien answered quickly, going 74 yards in just four plays on the ensuing series, culminating in Holtz's 8-yard touchdown run on a quarterback draw to close it to 21-14 with 8:08 left.

The Monarchs then forced a punt on the Raiders' next possession, but eventually turned it over on downs following three straight incompletions. Holtz finished 10 for 24 for 136 yards, and feature running back Amo Sulu -- who entered the game second in the state with 1,292 yards -- was held to 86 yards on 17 carries.

Look credited his defense for stepping up yet again.

"We've been riding their shoulders all season, and (this was) another valiant effort," Look said. "You can't ask for anything more."