Roosevelt edges Kaiser to reach OIA Division II title game

Rayden Aoki | ScoringLive

For the first time since 2019, Roosevelt is headed back to states.

In a game that saw more than its share of momentum swings and lead changes, the Rough Riders came up with a huge stop on a two-point conversion following a Cougars' score with 1:30 left in the fourth quarter to help seal a 35-34 victory.

Roosevelt QB Ioane Kamanao threw for 302 yards and four scores, two to Jahsiah Souza-Armstead (6 rec, 122 yds) and the other two to Keawe Davis (8 rec, 101 yds), doing just enough to overcome a five total TD performance by Kaiser signal caller Sean Connell, who rushed for 98 yards and four TDs and threw for 158 yards and another score.

The Rough Riders took the early lead on a three yard plunge by Kaleikaumaka Akiona early in the first, but Connell countered with a seven yard keeper near the end of opening quarter to tie the contest up a 7-all.

Roosevelt scored 13 answered in the second on a pair of passes by Kamanao to Davis and Souza-Armstead, but Connell again brought Kaiser back in it in the waning seconds of the half, connecting with Keagan Lime on a 62 yard bomb to make it a 20-14 game.

Connell scored rushing TD number two from a yard out at the 7:38 mark of the third to give the home team its first lead, then helped extend the margin to 8 with his third score at the 3:38 mark from seven yards away.

Momentum shifted back the Rough Riders way to close out the third, as Kamanao hooked up with Davis from 27 yards away to make it 28-26, and then found Souza-Armstead on the ensuing two-point conversion via the pass to tie the game up.

Then in the fourth, Roosevelt took the lead on Souza-Armstead's 15 yard TD reception to make it 35-28 at the 9:10 mark. The Kaiser drive that followed spanned 14 plays and ate up 7:43 of game clock, and was capped off by Connell's fourth rushing score of the game, this one from five yards away, to make it a one-point game with 1:30 left.

The Cougars opted to forego tying the score up, and instead went for the outright win on via the two-point conversion, but the swing pass to Brady Kim was diagnosed by Ezekiel Soon and company, stopping Kim at the one foot line to preserve the lead.

Soon registered a game-high 14 tackles and 2 1/2 tackles for loss. As a team the Rough Riders registered eight tackles for loss and sacked Connell four times.

Kim, a freshman running back for the Cougars, was a workhorse, logging a game-high 29 carries for 110 yards.