ILH Football
Kahookele carries No. 2 Kamehameha past Iolani, 38-22


   



Fri, Sep 6, 2013 @ Aloha Stadium [ 7:30 pm ]


Final 1 2 3 4 T
Kamehameha (9-2-0) 7 7 3 2138
Iolani (7-5-0) 7 0 0 1522
Jordan Ross 46 yd 1 TD
Brandon Kahookele 244 yd 2 TD
Chad Hanaoka 69 yd 1 TD

HALAWA — The state's second-ranked team got off to a slow start Friday night, but once it found its running game, Kamehameha rode Brandon Kahookele on its way to a 38-22 win over Iolani.

A crowd of about 4,000 at Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium watched as the Warriors amassed 490 yards of total offense — including 375 rushing — to rally from an early 7-0 deficit to remain undefeated at 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu. The Raiders, the No. 3 team in this week's ScoringLive/OC16 Division II Power Rankings, fell to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the ILH.

Kahookele, a senior running back, carried 27 times for a career-high 244 yards and two touchdowns.

"Coach told me yesterday that he wanted me to hit 222 yards — that was the minimum that I wanted to end up with and I guess I passed that," said Kahookele, who has rushed for 699 yards on 98 carries to lead the state.

The Warriors, No. 2 in the D1 Power Rankings, ran the ball 39 times, despite playing without their top backup to Kahookele, Kainoa Simao. Noah Sua-Godinet completed 12 of his 21 pass attempts for 104 yards without an interception and he also ran six times for 70 yards, including a 32-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter.

""The game plan was to get him a bunch of carries and have him packing the ball," Kamehameha coach Doug Cosbie said. "We're really down to one running back because of a lot of injuries and he knew that he was going to have to carry the load and he did a great job."

Kamehameha was already without its leading rusher from last season, Kaulana Apelu, who suffered a season-ending torn ACL in the first game of the season.

Meanwhile, the Warriors' defense allowed a season-high 278 yards, including 233 passing by Iolani quarterbacks Easton Tsubata (15-of-20 passing for 153 yards) and Austin Jim On (9-of-18 passing for 80 yards).

Defensive backs Dylan Kane and Mason Chow each intercepted a pass off Jim On. Kane stepped in front of a Jim On pass midway through the second quarter and returned it 26 yards for Kamehameha's first touchdown.

"It kind of took off a little bit of pressure because it tied the game," Kahookele said of Kane's defensive score. "He brought momentum to our side and it's good to know that we have a great defense like that that can pick us back up when we're down."

It was the second consecutive week that the Warriors got at least one defensive score. They recorded three fourth-quarter interceptions — including two returned for touchdowns — in a win over Saint Louis last week.

"That obviously was a big play for us," Cosbie said. "Our defense has done that all year, you know, they make big plays and kind of get us going."

Iolani's standout running back, Jordan Ross — who entered the game averaging just over 127 rushing yards per game — was held to 46 yards on 17 carries. He scored the game's first touchdown on a 16-yard run up the middle to give the Raiders' a 7-0 lead which would stand until Kane's pick-6.

Sua-Godinet's 32-yard touchdown scamper on a quarterback draw came with 69 seconds left in the second quarter and the Warriors took a 14-7 lead into the intermission.

Kamehameha burned much of the time off the clock in the third quarter when it marched 69 yards on 15 plays, resulting in a 28-yard field goal by TJ Fitzsimmons. The drive, which started at the Warriors 20-yard line, took seven minutes and 17 seconds.

Chow picked off Jim On on the eighth play of Iolani's ensuing drive to give his team possession at its own 32-yard line late in the third quarter. Six plays later, Kahookele found the end zone on a 7-yard run off a sweep left. Fitzsimmons converted the PAT to make it 24-7, in favor of Kamehameha, just one play into the fourth quarter.

After an Iolani punt, Kahookele shouldered the load on the Warriors' next possession. He carried seven times on the 12-play, 63-yard drive, which culminated in his 4-yard touchdown run. Kayson Nakatsu closed out the scoring for Kamehameha with a 6-yard touchdown run with 2:49 to play.

Iolani got a pair of late scores on two Jim On touchdown passes. He hooked up with Chad Hanaoka for a 10-yard scoring strike with 1:06 to play and Tyler Teruya on a 19-yard touchdown with 31 seconds remaining.

Hanaoka finished with a game-high 10 receptions for 69 yards. The Raiders were just 5 of 14 on third downs.

Cosbie had plenty of praise for the six-time Division II state champion Raiders.

"They're a good football team, they're really well coached and they have a bunch of good football players and you know, it's my first time playing then, but I've heard all the stories that they play everyone tough every year and we've got a lot of respect for their program and what they do and our kids battled and you know, just like last week, our kids kept battling and playing and we got things going," Cosbie said.

Kamehameha racked up 23 first downs, including 17 by rush, and converted on 5 of 12 third downs and 3 of 4 fourth downs.

"Honestly, I feel like we didn't really do too well, like what we expected," said Kahookele, who had 10 carries for 119 yards by halftime. "We're still happy about it — a win is a win — but our intensity wasn't as high as it was against Saint Louis."

Iolani coach Wendell Look was pleased with the effort from his undersized squad.

"I think we played hard in spots. I think we hung in there with these guys. Hopefully we got some respect from them. You can't ask for a better effort from our kids, they played their (butts) off," Look said. "They did what they do well — they pounded the rock and that's what they do well and so they did it well and we weren't able to withstand that the pounding that they executed on us."

Both squads return to Aloha Stadium next Saturday. Iolani plays Saint Louis at 4:45 p.m. while Kamehameha faces Punahou at 7:30 p.m.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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