HHSAA Football
Red Raiders upset Iolani, 28-7, advance to title game


   



Sat, Nov 16, 2013 @ Iolani [ 2:00 pm ]


Final 1 2 3 4 T
Kauai (10-1-0) 7 7 7 728
Iolani (7-5-0) 0 0 0 77
Austin Jim On 189 yd 1 TD
Tamatane Aga 12 yd
Reggie McFadden 135 yd 1 TD
Chase Kanekuni 49 yd 1 TD

HONOLULU – For the first time in seven years, a new champion will be crowned in Division II.

The visiting Kauai Red Raiders, champions of the Kauai Interscholastic Federation, dominated the trenches all day long to shock the six-time defending champions, 28-7, at ‘Iolani's Eddie Hamada Track and Field at Kozuki Stadium Saturday afternoon. Kauai (10-0), ranked third in the ScoringLive/OC16 Division II Power Rankings, will move on to the championship round of the First Hawaiian Bank/Hawai'i High School Athletic Association State Championships against the Kaiser Cougars. The game will be played at Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 23.   Kaiser took down top-seeded Lahainaluna 20-9, at War Memorial Stadium Saturday night. 

"We prepared well," said Kauai coach Tommy John Cox after the win. "These guys have been up for this game all week; we prepared for this all year in fact. They came out ready to play against a good ball club and we executed what we needed to do."

Iolani (7-5), ranked fourth in the same power rankings, finishes their season one game shy of the state title game. The Raiders had won six straight Division II state championships prior to the season.

"Kauai just came out and dominated us," said Iolani coach Wendell Look. "They went to their strength and had a great game plan and just dominated us on both sides of the ball." 

The Red Raiders just had their way with Iolani at the line of scrimmage, totaling 333 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. Leading the Red Raider rushing attack was the combination of backs Kyron Rapacon and Reggie McFadden. The duo combined for 214 rushing yards and two touchdowns. 

"It was huge," said McFadden on the run game. "We needed it a lot coming into the game (and) we executed very well." 

Quarterback Kelson Andrade and receiver Kanoa Iwasaki also made contributions to the run game, rushing for 67 yards and 39 yards respectively. Iwasaki was the leading scorer with two rushing touchdowns in the game. 

"The run game was our plan all week, pretty much all year we ran the ball," said Cox. "Today the big guys put up some work up front; they did well today." 

With their overwhelming running game, Kauai was able to win the time of possession battle (32:42 to 15:18), and keep the Raider offense off the field. Iolani also couldn't run against the Red Raider defense, finishing with negative 29 yards rushing. The Raiders had to deal with the loss of starting running back Jordan Ross, which occurred on the home team's second offensive series of the game. 

"The defense (has) been our strong point all year long," said Cox on the defensive performance. "They keep us in every single game (this season) and they did it again today. Holding Iolani to seven points is a big accomplishment." 

The Red Raiders also did a great job defending Iolani quarterback Austin Jim On. If they weren't blitzing, they had the perfect coverage that forced Jim On to just tuck the ball and go. Applying the most pressure on the Iolani quarterback was receiver turned defensive end Kalawaia Judd. The 6-foot-1, 160-lb junior sacked Jim On twice and also batted one of his passes at the line of scrimmage.

"I wasn't even going to come in on defense, I'm not a defensive player," said Judd. "Today they just threw me in because (Iolani) was running an empty set. They just threw me in and I just made plays."

Kauai had their way early on in the game, driving 69 yards on 14 plays to the Raider 11-yard line, nearly taking off seven minutes off the clock on their opening drive. However, the drive would end up stalling forcing a 29-yard field goal attempt from Tristan "Pono" Bukoski. The kick was unable to soar through the uprights and Iolani took over at their own 20-yard line. Despite the missed field goal, the Kauai defense held the Raiders offense to a three-and-out.

Things started to get sloppy on the following punt attempt, with Iolani punter Jordan Genovia unable to handle the long snap. The loose ball, one of many in the first half, rolled around the turf for some time before Kauai's Keanu Hanohano recovered it at the Iolani 12-yard line. Three plays later, Rapacon scored on a three-yard touchdown run for the first score of the game. Bukoski's point after touchdown was good, giving the Red Raiders a 7-0 lead with three minutes and 22 seconds remaining in the opening period.

Iolani's next drive didn't go over to well, ending in another loose ball dropped on the turf. Raider quarterback Austin Jim On was unable to successfully hand the ball off to running back Tamatane Aga. Kauai defensive end Frederick Astrologio fell on the loose ball giving possession to the Red Raiders at the Iolani 38-yard line.

"We just didn't take care of the ball," said Look about the turnovers. "When you turn the ball over in this kind of game at this level, you don't deserve to win."

The turnover resulted in another score for the visiting team, coming on Iwasaki's six-yard slot back sweep run around left end. Bukoski's PAT was good, giving the Red Raiders a 14-point lead early in the second quarter.

Bukoski, the leading receiver for Kauai in the game, also flashed some ball hawking skills in the second quarter. The all-around player recovered a fumble on Iolani's third offensive series, and then picked off Jim On on the Raider's fourth series. 

"Our defense has really been tough all year," said Bukoski. "It's been a tough defense that's been flying around (on the field)." 

However, Kauai was unable to take advantage of this added possessions, as there would be no scoring for the rest of the first half. Red Raiders led 14-0 heading into the break. 

Iolani got the ball to start the second half and would aggressively drive down the field into the Red Raider territory. The drive stalled at the Kauai 35-yard line and coach Look left the offense in to go for it on fourth down. Jim On's pass fell incomplete and Kauai took over on downs.

Kauai started their first drive of the second half at their own 35-yard line, and would march all the way down the field for a score. McFadden's one-yard plunge capped off a 12-play drive that milked six minutes and 11 seconds off the clock. What was more impressive about this drive was that it was strictly all run plays.

"It came down to us offensive lineman," said Kauai offensive lineman Devan Ferreira, a four-year starter. "We had to keep (Iolani's) high-explosive offense off the field. We just ran hard and kept our feet moving." 

That high-explosive offense that Ferreira referred to was present on Iolani's next series as the home team was able to answer with a touchdown drive. Iolani needed to convert on fourth down twice on this drive, culminating in Jim On's eight-yard strike to receiver Chase Kanekuni. Keoni-Kordell Makekau's PAT was good, cutting the deficit to 14 with ten minutes and 18 seconds remaining in the game. 

Despite the score, momentum would not swing in Iolani's favor as Kauai put together another scoring drive. Iwasaki's spin move and 31-yard scamper essentially put the game away for the six-time defending champions.

"We had no answer for anything they threw at us," said Look. "To have a Division II team run it down your throat like that, it was a helpless feeling. We couldn't stop them, just total domination."

Iolani managed to drive all the way down to the Red Raider 6-yard line, but a sack on fourth down sealed the Raiders fate.

"Just a huge win for Kauai High School in general," said Cox. "This is our fourth try against Iolani and we finally got one."

Kauai last played Iolani in 2010 and loss by the final score of 14-0. This is Cox's first year as head coach of the varsity program. 



Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].




Show your support

Every contribution, no matter the size, will help ScoringLive continue its mission to provide the best and most comprehensive coverage of high school sports in the state of Hawaii and beyond.

Please consider making a contribution today.

ADVERTISEMENT


IMAGE GALLERY



MORE STORIES

Radford wins on walk-off wild pitch to turn back Kalaheo

Mataio Tauanuu batted 4-for-4 and scored the game-winning run in back-and-forth game for the Rams.

Punahou continues unbeaten streak, hands Kamehameha second straight loss

Third-ranked Warriors suffered consecutive losses in the regular season for the first time since 2017.

No. 4 Iolani rallies to hand No. 1 Kamehameha first ILH loss

Ethan Akagi and CJ Taira scored the winning runs for the Raiders off a wild pitch to hand the top-ranked...

Punahou pulls away from PAC-5 to notch first ILH win

The Buffanblu ended a five-game skid and broke into the win column to keep the Wolfpack winless in the...

Kalani's Nishigaya headlines All-OIA East selections

Forward/midfielder Kaiulani Nishigaya helped lift Falcons to first-ever league title; Kaiser's Noelani...

Trojans' Fuamatu-Maafala leads All-OIA West picks

Mililani's Iai Fuamatu-Maafala named Player of the Year; Campbell's James Curran named coach of the year.