Roosevelt QB Shastyn Kekahuna gets around a Kalani defender on a keeper Friday night in an OIA Division II contest. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Fri, Sep 22, 2017 @ Roosevelt [ 7:00 pm ]

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Kalani

10

Roosevelt

30

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Kalani (4-4-0)	10	0	0	0	10
Roosevelt (4-4-0)	0	8	8	14	30

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Shastyn Kekahuna 43 yd 1 TD

Seth Tina-Soberano 112 yd

Myka Kukahiwa 89 yd 1 TD

Justin Yasutake 56 yd

Tasi Sofakini 38 yd 1 TD

Logan Matsuoka 47 yd

MAKIKI — Shastyn Kekahuna rushed for two touchdowns and threw another to rally Roosevelt to a 30-10 win over visiting Kalani before a homecoming crowd of about 800 fans at Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium Friday night.

The Rough Riders rallied from a 10-point deficit after the first quarter to score the final 30 points of the game. They rushed for 237 of their 280 yards of total offense and improved to 3-3 on the season.

The Falcons dropped their second straight to fall to 3-4 overall and 2-4 in league play and are eliminated from postseason contention.

The teams entered the night tied for fourth place in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II standings.

The win puts Roosevelt in the driver's seat to lay claim to the fourth and final spot in the league tournament. A win over Waialua on Oct. 6, or a Kalaheo loss against either Kalani or Kaimuki would assure the Rough Riders of a playoff appearance after a 2-5 conference record and sixth-place finish a season ago.

"That feels great. I mean, for me as a four-year player we never went to the playoffs so it feels good," said senior defensive lineman/running back Isaiah Rosa, who had 1 1/2 of his team's four sacks and rushed six times for 22 yards.

Kekahuna, a senior quarterback, recycled an interception by Jared Elwin into a 2-yard TD run for Roosevelt's first score late in the second quarter. After going three-and-out and punting away on each of their first four possessions, the Rough Riders put together a 19-play, 80-yard drive that took 6:17 off the clock, culminating with Kekahuna's surge behind right guard and across the goal line.

"We were going to do what we've been doing the two weeks we've been preparing for these guys and we had to give different looks (early on) to see what was going to work for us," said Roosevelt second-year coach Kui Kahooilihala, whose team had a bye last week.

"Our offensive coordinator (Matt Terukina) upstairs, he did a good job adjusting to their defense. He said that we gotta come out (in the second half) with the unbalanced (offensive line) and try to catch them off-guard. We were going to stick with that until they made adjustments."

Kekahuna also ran in the ensuing two-point conversion to cut the Kalani lead to 10-8 with just 45 seconds left in the first half.

"That gave us a lot of confidence going into the second half even though it was 10-8," Kekahuna said.

The scoring drive included seven first downs and conversions of third-and-2, fourth-and-1, fourth-and-4 and third-and-1. That coming after Roosevelt's first 12 plays from scrimmage resulted in 21 net yards.

"I guess it was really just (being) nervous," Kekahuna said. "We were just getting our jitters out in the first quarter, but good thing we stayed with it."

The Falcons' lead held until the 7:09 mark of the third quarter, when Myka Kukahiwa's 32-yard TD run off right tackle put the Rough Riders ahead for good. The scoring play came five plays after Tasi Sofakini sacked Kalani quarterback Seth Tina-Soberano for a six-yard loss on 4th down, and one snap after Kukahiwa frolicked for a 25-yard gain on a fake punt to convert a fourth-and-4.

"We work on that every day at practice," Kahooilihala said. "It was the perfect timing, just picking our battles on the field and we did it — and it worked."

Kukahiwa finished with eight carries and ran for 67 of his game-high 89 yards after halftime.

After Kekahuna ran in the two-point conversion, Roosevelt held a 16-10 lead.

The Rough Riders extended their lead in a matter of seconds early in the fourth quarter.

Kahiau Kahooilihala stripped Tina-Soberano and Caine Fitiausi-Fung recovered the loose ball for Roosevelt at the Falcons' 38-yard line.

On the very next play — after drawing in the Kalani defense all game with its veer-option run game — the Rough Riders went to the air. Kekahuna hit a wide-open Sofakini over the middle on a well-executed play-action play for a 38-yard score.

"He's done a great job for us all year and that's why he's one of our leaders out there," coach Kahooilihala said of Kekahuna. "He's the one making the calls on the field. We call the play and it comes down to him seeing things down there and making the adjustments. He just takes over; That's just the kind of kid he is."

Kekahuna capped off a 16-play, 78-yard drive with his 6-yard TD run in the closing minutes. He finished with 54 yards on 14 carries and threw for 43 yards on 2-of-4 passing.

His counterpart, Tina-Soberano, was limited to just five rushing yards on 19 carries. He completed 10 of his 30 pass attempts for 112 yards with an interception.

"Our defensive coaches did a hell of a job the past two weeks and the bye kind of helped us, too, to heal, but also we worked on trying to contain the kid," Kahooilihala said.

Kalani capped its first two possessions of the game with scores.

Tina-Soberano opened the scoring minutes into the contest with his 4-yard TD run up the middle. Wayne McClellan's 34-yard field gave the Falcons a 10-0 lead with 3:57 left in the opening quarter.