Kamehameha crashes Iolani’s party

Kamehameha's postseason fate was sealed before kickoff, but the Warriors made sure Iolani would have to wait at least another day to secure a state tournament berth.

The Warriors, who saw Saint Louis clinch the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I title just before they took the field, put Iolani's Division II title bid on hold with a 35-21 win last night at Aloha Stadium.

Iolani (4-5 overall, 3-3 ILH) could have wrapped up the league's berth to the Division II state tournament with a win. The Raiders can still clinch the title today with a Damien loss to Punahou. If Damien wins, the race extends another week.

"Saint Louis won the title just before we played, and it's hard for our guys to stay focused like that," Kamehameha coach David Stant said. "Hopefully we come out with Warrior pride next week (against Saint Louis)."

Kamehameha quarterback Michael Hoke accounted for 266 total yards (216 passing, 50 rushing) and Brandon Dumlao rushed for two scores as part of a Warrior ground game that controlled the clock.

"We needed to establish the run, take a little bit more pressure off Mike, because we know he can throw the ball," Stant said.

Saint Louis clinches ILH D-I with win Top-ranked Saint Louis (9-0, 6-0) secured its second straight ILH Division I title with a 55-10 rout of Pac-Five (2-7, 1-5). Saint Louis, the state Division I runner-up a year ago, also captured the league's lone berth to the state tournament with a game to spare. "(Winning the ILH) is definitely our first goal, and to do it with one game left is a tremendous accomplishment by our players and coaches," Saint Louis coach Delbert Tengan said. "To repeat is something special for our seniors." The Crusaders took the drama out of the league's stretch run by putting last night's game away early. They led 49-7 at halftime and cruised to the win to remain undefeated. "Defensively we played solid, and on offense we had a lot of big plays and spread the ball around," Tengan said.

After Kamehameha (4-3-1, 3-3), which shut out Iolani 23-0 last year, jumped out to a 21-0 halftime lead, Iolani battled back with two touchdown passes from Kela Marciel to Lionel Fujioka.

But the Raiders would get no closer as Kamehameha tacked on two late touchdowns.

"We didn't come ready to play, and this is the second week in a row we didn't do that," Iolani coach Wendell Look said. "These kids need to understand if they want to accomplish stuff there's a timetable on it. In the second half, they showed they can play and they know they can play."

The Warriors opened the scoring with a 5-yard run by Dumlao to cap a three-play drive that started at the Raiders' 30. Kamehameha's Conrad Scheidt added to the lead late in the first quarter by stepping in front of a swing pass from Marciel and returning the interception 17 yards for a touchdown.

After Marciel pinned the Warriors inside their 1 with a 58-yard punt with 1:53 left in the half, Hoke led Kamehameha on an 11-play march that ended with Truman Ray Chun's 2-yard touchdown run.

After Iolani got on the scoreboard on Fujioka's 7-yard touchdown reception, the Raiders crept within a score with 57 seconds left in the third quarter when Marciel hit Fujioka in stride running down the sideline for a 27-yard touchdown completion.

But Dumlao stretched the Kamehameha lead with a 21-yard touchdown run with 4:51 left. After the Warriors recovered the kickoff, backup quarterback Edmund Kamano added a 9-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Demello.