StarBulletin.com

'Iolani makes the play


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POSTED: Sunday, August 30, 2009

It all came down to who had the last shot, and Kevin Barayuga made it count.

With 5 seconds left and the ball on the Kapolei 5, the 'Iolani junior caught the ball in the end zone as time ran out, lifting the Raiders to a 23-21 nonconference win over the No. 10-ranked Hurricanes at sun-drenched Eddie Hamada Field on the 'Iolani campus.

Barayuga had seven catches for 59 yards, but his biggest came up on the last play.

“;My guy didn't follow me across and I knew I was going to be open. We've practiced this same play so much in our daily practice drills,”; said Barayuga. “;I just tried to block out the pressure and focus on catching the ball. I was down in the end zone and everyone was cheering. It took me a while to realize what happened—I didn't know what to think.”;

               

     

 

SATURDAY

       

       

                                                                                                                                                   
'Iolani23
No. 10 Kapolei21

       

 

       

       

Both teams struggled with miscues, but Kapolei seemed to have the upper hand when it recovered an 'Iolani fumble in its own territory at the 2:05 mark in the fourth quarter and scored six plays later when senior quarterback Noah Pascua connected with fellow senior Donnie King for a 19-yard touchdown pass with 1:06 left in the game to put the Hurricanes up 21-17.

'Iolani received the kickoff with a little more than a minute left and hurriedly went to work. With the ball on the Kapolei 34, senior quarterback Jarrett Arakawa threw to Barayuga, who reached out and made a nice 22-yard diving catch to bring the ball to the 12-yard line with only 14 seconds left. The game-winner came two plays later.

Both teams had their share of successful drives and mistakes. But 'Iolani's special teams squad was instrumental in the win.

On the opening kickoff, the Raiders recovered a botched return, and on their first offensive possession, QB Arakawa connected with junior wide receiver Trevyn Tulonghari for a 32-yard pass to open scoring in this seesaw battle. Andrew Skalman's point-after put the Raiders up by seven.

“;We had several drives where we just shot ourselves in the foot,”; said Kapolei head coach Darren Hernandez. “;We'd get good field position but were unable to capitalize because of the mistakes. We were grinding it out, running the ball well, but when it counted most we just weren't able to punch it out in the red zone.”;