Kealoha’s speed
burns Damien

It's a good thing for Iolani that Kekai Kealoha knows how to streak away from defensive backs.

Kealoha scored what turned out to be the winning touchdown last night as the Raiders held on to beat defending Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II football champion Damien 28-25 at Aloha Stadium.

Kealoha finished with six catches for 79 yards and two of those grabs from quarterback Kiran Kepo'o went for touchdowns with no defenders nearby.

"I have a lot of confidence in our quarterback and the coaches really push us to play hard," Kealoha said. "I was running as hard as I can on both plays and I was able to read their safety, who made one bad move each time and I got open."

The Raiders (4-0, 1-0 ILH) wiped out Damien's 10-0 lead with two second-quarter touchdowns for a 14-10 halftime lead. The second one was Kealoha's 15-yard score in the left corner of the end zone. The Damien defensive back pulled up too quickly, and the ball he thought he could get sailed over his head and into Kealoha's arms.

In the fourth quarter, Kealoha sped down a seam on a fly pattern and made an over-the-shoulder catch of Kepo'o's pass for a 45-yard score.

That play, with 8:20 left, gave Iolani a 28-18 lead and it effectively put the Monarchs (2-2, 0-1) out of reach. Slightly more than a minute earlier, Damien's Kealoha Pilares scored from 10 yards out and then rushed home the 2-point conversion to cut the Raiders' lead to 21-18.

Still, the Monarchs didn't give in. Va'a Faualo ripped off runs of 30 and 12 yards to set up Pilares' 20-yard TD run to make it 28-25 with 6:20 remaining.

Damien had two more possessions, but its final try failed when quarterback George Martin's deep throw was intercepted by Iolani's Landon Patoc.

The Monarchs' running game enjoyed lots of success. Faualo finished with 122 yards on 14 carries, while Pilares added 78 yards on 10 carries.

"We came out and did our best, and we tried our hardest," Pilares said. "Our line did a great job, sometimes blocking two people on one play. We lost, but we can build off this. Iolani is a good team and they played a good game."

The Raiders won the turnover battle 4-3. Patoc finished with two picks, while linebacker Jon Takamura ran an interception back 28 yards for a third-quarter touchdown and 21-10 lead. Fellow linebacker Edward Fitzpatrick was also a big boost on defense, with two tackles for loss.

Faualo and Pilares had an interception each for Damien. Faualo returned his 55 yards for a TD in the first quarter, while linebacker Howard Yun stopped an Iolani third-quarter drive by recovering a fumble at the Monarchs' 3-yard line.

Kepo'o had an effective night, completing 17 of 28 passes for 265 yards, but Iolani netted 8 rushing yards. Wide receiver Travis Nishioka contributed with two 40-yard-plus catch-and-runs.

Next Saturday, Damien plays league foe Pac-Five (3-1) at Aloha Stadium and Iolani has a bye.

OIA WHITE
Waialua 23, Kalani 13: A 44-yard fumble return by Waialua quarterback Jerrold McNulty helped the Bulldogs to their first win of the season with a victory over the Falcons.

Falcon quarterback Richard Akau threw for 201 yards in a losing effort, including a 72-yard strike to senior running back Dusten Umeda.

Umeda posted 91 yards receiving, while teammate Carsen Chun added 95.

The Bulldogs were helped by kicker Diego Reverberi, who finished the game 2-for-3 on extra points and nailed a 25-yard field goal that gave the Bulldogs the lead in the third quarter.

BIIF
Hawaii Prep 55, Honokaa 0: Ka Makani running back Mike Copra worked overtime in Hawaii Prep's win over the Dragons of Honokaa. Copra tallied six touchdowns.

In addition to his four rushing touchdowns, Copra returned punts for 72 and 43-yard scores.

HPA's Billy Case also added two 1-yard touchdowns in the victory.

Hilo 38, Kamehameha-Big Island 14: Senior running back Royden Nabarro rushed for three touchdowns as the Vikings remained undefeated while handing Kamehameha-Hawaii its first loss of the season.

Kapa Bongolon added to the Viking rushing attack by posting a 40-yard run into the end zone.

Konawaena 34, Keaau 26: The Wildcat defense held off a late Cougar charge to defeat Keaau.

With 5 seconds left in the game, the Cougars were just 1 yard from the end zone, trying to tie the game and prevent their first loss this season. But the Wildcats were able to deny the Cougars the score.

Konawaena's Mike Naihe knocked in two 1-yard touchdowns, while Kekai Cazimero rushed for three touchdowns for Keaau.