Radford holds off Kalani

The Radford Rams pulled out the win they were looking for, but the Kalani Falcons made sure that it didn't come without a fight.

Ryan Burciaga completed just eight passes, but three of them went for touchdowns, as the Rams (3-2 Oahu Interscholastic Association White, 3-3 overall) overcame five turnovers to hold off the Falcons (0-5, 1-5) 31-15 last night at Kaiser stadium.

"No team will be a cakewalk in this league," Radford head coach Fred Salanoa said. "We made too many mistakes out there and (Kalani) really fought us till the end."

The first half proved to be a tale of two quarters, with the Rams dominating the first 12 minutes of play. Russell Wantowski's 40-yard run on fourth-and-2 set up his 2-yard touchdown run to give the Rams the early 7-0 lead.

After forcing Kalani to go three-and-out on their next possession, the Rams quickly struck again as Burciaga found Kyle Blair streaking down the sideline for a 60-yard touchdown pass to increase the Rams lead to 13.

After Kalani was held to negative-5 yards in the first quarter, Falcons defensive lineman Mike Kratzke became the one-man wrecking crew that ignited Kalani.

His first sack of the day forced a Rams punt, giving the Falcons good field position. They were finally able to capitalize on it as Dusten Umeda took the handoff and raced 40 yards for a touchdown to cut the Rams lead to 13-7.

Then, with 3 minutes left in the half, Kratzke sacked Burciaga again, this time forcing a fumble that was recovered by Carsen Chun. The Falcons then managed to drive down to the Rams' 2-yard line with 1 second left. They elected not go for the field goal, and Umeda, who had replaced injured starter Richard Akau at quarterback, tried to find Chun in the back of the end zone, but the Rams were able to knock it down to keep their six-point lead heading into halftime.

"We just didn't do what we wanted to do in the first half," Salanoa said. "I put that responsibility on the team's shoulders to go out and execute in the second half."

Execute they did as Burciaga found his throwing touch in the third quarter, completing a 34-yard touchdown pass to Stephen Baughn on the opening drive of the half to push the lead to 14.

Later Burciaga found Mark Failauga with a 19-yard touchdown strike to open up a 28-7 lead.

But the Falcons would not cave in, as Akau, who was pressured all day by a heavy Rams pass rush, found Chun for a 16-yard touchdown pass with 37 seconds left in the quarter to pull within two touchdowns.

"It's too bad their starting quarterback got injured a couple weeks ago, but they fought to the end," Salanoa said. "They've got a great coach and those kids play with a lot of heart."