Roosevelt gives its new coach a bonus

Kui Kahooilihala trusted the process.

Roosevelt gave its first-year head coach his first victory as the Rough Riders rolled to a 41-14 decision over visiting McKinley on Friday night at Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium.

A big bonus: Roosevelt (1-1 overall) is 1-0 in OIA Division II play.

Kahooilihala, a longtime assistant and alumnus of Roosevelt, could breathe a sigh of relief afterward.

“It feels great, man. For us, I thought ‘OK it’s all about the process over here.’ Come in, work hard,” he said. “We just gotta be consistent.”

The Rough Riders galloped to a 27-0 halftime lead by capitalizing on four first-half turnovers by the Tigers (0-2, 0-1), who had some snapping difficulties.

Both teams were missing some players due to academic ineligibility but expected to get them back next week. McKinley was hit particularly hard; Tigers coach Sam Cantiberos said his team will go from 37 to in the 50s and get several starters back.

Roosevelt took advantage; it scored its most points since putting up 43 on Waialua in 2007. They did it with a stylistic shift from years past; last week the Rough Riders completed one pass in a loss to Kaiser.

“This year our coaches and I decided to bring the veer option back,” Kahooilihala said. “Establish the running game. We can still pass.”

Four connections in seven attempts from quarterback Shastyn Kekahuna did the job this time. The junior passed for two touchdowns and ran for one more. His 42-yard keeper dash in the second quarter made it 20-0.

“I barely saw anything because my helmet almost came off,” Kekahuna said of the play. “I was fixing it and I just saw the open field and kind of strided.”

Running back Chavis Paia matched Kekahuna’s 66 yards on the ground and plunged in twice. He also scored from 32 yards on a dump-off pass from Kekahuna capped off with a terrific spin move at the 5.

Kekahuna left the game in the third quarter with a sprained ankle and walked with a crutch afterward, but didn’t seem too concerned. Backup Noah Rosa capped off a drive with a 2-yard keeper score late in the third for a 41-0 advantage.

“This gives us a good confidence booster,” Kekahuna said. “We should be ready (next week vs. Pearl City).”

McKinley averted a sixth straight shutout, including two forfeitures in 2015, with some strong play to open the fourth quarter.

Sioeli-Keola Lopes-Liutolo followed up a 22-yard carry by Anthony Jim, plus a Roosevelt late-hit personal foul, by bulling his way in from 12 yards, getting the Tigers on the board for the first time this season.

Two Roosevelt possessions later, McKinley lineman Iulio Antonio had his compatriots on the visiting sideline jumping for joy. His scoop-and-score touchdown from 62 yards may not have given the Tigers that elusive victory — it was their 18th straight defeat going back to 2013 — but it was definitely something to build on.

Jim led McKinley offensively with 42 yards on nine carries.

“I feel great how the boys fought to the end of this game,” Cantiberos said. “We have a lot of sophomores on our team and they fought to the end with their junior and senior brothers. This is the spark that we needed going into next week (vs. Kalaheo) at full squad.”