‘Iolani in playoff form, handles St. Francis with ease

‘Iolani is focused for its playoff run.

The Raiders were sharp and energetic in a 44-7 win over St. Francis in an ILH football game on Friday. 

KJ Pascua and Storm Lotomau each scored two touchdowns for host ‘Iolani (4-3, 3-3 ILH) in the regular-season finale for both teams.

The teams will meet on Oct. 18 in the ILH Division II playoffs, with ‘Iolani as the top seed and St. Francis seeded fourth. The Saints (2-6, 0-6) have lost their past six games.

"We talked about this game being an important game in the sense that we wanted to play well going into the playoffs," Raiders coach Wendell Look said. "We wanted to take it and play at a high level. I thought we did."

The Raiders scored on their first five drives. Pascua had two rushing touchdowns to start the game and backup quarterback Jarin Yokogawa’s 47-yard pass to Conner Hannum gave ‘Iolani a 37-0 halftime lead.

"The energy and focus they came out with, I thought we executed well on both sides of the ball," Look said.

Lotomau said the Raiders have been running well this season. That was evident with their five rushing touchdowns on Friday.

"We’ve been really good running the ball," said Lotomau, who had 14 carries for 45 yards. "But when push comes to shove, our pass is always there to pull us out of the tough situations."

Lotomau scored his second touchdown in the third quarter on a 12-yard run on which he lost the ball near the end zone, then jumped on the ball for the score.

The Saints scored midway through the fourth quarter on Sean Fernandez’s reception from Blaze Umiamaka.

Lotomau said the Raiders are ready for the postseason.

"We feel really strong about the playoffs, but we’re not going to take a team lightly," Lotomau said. "We’re going to prepare for them like we’re the underdogs."

Look said they would take it one game at a time. The Raiders won six straight Division II state titles before falling short of the title game last season.

"This team has worked hard, they have the right attitude, right outlook," Look said. "They understand what it takes and I think they want to get back to the championship game."

Iol–KJ Pascua 32 run (Tyler Teruya run)

Iol–Pascua 16 run (Teruya run)

Iol–Austin Jim On 32 run (Evan Minami kick)

Iol–Storm Lotomau 1 run (Minami kick)

Iol–Conner Hannum 47 pass from Jarin Yokogawa (Minami kick)

Iol–Lotomau 12 run (Minami kick)

StF–Sean Fernandez 14 pass from Blaze Umiamaka (Chenoa Johnston kick)

Rushing–StF: Jonah Luis-Mateo 10-27, Jeremiah Leaeno 3-9, Micah Teal 2-6, Destin Pakele 2-2, Leighton Rosa 1-0, Kawika Ulufale 2-(-17), Umiamaka 4(-24). Iol: Pascua 9-78, Lotomau 14-45, Jim On 2-41, Jake Smotherman 4-(-3).

Passing–StF: Umiamaka 12-21-0-77, Ulufale 4-10-2-43. Iol: Jim On 7-8-0-72, Yokogawa 2-2-0-62, Smotherman 1-1-0-10.

Receiving–StF: Fernandez 2-28, Teal 5-27, Kelii Macalino 4-18, Janson Kupau 2-26, Braxton Lane 1-26, Luis-Mateo 1-(-2), Rosa 1-(-3). Iol: Hannum 1-47, Tamatane Aga 2-28, Teruya 2-21, Conner Ohira 2-16, Cobi Lee 1-15, Brent Nagami 1-10, Keoni-Kordell Makekau 1-7.