Storm causes havoc as ‘Iolani captures D-II title

There was no hurricane watch this time, but there was clearly a Storm brewing. 

‘Iolani running back Storm Lotomau rumbled for 110 yards and a touchdown as ‘Iolani defeated Damien 27-14 on Friday night to capture the ILH Division II football championship. 

The Raiders (6-3) had already won the first round. Damien (4-5) needed a victory to take the second round and force a winner-take-all matchup. But ‘Iolani refused to cooperate, stifling the Monarchs’ recently hot offensive attack. 

‘Iolani will return to the D-II state tourney, where it has won seven of the past nine titles, all under head coach Wendell Look. It was ‘Iolani’s 15th consecutive win over Damien. 

"Credit goes to ‘Iolani. They made big plays when they needed to and we came out flat. We’ll praise our guys for always fighting," Damien coach Eddie Klaneski said. "It’s a sad situation. We wanted to send the seniors off with at least one more game. But it’s too little, too late now." 

Lotomau was steady all night, partnering with starter K.J. Pascua (20 carries, 91 yards, TD) to give the Raiders a 1-2 punch. ‘Iolani added a few wrinkles and twists to their look, using a wingback (slot) to lead block with a pulling guard. Damien never completely solved that issue, and ‘Iolani finished with 204 rushing yards on 39 carries. 

"Our offensive line did a nice job of adjusting to what Damien was doing," Look said. "They brought a lot of pressure on the inside. Our O-line coaches and kids were able to adjust and figure it out. Defensively, we were able to make them one-dimensional." 

Austin Jim On was 13-for-24 for 130 yards and a touchdown pass. 

The Raiders had control of the ball and the tempo through the first three quarters. Keoni-Kordell Makekau, their deep threat, was limited to two catches for 31 yards, but he drilled two first-half field goals and was an automatic touchback machine on kickoffs. 

The Raiders finished with 334 total yards. Damien tallied 294 total yards, including 92 on the ground (2.8 per carry). 

The Raiders rushed for 79 yards in the first half on 20 carries, getting good production from Pascua (11 carries, 45 yards) and Lotomau (seven carries, 40 yards). Jim On was 9-for-17, 104 yards by the break. It was enough to establish the ground game and keep Damien’s aggressive linebackers slightly off balance. 

The Raiders’ secondary was up to the task, swarming to 6-foot-5 Damien wide receiver Kapi’ina King all night. King managed to grab six passes for 115 yards, but most came after the Monarchs were down big in the second half. Quarterback Dallas Labanon targeted him 12 times despite double and triple teams. 

"Nothing we did worked (in the first half)," said King, who had one catch out of six targets before the break. 

King managed to pull in a catch for a touchdown in the fourth quarter as the Monarchs got within 27-14 with 3:56 to play, but ‘Iolani stormed downfield and scored on a Lotomau run of 3 yards to ice the win. 

Damien has not been to the state tourney since the inaugural D-II format in 2003. 

The Raiders got on the scoreboard in their second series, a 15-play, 58-yard march. Pascua’s 1-yard blast made it 7-0 with two seconds left in the opening quarter. 

Damien created a break for itself with a fake punt pass from Cody Labanon to Dutch Clayburgh as the Raiders went all-in for a block. Clayburgh gained 32 yards, but fumbled after passing midfield, and Tyler Teruya recovered for the Raiders. 

‘Iolani then drove 57 yards in 10 plays to get a 26-yard field goal by Makekau. 

Makekau added a 30-yard field goal on the final play of the half for a 13-0 lead. 

Jim On’s 13-yard play-action rollout pass to Tamatane Aga made it 20-0 with 2:55 left in the third. 

IOL–K.J. Pascua 1 run (Evan Minami kick)

IOL–Keoni-Kordell Makekau FG 26

IOL–Makekau FG 30 

IOL–Tamatane Aga 13 pass from Austin Jim On (Minami kick)

IOL–Wyatt Ma’a recovers punt block in end zone

DMS–Kapi’ina King 11 pass from Dallas Labanon (pass failed)

DMS–Samson Low 2 pass from Labanon (King pass from Labanon)

IOL–Storm Lotomau 3 run (Minami kick) 

RUSHING–DMS:  Justice White 14-33, Samson Low 7-11, Labanon 5-23, Kaeo Arakaki 2-3, King 1-1, Dutch Clayburgh 2-11, Elijah Brown 1-15, Joshua Aguirre 1-(-5). IOL: Pascua 20-91, Lotomau 15-110, Jim On 3-(-9), Connor Ohira 1-12. 

PASSING–DMS: Dallas Labanon 15-32-3-170, Cody Labanon 1-1-0-32. IOL: Jim On 13-24-1-130. 

RECEIVING–DMS: Bransen Apao 1-13, Kana’i Picanco 2-14, Arakaki 1-3, King 6-115, Low 4-11, Clayburgh 1-32, White 1-14. IOL: Tyler Teruya 6-18, Keoni-Kordell Makekau 2-31, Aga 3-31, Ohira 2-50.