Mizutani makes ‘Iolani a team to fear in ILH D-II

The ILH isn’t a two-team race in Division II just yet.

After blowing a 28-point lead in an overtime loss to league-leading Damien last week, ‘Iolani bounced back with a 45-29 win over St. Francis on Friday at Aloha Stadium.

Senior quarterback Tai-John Mizutani threw for 430 yards and five touchdowns to break Reece Foy’s school passing record and give ‘Iolani its first win against either the Monarchs or the Saints in four tries this season.

“Last week we had a tough loss up 28-0 and I think that really motivated us this week,” Mizutani said. “All week in practice we did finishing drills to build that mind-set that no lead is safe in the ILH.”

The loss by St. Francis (5-3, 3-2) gives Damien the regular-season crown with one game left to play. All four teams in Division II will compete in a four-team playoff starting in two weeks, giving the Raiders (3-4, 2-3) new life to contend for a league crown.

“You remember now, this team has not won an ILH game except for the Pac-Five game two weeks ago in three years,” ‘Iolani coach Wendell Look said. “They don’t know what it feels like to win in an ILH game and they’re learning. That’s what we want to see.”

St. Francis running back Jonan Aina-Chaves recorded his third 200-yard game of the season, finishing with a career-high 248 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

‘Iolani raced out to another early lead, scoring three first-quarter touchdowns to go in front 21-6.

Mizutani, who jumped from 11th to seventh on the all-time career passing list on Oahu, went 7-for-8 on his first drive and threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Kaua Nishigaya.

Mizutani spread it around, throwing touchdowns to four different receivers in the first half, including a 33-yard strike to Jake Yokogawa as time expired.

It gave him 268 yards passing and moved him past Foy for the school’s career record.

“Ever since seventh grade, Reece has been my mentor. Every summer we’d throw with the varsity guys and Reece would give me tips,” Mizutani said. “I’m sure he’s watching back in Amherst and I’ll text him later tonight and rub it in his face a little bit.”

(Foy is a sophomore quarterback at Amherst College in Massachusetts.)

St. Francis quarterback Bubba Akana cut the ‘Iolani lead to 28-21 with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Scott McLeod on the Saints’ first drive of the second half.

Linebacker Payton Uyeda forced a fumble with ‘Iolani up by 10 to turn away St. Francis in the red zone, and receiver Justin Genovia, who had 10 receptions for 95 yards, broke up a fourth-down pass in the end zone on defense late in the fourth quarter to help preserve the win.

“I saw it in the air and then I was going to make a play on it, but (the receiver) was about to catch it, so I just knew I had to get it out of his hands,” Genovia said.

Akana finished 17-for-27 for 164 yards and two scores for St. Francis, which finishes the regular season next week against Damien.

More photos of the game between Saint Francis and ʻIolani.