Jonan Aina-Chaves sets record in St. Francis’ win

Jonan Aina-Chaves picked up where he left off last year, and then some.

The St. Francis junior running back got off to an explosive start at Radford on Saturday night and finished by breaking his own school rushing record, pin-balling for 263 yards on 28 carries in the Saints’ 28-21 win in both teams’ season opener.

Aina-Chaves’ assessment of his performance?

“Kind of rough. I was gassed out,” he said. “Not doing enough extra running. But it was a good experience. We took the dub (win). First game of the season, and we gotta keep pushing.”

His previous record was 248 against ‘Iolani last season. He now has the top four in program history.

“I couldn’t do it without my linemen,” he said. “I feel good I broke it again. I gotta keep pushing.”

It was the first meeting between the Division I Rams and Division II Saints. Aina-Chaves got the scoring started with a 72-yard burst on the first play from scrimmage right after the Rams turned it over on downs, the first of two times in the quarter Radford came up empty in Saints territory.

Aina-Chaves was nearly the entire offense. He also had runs of 64 and 34 yards. The rest, he dinged and dodged his way to 5, 6, 8 yards at a time.

“He’s a returning Gatorade player of the year finalist. He’s a workhorse,” Saints coach Kip Akana said. “That’s much of our game plan — rely on our big offensive line and be able to move the ball on the ground. We’ll throw when the situation presents itself.”

Radford’s only win in the past two years came via forfeit against Kaiser on Aug. 19, 2017. But the hosts rallied impressively from a 14-0 hole with two second-quarter touchdowns, then went up 21-14 on a scoop-and-score fumble return by Malik Rhines in the third.

St. Francis responded with the 34-yard carry from Aina-Chaves to the 2, and Kain Lyman finished the job on the next play. Aina-Chaves punched in the 2-point conversion for the go-ahead points.

At the end of the third, the Saints recovered a fumble at the Rams’ 32. They struck in clutch fashion as quarterback Jonah Aina-Chaves — in for regular starter Bubba Akana, who just returned from a baseball trip — found Shepherd Kekahuna on a hitch route on fourth-and-9 from the 19. Kekahuna shook a defender and strutted in for the final score with 10:38 left.

The Rams had chances from there, but some missed opportunities and penalties cost them a chance to break through at their John E. Velasco Stadium.

Making his first start inheriting the run-and-shoot-style offense from graduated Randy Wright, senior Hunter Copp threw an interception on his first ball of the game but gained confidence as he went, finishing 14-for-32 with two scores and three picks.

“In the fourth we weren’t consistently making our plays. Defense did a hell of a job. Their running back is tough,” Radford coach Lon Passos said.

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GAME SUMMARY

St. Francis 28, Radford 21
At Radford

>> St. Francis (1-0) 8 6 8 6 — 28
>> Radford (0-1) 0 14 7 0 — 21

St. Francis — Jonan Aina-Chaves 72 run (Kain Lyman run)

St. Francis — Aina-Chaves 2 run (run failed)

Radford — Emmanual Stevenson 19 pass from Hunter Copp (Kendall Saxton kick)

Radford — Carson Dean 45 pass from Copp (Saxton kick)

Radford — Malik Rhines 75 fumble return (Saxton kick)

St. Francis — Lyman 2 run (Aina-Chaves run)

St. Francis — Shepherd Kekahuna 19 pass from Jonah Aina-Chaves (run failed)

RUSHING — St. Francis: Jonan Aina-Chaves 28-263, Jett Hakikawa 1-3, Lyman 2-(minus 2), Jonah Aina-Chaves 9-(minus 4). Radford: Matai Suitonu 5-45, Danneh Alpha 10-32, Kendall Saxton 5-10, Taias Savea 2-10, Hunter Copp 4-9, Maka’ala Sakimi 1-1.

PASSING — St. Francis: Jonah Aina-Chaves 7-21-1-85. Radford: Copp 14-32-3-222.

RECEIVING — St. Francis: Kekahuna 4-76, Jonan Aina-Chaves 3-9. Radford: Tavian Bryant 4-69, Dean 3-57, Damon Nelson 3-36, Savea 2-25, Stevenson 1-19, Marcus Howard 1-16.

* JV — Kaiser 39, Radford 26