No. 8 ‘Iolani’s 3-0 start to the season has surprised even a few Raiders.
“These past two years we’ve faced a lot of adversity and finally it’s going our way,” ‘Iolani senior running back Kaua Nishigaya said.
Nishigaya accounted for both of ‘Iolani’s second-half touchdowns and finished with 102 rushing yards in a 33-12 win over Kailua on Friday night at Alex Kane Stadium.
Jonah Chong threw for 258 yards and three touchdowns and the Raiders survived the school’s first trip to the Windward side to play at Kailua. The two teams had only played once before — a 7-0 Kailua win in 1966 at Honolulu Stadium.
“Every week we go in with the mind-set that we have to try to run the ball first,” Nishigaya said. “Each and every game we come out hard.”
‘Iolani played its “closest” game of the season and used a 20-0 second quarter to get past a scrappy Surfriders squad.
Kailua (0-3, 0-1 OIA D-I) scored its first point on Brian-Allen Kamanu’s 3-yard touchdown run early in the first quarter.
The Surfriders nearly recorded a safety on defense, but a holding penalty wiped out potentially cutting the ‘Iolani lead to 20-8.
Instead, the Raiders went on a 12-play, 95-yard drive, with Nishigaya bolting for runs of 14 and 27 yards on consecutive plays.
His 2-yard touchdown run put ‘Iolani ahead 26-6, and he added a 16-yard touchdown run for a 33-6 lead after Kailua turned the ball over on downs with less than three minutes remaining.
“I took the line on the side and we started talking and they know how crucial this game was,” Nishigaya said. “We’re undersized on the line, but those guys bring it each and every game and I can’t thank them enough.”
Kailua executed a perfect gameplan in the first quarter, running the ball 24 times to try to wear out the Raiders defense.
The Surfriders’ first pass came on the first play of the second quarter when quarterback Raynen Ho-Mook found Kamryn Kahoonei for 11 yards on fourth-and-7 to move the ball inside the ‘Iolani 20.
A fumble on the next play was recovered by ‘Iolani’s Isaac Ignacio and the Raiders’ quick-strike offense went to work.
Senior receiver Carter Kamana caught the first of his two touchdown receptions on a crossing route over the middle that he turned into a 75-yard TD.
Kyler Mento recovered Kailua’s third fumble in the first half and Chong quickly found Rayden Kaneshiro for a 14-yard TD to extend the Raiders’ lead to 13-0.
‘Iolani forced a punt with 1:14 remaining in the half and drove 48 yards in less than a minute, with Kamana catching a fade in the back corner of the end zone from 4 yards out to make it a 20-0 game at halftime.
Safety Trevor Kan finished with two interceptions for ‘Iolani, which forced five turnovers total.
Ho-Mook threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Kahoonei with 16 seconds remaining and finished the game 15-for-26 for 185 yards.
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GAME SUMMARY
No. 8 ‘Iolani 33, Kailua 12
At Kailua
>> ‘Iolani (3-0, 2-0) 0 20 0 13 — 33
>> Kailua (0-3, 0-1) 0 0 0 12 — 12
‘Iolani — Carter Kamana 75 pass from Jonah Chong (kick blocked)
‘Iolani — Rayden Kaneshiro 14 pass from Chong (Mika Makekau kick)
‘Iolani — Kamana 4 pass from Chong (Makekau kick)
Kailua — Brian-Allen Kamanu 3 run (kick failed)
‘Iolani — Kaua Nishigaya 2 run (kick blocked)
‘Iolani — Nishigaya 16 run (Makekau kick)
Kailua — Kamryn Kahoonei 28 pass from Raynen Ho-Mook (run failed)
RUSHING — ‘Iolani: Nishigaya 15-102, team 2-(minus 6), Chong 3-(minus 12). Kailua: Samson Rasay 22-89, Kamanu 7-30, Myna Laurito 6-22, Lahaina Kane 3-13, Ho-Mook 8-(minus 17), team 2-(minus 42).
PASSING — ‘Iolani: Chong 21-30-1-258. Kailua: Ho-Mook 15-26–2-185.
RECEIVING — ‘Iolani: Kamana 8-146, Kaneshiro 5-41, Jonah Miyazawa 4-33, Nishigaya 3-28, Rexton Suzuki 1-10. Kailua: Kase Oshiro 5-83, Kahoonei 3-48, Solomon Farley 3-30, Kaniala Williams 3-27, Shayden Baker 1-(minus 3).
* JV — Kailua 62, Kalani 12
