‘Iolani erased any chance of another heart-breaking loss with a fast start Friday against Aiea.
The Raiders scored three touchdowns in the first quarter en route to a 31-10 triumph over host Aiea in an OIA-ILH Division I game.
‘Iolani was coming off a 21-20 loss to Moanalua on a last-second field goal a week ago.
“There was a lot of fire in us coming off the loss against Moanalua,” said ‘Iolani senior slotback Cole Ichikawa, who scored on a punt return and caught a TD pass against Aiea. “We used that energy and put it in the right direction. Regardless of the score, we just wanted to take a step in the right direction.”
Raiders senior Jonah Chong played at quarterback in the first and third quarters and junior Samuel Faumuina played the second and fourth.
Chong finished 6-for-13 for 51 yards and Faumuina went 9-for-14 for 135 yards and a touchdown.
As far as continuing with dual quarterbacks, ‘Iolani coach Wendell Look said: “I don’t know yet. We’ll see. Sam did a good job coming off the bench and moved the ball well. Jonah is the returning guy, so we’ll see what happens.”
Their favorite target was Ichikawa, who finished with five receptions for 101 yards.
“I trust both of them,” Ichikawa said. “They both work really hard. They both bring different things to the table. I trust them and they make me look good.”
‘Iolani’s defense allowed 45 yards rushing on 35 carries. Lanakila Pei and Micah Camat had interceptions for the Raiders.
The entire first quarter was played on Aiea’s side of the field, thanks to a stingy ‘Iolani defense and special teams.
The Raiders (2-1, 1-1) forced a three-and-out on the first possession of the game and Shayden Molina blocked a punt, which gave ‘Iolani the ball at the Aiea 17. Three plays later, Brody Logan Bantolina scored on a 4-yard run. Wailoa Manuel made the PAT kick.
Later in the first quarter, Ichikawa returned a punt 40 yards for a score and Chong scored on a 1-yard run up the middle after dropping the snap to make it 21-0.
“Anytime you can get points and change momentum on special teams, that’s a huge part of the game,” Look said. “That’s something we always emphasize to these guys.”
Aiea coach Wendell Say said his team has struggled early in games.
“We know they’re fundamentally sound and we’re a slow-starting team,” Say said. “We’ve shown that the last few weeks. We have to get out of the blocks early and try not to play catch up.”
Na Alii (1-2, 1-0) put things together to start the second quarter, driving 69 yards to set up Tyla Mane’s 28-yard field goal, which made it 21-3 with 9:56 remaining before halftime.
A Na Alii fumble recovered by the Raiders’ Micah Shikada led to a 40-yard touchdown pass from Faumuina to Ichikawa, which made it 28-3 late in the half.
Aiea’s Kayson Castillo started 0-for-8 with an interception, but finished 10-for-12 for 125 yards before halftime. He left later in the game with an injury and was replaced by Jordan Cezar.
The only score of the third quarter was a 31-yard field goal by ‘Iolani’s Manuel with 7:11 remaining.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Cezar completed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Javon Miller to cut Aiea’s deficit to 31-10.
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‘Iolani 31, Aiea 10
At Aiea
>> ‘Iolani (2-1, 1-1) 21 7 3 0 — 31
>> Aiea (1-2, 1-0) 0 3 0 7 — 10
‘Iolani — Brody Logan Bantolina 4 run (Wailoa Manuel kick)
‘Iolani — Cole Ichikawa 40 punt return (Manuel kick)
‘Iolani — Jonah Chong 1 run (Manuel kick)
Aiea — FG Tyla Mane 28
‘Iolani — Ichikawa 40 pass from Samuel Faumuina (Mason Mizuta kick)
Aiea — Javon Miller 14 pass from Jordan Cezar (Mane kick)
RUSHING — ‘Iolani: Bantolina 11-90, Brock Hedani 7-18, Chong 5-8, TEAM 1-(minus 1), Faumuina 2-(minus 21). Aiea: Miller 15-50, Davon Tauai 4-11, Cezar 5-6, Dante Bareng 3-5, TEAM 1-(minus 6), Dylan Soberano 1-(minus 10), Kayson Castillo 6-(minus 11).
PASSING — ‘Iolani: Chong 6-13-1-51, Faumuina 9-14-1-135. Aiea: Castillo 15-30-1-177, Cezar 2-5-1-20.
RECEIVING — ‘Iolani: Ichikawa 5-101, Manuel 5-35, Carter Kamana 3-32, Noah Gaudi 2-18. Aiea: Soberano 8-96, Josh Canosa 3-41, Mariano Soranaka 1-13, Cezar 1-7, Miller 2-15, Kainalu Caetano 2-25.
