One Team, indeed.
Wendell Look insisted it wasn’t about him, even on a night when he won his 200th game as head football coach of the ‘Iolani Raiders. Those Raiders employed a balanced attack and seized upon miscues by Kailua in a 40-13 road victory on Friday night at Alex Kane Stadium.
Senior running back Brock Hedani had two touchdowns apiece rushing and receiving to pace ‘Iolani, senior quarterback Jonah Chong was efficient (16-for-25 passing, 177 yards, two TDs) in playing almost the whole game and receiver Wailoa Manuel was a constant threat on offense (eight catches, 98 yards) and with his leg (a 45-yard field goal to open the scoring).
>> Click here to see photos of the game between ʻIolani and Kailua.
“I feel happy for these kids,” Look said. “They have a goal in mind. I have 29 years, or whatever, of it. They only have three years to accomplish their goals. So, my individual (accolades) really doesn’t mean much if I don’t accomplish their goals. And that’s what I’m here for, is to help accomplish their goal. If I get that done, and some other records are made, then fine. It’s more for them. Because they only got so much time, right?”
‘Iolani (4-1, 2-1 ILH D-I) and Kailua (1-4, 1-2 OIA D-I) might have been expected to play a close one; they both lost to Moanalua by a point this season.
But it was clear from the early going the Raiders played with an opportunistic edge, even with 6-foot-3 receiver Carter Kamana still sidelined with an injury.
Kailua had two bad snaps to its punter in the first half, the first resulting in a safety and a 5-0 deficit, and the second a 17-yard loss that allowed ‘Iolani to set up at the Kailua 40. The Raiders needed only five plays from there, including a fourth-and-4 conversion from Chong to Manuel, to set up Hedani’s 18-yard screen-pass touchdown reception for a 19-0 lead.
Kailua got on the board late in the second quarter with a 16-play, 92-yard drive capped by a 6-yard touchdown pass from Cameron Friel to Raynen Ho-Mook on fourth down.
But the Surfriders would not rediscover that rhythm in the second half, with the exception of an impressive 26-yard keeper touchdown by Friel — he made a few men miss and dove to the right pylon — with 5:26 to play.
“The defense played a heck of a game. To shut them down the way they did, it just says how much preparation was put in to try to defend this team,” Look said. “That quarterback (Friel) is legit. I like him. He does a lot of nice stuff.”
Hedani closed out the scoring with a run up the middle for 43 yards with the Raiders in clock-killing mode.
It was Kailua’s second lopsided home loss to the Raiders in as many years. It was 33-12 last year, the first time the teams met there in their history.
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OIA-ILH DIVISION I
‘Iolani 40, Kailua 13
At Kailua
>> ‘Iolani (4-1, 2-1) 12 7 7 14 — 40
>> Kailua (1-4, 1-2) 0 7 0 6 — 13
‘Iolani — FG Wailoa Manuel 45
‘Iolani — Team safety
‘Iolani — Brock Hedani 1 run (Manuel kick)
‘Iolani — Hedani 18 pass from Jonah Chong (Manuel kick)
Kailua — Raynen Ho-Mook 6 pass from Cameron Friel (Morgan Jones kick)
‘Iolani — Hedani 10 pass from Chong (Manuel kick)
‘Iolani — Brody Logan Bantolina 1 run (Manuel kick)
Kailua — Cameron Friel 26 run (kick failed)
‘Iolani — Hedani 43 run (Manuel kick)
RUSHING — ‘Iolani: Hedani 14-71, Bantolina 11-30, TEAM 1-(minus 8), Chong 2-(minus 9). Kailua: Samson Rasay 12-64, Friel 10-26, Brian-Allen Kamanu 6-11, Hastings Yee Hoy 1-(minus 2), TEAM 3-(minus 46).
PASSING — ‘Iolani: Chong 16-25-0-177. Kailua: Friel 15-30-1-144.
RECEIVING — ‘Iolani: Manuel 8-98, Hedani 3-40, Cole Ichikawa 3-26, Ryan Sunada 1-7, Noah Gaudi 1-6. Kailua: Ho-Mook 6-70, Landon Clevenger 3-25, Koali‘i Kohatsu 3-22, Rasay 2-17, Kamryn Kahoonei 1-10.
* Junior varsity — Kamehameha 9, Kailua 6
