Wyatt Ho-Williams ran for a 6-yard touchdown with 2:43 left as Saint Damien hung on for a 20-13 win over ‘Iolani, securing a Division I state-tournament berth.
‘Iolani started its ensuing series at its 30-yard line, but on fourth-and-10, Nixon Ling’s deep pass was intercepted by Shaesten Pakele-Akau. The Monarchs took over with 1:15 left.
A holding penalty on Saint Damien was accepted by ‘Iolani, giving the Monarchs a repeat of third down in the final minute. With ‘Iolani out of timeouts, the Monarchs ran out the clock to seal their spot in the state tourney.
The Monarchs had 137 penalty yards but made up for it with stout defense in the red zone.
“We’ve got to clean up those penalties. That last touchdown (‘Iolani) scored, we kept that drive alive,” Saint Damien coach Anthony Tuitele said.
Saint Damien’s defense had three stops when ‘Iolani drove into the red zone. Steele DeRego and Kuhio Hoohuli led a fierce unit. Hoohuli’s sack and fumble recovery set up the game-winning TD in the final minutes.
“They brought the energy,” Tuitele said. “I feel relieved. The way this game went, our season has been like that. We’re trying to control all our players’ energy and use it well.”
The wheel of fate was decidedly against the Monarchs coming into the game. Quarterback Tonga Tuifua suffered a head injury against ‘Iolani last week and was in school uniform for the tiebreaker game.
However, two plays into ‘Iolani’s first series, workhorse running back Jadon Anzai suffered a shoulder injury and did not return.
The teams finished ILH D-I regular-season play tied at 2-1 after ‘Iolani beat Saint Damien 28-18 last weekend.
When the teams met back on Sept. 25, Saint Damien won 35-14 at Farrington’s Skippa Diaz Stadium.
On Saturday, a windy night at Kaiser Stadium had a big impact on the kicking game for both teams. Without Tuifua, the Monarchs could’ve been very conservative. Rather than be deliberate and eat the clock, Saint Damien was in semi-hurry-up mode in the opening possession. With ‘Iolani’s defense leaning toward Ho-Williams, he handed the ball to Namoca three times for 35 yards. When the Raiders played toward Namoca, Ho-Williams ran the mesh handoff to perfection. His first run picked up 46 yards. The next was a 15-yard TD up the right B-gap, and Saint Damien led 7-0 with 9:06 left in the first quarter.
With a strong wind at their backs, the Raiders settled on a 40-yard field goal by Ty Mitsunaga with 6:39 left in the opening quarter.
The Monarchs made it 2-for-2 with scoring drives. Ho-Williams’ 19-yard TD pass to Blazyn Toafe opened the lead to 13-3 with 1:14 to go in the first quarter.
Without Anzai, ‘Iolani relied heavily on a short-passing game.
A personal foul on Saint Damien pushed the ball to the Monarchs’ 7-yard line, but an intentional grounding penalty was followed by offensive holding. On fourth-and-25, Ling’s short pass fell incomplete with just over one minute to go in the first half.
A 64-yard, coffin-corner punt pinned Saint Damien at its 3-yard line early in the third quarter. After flipping field position, the Raiders got the ball back and drove to the 3-yard line. The Monarchs stopped RB David Main for a 2-yard loss. On fourth down, Ling’s pass to Main in the end zone fell incomplete with 5:37 left in the third quarter.
Ho-Williams threw his second interception of the third quarter, picked off by Jett Katayama. His 18-yard return got a bonus when Saint Damien was whistled for a personal foul. The Raiders had the ball in the red zone again at the 11-yard line.
After stalling again, the Raiders got a 36-yard field goal from Mitsunaga, cutting the lead to 13-6 with 13.9 seconds to go in the third stanza.
The most bizarre play involved a Saint Damien interception return, a fumble and a fumble recovery and return of 15 yards.
A roughing-the-passer penalty was tacked on to the end of the play, giving ‘Iolani first down at the 15-yard line.
Two plays later, Ling found Aka Lau Kong just inside the goal line for a 6-yard TD pass. That tied it at 13 with 9:10 remaining.
On fourth-and-1 from their 29-yard line, Ling snuck for a first down with 5:53 to go.
Two plays later, Hoohuli sacked Ling, knocking the football loose and recovering at the ‘Iolani 28-yard line.
