‘Iolani’s dominance on Saturday pushed Raiders coach Wendell Look to a milestone 28 years in the making.
Amid the festivities surrounding the annual Father Bray Memorial Classic, the host Raiders celebrated a 55-14 rout of No. 9 Waipahu, giving Look his 190th coaching victory to break a tie with Waianae great Larry Ginoza — another ‘Iolani graduate — for second in Hawaii high school history.
With Saturday’s win, only Saint Louis’ Cal Lee has more wins than Look with 274, and counting.
“(Ginoza) was always someone I admired and looked up to,” Look said. “How his teams were tough and disciplined and they played the game right. We still scrimmage them every year because it’s good for our kids to be exposed to that kind of mentality and attitude.”
The Raiders (2-0) opened their OIA-ILH Division I regular-season schedule against a Waipahu team coming off a 34-13 upset of Waianae and overcame an early stumble to race to a 48-0 lead before halftime.
‘Iolani’s first possession ended with quarterback Jonah Chong losing a fumble at the Raiders’ 28. But one play later, sophomore lineman Shayden Molina stripped the ball away from Waipahu running back Alfred Failauga and Lanakila Pei scooped up the loose ball and raced 58 yards to the Waipahu 8.
After Kaua Nishigaya punched in a 1-yard touchdown run, Pei struck again for the ‘Iolani defense with a 12-yard interception return for a touchdown.
“Our defense is going to set the tone for us,” Look said. “They’re moving all over the place and making plays.”
Pei came up with another interception later in the first period to set up a score and Molina forced his second fumble late in the second quarter that Tom Topinka returned 50 yards to set up a field goal by Mika Makekau to punctuate the first-half blitz.
In between, Chong found his rhythm with ‘Iolani’s assortment of experienced receivers and completed 18 of 24 attempts for 221 yards and four touchdowns in less than a half of action.
NEXT FRIDAY
OIA-ILH OPEN DIVISION
>> Punahou at Kapolei, 7:30 p.m.
>> Kahuku at Waianae, 7:30 p.m.
OIA-ILH DIVISION I
>> Aiea at Moanalua, 7:30 p.m.
>> ‘Iolani at Kailua, 7:30 p.m.
>> Waipahu at Radford, 7:30 p.m.
OIA-ILH DIVISION II
>> St. Francis at Waialua, 6 p.m.
>> Kaiser at Pearl City, 7:30 p.m.
>> Kaimuki at Roosevelt, 7:30 p.m.
MIL
>> Lahainaluna vs. Baldwin, at War Memorial Stadium, 7 p.m.
NONLEAGUE
>> American Leadership Academy (Gilbert, Ariz.) at Kamehameha-Maui, 7 p.m.
>> Narbonne (Los Angeles) vs. Saint Louis, at Aloha Stadium, 7 p.m.
>> Classical Academy (Escondido, Calif.) vs. Waimea, at Hanapepe Stadium, 7 p.m.
>> Honokaa (11-man) at Molokai (8-man) 7 p.m.
Jonah Miyazawa led the group with six catches for 89 yards, including touchdowns covering 38 and 15 yards. Chong also threw touchdown passes to Rayden Kaneshiro and Carter Kamana, who took a quick hitch on the left side and crossed the width of the field for a 28-yard score.
“(Chong’s) got a lot of weapons he can use, so he cannot go out there and try to force plays,” Look said. “The plays will come, they plays are there, so he just has to let it work for him.”
Kyler Mento, one of the Raiders’ defensive playmakers, returned the opening kickoff of the third quarter 95 yards for ‘Iolani’s final touchdown.
Waipahu (1-1), with just half its roster eligible for the season’s first two weeks, broke through when Cody Marques completed a 49-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Fiesta. Marques later scored on a 2-yard run.
“Coming into the season knowing we had these two games with our situation, it was if we can come out 1-1, I thought it was a plus,” Waipahu coach Bryson Carvalho said. “The plus side is we have the whole season to learn from a lot of the mistakes we made today.”
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GAME SUMMARY
‘Iolani 55, No. 9 Waipahu 14
At Kozuki Stadium
>> Waipahu (1-1, 0-0) 0 0 7 7 — 14
>> ‘Iolani (2-0, 1-0) 28 20 7 0 — 55
‘Iolani — Kaua Nishigaya 1 run (Mika Makekau kick)
‘Iolani — Lanakila Pei 12 interception return (Makekau kick)
‘Iolani — Rayden Kaneshiro 27 pass from Jonah Chong (Makekau kick)
‘Iolani — Jonah Miyazawa 38 pass from Chong (Makekau kick)
‘Iolani — FG Makekau 20
‘Iolani — Miyazawa 15 pass from Chong (Makekau kick)
‘Iolani — Carter Kamana 28 pass from Chong (Makekau kick)
‘Iolani — FG Makekau 24
‘Iolani — Kyler Mento 95 kickoff return (Makekau kick)
Waipahu — Matthew Fiesta 49 pass from Cody Marques (Brycen Amorozo kick)
Waipahu — Marques 2 run (Amorozo kick)
RUSHING — Waipahu: Alfred Failauga 26-59, Marques 11-(-31). ‘Iolani: Nishigaya 16-33, Rexton Suzuki 3-8, Kaneshiro 1-11, Chong 1-(-7).
PASSING — Waipahu: Marques 10-24-2-179. ‘Iolani: Chong 18-24-0-221, Samuel Faumuina 2-3-0-12, Tate Shimao 4-4-0-23.
RECEIVING — Waipahu: Matthew Fiesta 3-68, Jovan Gooman 3-60, Failauga 2-35, Devin Espiritu 2-14. ‘Iolani: Miyazawa 6-89, Kamana 5-55, Kaneshiro 4-56, Noah Gaudi 4-13, Cole Ichikawa 2-6, Nishigaya 1-16, Wailoa Manuel 1-12, Rexton Suzuki 1-9.
