On a day where No. 9 ‘Iolani celebrated its prevalent ‘One Team’ mantra for the school’s annual Father Bray Classic, the Raiders had to overcome one player for La Jolla Country Day (Calif.) in particular.
Quarterback and Arizona commit Braxton Burmeister gave the Raiders (3-0) fits but couldn’t get the Torreys (0-1) over the hump in a 27-19 ‘Iolani victory that came down to La Jolla Country Day’s final possession.
He displayed his knack to make something out of nothing numerous times with his escapability, scrambling out of would-be sacks and turning them into first downs.
“He’s been doing that for four years,” LJCD coach Tyler Hales said. “He started since his freshman year and there’s a reason why he’s one of the best football players in the country.”
The senior went 32-for-56 with 292 passing yards, a touchdown and an interception. Additionally, he rushed for a touchdown and finished with 88 yards on 21 carries.
“He’s so elusive inside that we needed to do a better job of getting to him,” ‘Iolani coach Wendell Look said. “He did a great job of utilizing his legs and his arm to move that team and so that was an adjustment right there.”
The Torreys led 6-0 after the first quarter and were on their way to adding to the advantage in the second until Burmeister went down with a left arm injury. Backup EJ Kreutzman, a freshman, took Burmeister’s place and threw an interception two plays later.
The Raiders capitalized with a Tai-John Mizutani 24-yard touchdown pass to Justin Genovia that gave ‘Iolani its first lead of the game with 11:43 left in the half. The duo hooked up for two touchdowns in the game. Mizutani went 16-for-33 with 217 yards, while Genovia hauled in 11 passes for 145 yards.
Burmeister was inserted back into the game on the Torreys’ next possession after some work on the sidelines.
“I couldn’t feel my hand for a while but I think it’s all good now,” Burmeister said. “I took some Advil and worked my hand out a little bit and I was good to go.”
‘Iolani running back KJ Pascua scored the team’s final touchdown on a 1-yard rush that put the Raiders up 24-13 with nine seconds left in the third quarter. The senior finished with 159 yards on 31 carries.
With only 33 players listed on its roster, the Torreys were visibly gassed throughout the duration of the game.
However, with 1:18 left and the ball on their own 40, they had a chance to tie the game but couldn’t convert on fourth-and-26.
“I told them I was holding back tears. Not because we lost the game, but because I was so proud of what they just did,” Hales said. “We had pretty much every single guy out there playing really hurt and they kept going.”
“We just came out and competed,” an emotional Burmeister said. “We played one hell of a team.”
As La Jolla Country Day flies back to San Diego, ‘Iolani now shifts its focus back to ILH play, which starts with Saint Louis this Friday night at Aloha Stadium. The Crusaders provide quite the challenge under center themselves in quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, an Alabama commit.
“(Burmeister) is one of the top rated quarterbacks on the West Coast,” Mizutani said. “Just that motivation where he’s not gonna outdo any of us really helped our defense. We play the best quarterback in the country twice a year in Saint Louis.”
Correction: ‘Iolani football player Jake Angelo was misidentified as Charlie Donner in a photo caption in an earlier version of this story and in Sunday’s print edition.
