‘Iolani coach Wendell Look had limited resources to prepare for Waimea, so he decided to stick to what he knows.
The Raiders (2-0), using their balanced offensive attack, ran to set up the pass and passed to set up the run en route to an easy 35-3 victory over the Menehunes (1-1) of the KIF.
“We had a hard week of practice, and a good week of practice,” Look said. “We were focused on ourselves. We prepared for Waimea with some different sets.”
The win gave Look career victory No. 175 in 26 years at the helm at ‘Iolani.
After falling behind 3-0, the Raiders scored 35 unanswered points and were boosted by three first-half rushing touchdowns by senior running back KJ Pascua, who finished with 43 yards on 14 carries.
“My approach was just to try to run hard, make my reads because I knew my line would block for me and they did solid today. It’s all because of them,” Pascua said.
Pascua, a three-year starter, is a staple in the Raiders offense. Regardless of the opponent, Look is aware of what he has in his backfield.
“KJ is gonna be one of our guys who gets touches. He’s gonna touch the ball because he’s gonna produce for us, so when we can, we’re gonna give it to him,” Look said. “We might give it to him 40 times a game, we might throw it 40 times a game, but he’s gonna touch the ball.”
On defense, the Raiders held the rush-heavy Waimea offense to just six passing attempts, one of which was intercepted.
After a breakout performance in which he went 18-for-23 for 245 yards and three touchdowns in the season opener against Radford, junior Tai-John Mizutani passed for a steady 13-for-24, throwing for 236 yards with a touchdown and interception.
“Offensively, I thought we did a pretty good job today,” Mizutani said. “A few turnovers and penalties, but those can be fixed during practice. For the most part I think we executed well. Our receivers made some good catches and that helped us move the ball.”
Before facing the rigors of an ILH season, the Raiders will now shift their focus to Saturday’s Father Bray Classic game against La Jolla Country Day (Calif) at home.
“It’s going to be a test. They have a lot of good guys and around 18 returning starters from last year,” Mizutani said. “It’s going to be tough.”
