Adversity has brought the best out of St. Francis.

The Saints responded to losses to Damien and ‘Iolani with elite performances against both teams, highlighted by a must-win 43-19 thumping of the Raiders on Friday at Kozuki Stadium.

Sophomore running back Jonan Aina-Chaves rushed for 169 yards and four touchdowns, and the defense, which allowed 45 points to ‘Iolani two weeks ago, held the Raiders to a season-low 19 points to advance to the championship game of the ILH second round on Oct. 21 against the Monarchs. St. Francis shut out Damien a week ago, 19-0.

“Our seniors aren’t ready for this (season) to end. Our coaches aren’t ready for this to end, and our supporting cast is not ready for this to end,” Saints coach Kip Akana said. “The boys came out and played with an urgency.”

The Saints (7-3) ran the ball on all eight plays of their first drive, with senior Tyson Shimabukuro scoring on a 30-yard run.

Aina-Chaves took over from there, scoring the Saints’ next four touchdowns, all on the ground.

St. Francis outscored ‘Iolani 19-6 in the second half and intercepted Raiders quarterback Tai-John Mizutani twice.

Trailing 29-13 midway through the third quarter, the Raiders (4-5) had driven inside the Saints’ 10 when Mizutani tried to lob a touch pass over the linebacker in the middle of the end zone for a touchdown. Shimabukuro, playing his first game of the season on defense, leaped up and made the jarring pick for the Saints.

“I haven’t been able to get into the game much, (so playing defense) was a nice opportunity,” Shimabukuro said. “I saw (the receiver) kind of late and dropped back and saw the ball and honestly I just tried to hit it down. It came into my body and I caught it.”

Mizutani finished 35-for-55 for 305 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Five different receivers had at least five catches for ‘Iolani, including senior Justin Genovia, whose 7-yard reception in the third quarter made him the ninth receiver on Oahu with more than 2,000 career receiving yards.

Genovia injured his shoulder on the play, however, and did not return. He was in a sling on the sideline for the fourth quarter.

‘Iolani, by virtue of finishing higher than Pac-Five in the first round of ILH play, secured a berth in the Division II state tournament.

The Saints need to beat Damien twice over the next two weeks to win the league Divison II title and clinch a berth in the Division I state tournament.

“We just wanted to make sure when we come back Monday we had practice,” Shimabukuro said. “It’s ride or die right now. We want that championship.”