A short week off its biggest win of the season couldn’t derail No. 10 ‘Iolani.
The Raiders strengthened their hold on the lone Division I state berth out of the ILH with a 42-6 homecoming win over Radford on Friday night at Kozuki Stadium.
Quarterback Jonah Chong threw three touchdown passes and senior defensive back Kyler Mento returned one of his two interceptions for a touchdown in his final home game.
‘Iolani (5-2, 4-1 ILH D-I) will play its last three regular-season games on the road.
“I’m going to miss it,” Mento said. “It was one to remember. I was at safety … luckily ball was there, Lanakila (Pei) made a nice block for me and it was just kind of a team play.”
The Raiders bounced back from their first loss in Division I with a key win over Damien last weekend to move into a first-place tie with the Monarchs.
By virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker, ‘Iolani will earn the league’s berth in the state tournament if it can close the season with wins over Nanakuli, Castle and Aiea, which were a combined 4-12-1 entering Friday’s games.
‘Iolani running back Kaua Nishigaya, who rushed 41 times for 226 yards in the win over the Monarchs, had 44 yards on 13 carries with a 1-yard TD run in the second quarter.
Chong was 18-for-24 for 236 yards and junior Carter Kamana notched his fourth 100-yard receiving game of the season with seven receptions for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
“That’s kind of a good sign to have a win with the score as it was and not play your best,” ‘Iolani coach Wendell Look said. “Played a little sloppy today. This a young group who is enjoying a little bit of success and it’s always a challenge to see how they will handle the success.”
Sophomore backup quarterback Sam Faumuina added a 26-yard touchdown pass on his only attempt to Wailoa Manuel for a 42-0 lead in the fourth quarter.
The Raiders improved to 8-0 all-time against the Rams (1-6, 1-4 OIA D-I), who got a late touchdown pass from quarterback Hunter Copp to Carson Dean.
Copp finished 27-for-51 for 242 yards.
“Our offense right now is we move the ball from the 20 to 20, but we get to that red zone area and hit that wall,” Radford coach Lon Passos said. “We know ‘Iolani, how fast the no-huddle goes, so our goal on offense was to slow down their pace.”
GAME SUMMARY
No. 10 ‘Iolani 42, Radford 6
At ‘Iolani
>> Radford (1-6, 1-3) 0 0 0 6 — 6
>> ‘Iolani (5-2, 4-1) 21 7 7 7 — 42
‘Iolani — Jonah Miyazawa 11 pass from Jonah Chong (Mika Makekau kick)
‘Iolani — Carter Kamana 23 pass from Chong (Makekau kick)
‘Iolani — Kyler Mento 37 interception return (Makekau kick)
‘Iolani — Kaua Nishigaya 1 run (Makekau kick)
‘Iolani — Kamana 37 pass from Chong (Makekau kick)
‘Iolani — Wailoa Manuel 26 pass from Sam Faumuina (Makekau kick)
Radford — Carson Dean 35 pass from Hunter Copp (kick blocked)
RUSHING — Radford: Maka’ala Sakimi 1-25, Taias Savea 1-5, DeJuan James 3-3, Kendall Saxton 2-2, Matai Suitonu 1-(minus 1), Cole Ichikawa 2-(minus 2), Hunter Copp 8-(minus 5). ‘Iolani: Nishigaya 13-44, Rexton Suzuki 3-4, team 1-(minus 2), Chong 3-(minus 30).
PASSING — Radford: Copp 27-51-3-242, Sakimi 2-2-0-(minus 15). ‘Iolani: Chong 18-24-1-236, Faumuina 1-1-0-26.
RECEIVING — Radford: Tavian Bryant 6-41, Savea 6-26, Dean 5-48, Damon Nelson 4-72, Emmanual Stevenson 4-44, James 1-12, Malik Rhines 1-11, Braden Kent 1-(minus 1), Aldrich Pascual 1-(minus 26). ‘Iolani: Kamana 7-121, Miyazawa 5-62, Rayden Kaneshiro 3-42, Manuel 1-26, Ichikawa 1-6, Nishigaya 1-3, Noah Gaudi 1-2.
