Iolani pulls away from Damien in the second half, 37-14

Iolani wide reciever Keoni-Kordell Makekau lays out in mid-air to make a pass reception against Damien. Brien Ing | SL

It was a runaway after the break.

Keoni-Kordell Makekau kicked three field goals and caught nine passes for 155 yards and a touchdown to lead Iolani over Damien, 37-14, in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu game at Kozuki Stadium Friday afternoon. The Raiders, ranked No. 2 in the ScoringLive/OC16 Division II Power Rankings, improved to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in league play.

Damien (1-1, 0-1), the tenth-ranked team in the same power rankings, was outscored by 20 points in the second half.

“We just came out flat in the second half,” said Damien coach Eddie Klaneski. “I think we got away from out game plan offensively. I think we may have panicked a little bit. It was just tough. We had guys playing both ways and guys were getting banged up.”

Defensively the Raiders were more stingy after the break. Damien quarterback Dallas Labanon was 10-for-14 passing in the first half, but was just 6-of-17 with three interceptions in the second.

“We just had the fire. Coming into the third quarter, our coach really wanted three-and-outs and that’s what we strived for,” said Iolani’s Wyatt Ma’a. The senior strong safety recorded the first interception on Labanon.

“We really faced adversity in the first half,” continued Ma’a.”We just wanted to come out and show that we can play and we can’t give up. We just came out fiery on each play. One team, one D.”

Recording the other two interceptions for Iolani was linebacker Melvin Hoomanawanui and cornerback Bradley Hayashi.

Offensively Iolani had the services of Austin Jim On at the controls. The senior quarterback completed 17 of his 24 pass attempts for 249 yards and two touchdowns. Jim On also had a string of 11 straight completions during the game.

“I thought Austin did a hell-of-a-job managing the game, being very efficient and making great decisions with the ball. He was very accurate and on time,” Iolani coach Wendell Look said on Jim On. “When you have a quarterback at that level mentally, it creates a very nice flow in the game.”

The Raiders were also able to pile on 167 rushing yards for a net total of 416 yards of offense. Running back KJ Pascua led the ground attack with 137 yards and a score.

Iolani was red hot to start the contest, scoring on its first three drives. Makekau gave Iolani a quick 3-0 lead with a 25-yard boot. Pascua added to scoreboard a drive later with a seven-yard touchdown run. Evan Minami’s PAT gave Iolani a 10-0 lead with 3:20 to go in the first quarter.

The Monarchs scored on a Labanon one-yard sneak early in the second half to get on the board. The Raiders answered in less than a minute thanks to a receiving touchdown by Makekau. The junior wideout turned a simple seven-yard curl route into a 61-yard score down the left sideline.

“As an athlete you have to watch film and I knew that they were weak on the outside,” explained Makekau. “I was supposed to run towards the inside but I turned it outside and I was gone.”

Damien scored its last touchdown of the game on a 35-yard touchdown catch by Kapiinaokala King with just under a minute remaining in the first half.

Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].