Iolani's KJ Pascua surges into the end zone for a score against Waimea. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Sat, Aug 20, 2016 @ Iolani [ 2:00 pm ]

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Waimea

3

Iolani

35

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Waimea (3-5-0)	3	0	0	0	3
Iolani (5-8-0)	7	14	7	7	35

• Pass
• Rush
• Rec

Tai-John Mizutani 236 yd 1 TD

Ardino Ned 9 yd

KJ Pascua 43 yd 3 TD

Cody Taniguchi 69 yd

Justin Genovia 102 yd

Caleb Ephan 9 yd

Host Iolani shook off a slow start to run past visiting Waimea, 35-3 in a non-league contest at Eddie Hamada Field Saturday afternoon.

Senior running back KJ Pascua rushed for three first-half touchdowns to help the Raiders, ranked tenth in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Division I Power Rankings, improve to 2-0 on the season.

As convincing as the final score was, the Raiders faced a deficit early on in the contest. After forcing a three-and-out on the Raiders' first possession, Waimea was able to get into range for a 26-yard field goal by Cody Taniguchi.

Iolani coach Wendell Look said that his team cannot afford to do that in the regular season in it hopes to compete in the in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I.

"If we do that in the ILH, it's going to be 21-0 before we know it. This is a good lesson for them to take. Hopefully they learn that they have to come out ready from the get go."

The Raiders responded on their next play from scrimmage with Tai-John Mizutani's 35-yard pass to Justin Genovia. Pascua capped the drive with a 1-yard blast to give Iolani a 7-3 lead with 2:26 left in the first quarter.

Iolani's next score was set up by a high Waimea snap that was recovered on the Menehune's 11-yard line. Pascua punched it in on the very next play and Evan Minami was good on the PAT to put the Raiders ahead, 14-3.

"It was a good way to start the game, we had momentum on our side, then we just had a couple of mental mislapses," said Waimea coach Jason Caldeira. "It took us a while to recover and get us out of the mental frame of that let down."

Pascua later scored on a 6-yard jaunt with 3:19 left in the second half for his final score of the game. The senior running back finished with 43 yards rushing on 11 carries before the game was over.

Mizutani added a passing touchdown early in the third quarter on a 55-yard strike to Brent Nagami and Drake Shigemura hauled in a 25-yard scoring pass from backup quarterback Jarin Yokogawa in the fourth quarter for the Raiders' final score of the day.

Waimea for the most part kept things grounded offensively, attempting just six passes to 51 run plays. Although his team averaged 2.5 yards per rush, Caldeira was proud of his team's ability to get first downs through the run.

"I'm really proud that we moved the chains. It's a blessing to be able to play a Division I team like Iolani. That's only going to get us better against Kauai High and Kapaa. We wanted to see if we can get some first downs against a D1 team and we did. I thought we did pretty well. I think we held our ground for quite a bit. Hats off to coach Wendell and the Iolani team, they're the real deal and I thank them for this opportunity."

Coach Look said that the Menehunes gave his squad a good test against a physical team.

"We don't see a lot of two back, tight end sets in the ILH so it's good that we get tested like this. Waimea is a very scrappy team."

The Menehunes will have a bye before taking on Kapaa in KIF play while Iolani will take on La Jolla Country Day (San Diego) next Saturday in the annual Father Bray Classic. La Jolla Country Day's starting quarterback Braxton Burmeister, has already given a verbal commitment to play for the University of Arizona.

"That's going to be a good test for us, to see how well we can contain a kid like that, and to see if we can compete with these mainland teams," said Look. "The main thing is we want to be tested and again we want to be physically and mentally challenged to come out ready to in full strength in the ILH because we're going to need it."