'Iolani rebounds in big way, holds off Wai'anae, 21-14

'Iolani QB Reece Foy passed for 23 of 31 for 295 yards and three touchdowns against Wai'anae. Peter Caldwell | Special to SL

Reece Foy completed 23 of 31 passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions yesterday to help 'Iolani hold off Wai'anae, 21-14, in interleague action at the Raiders' Eddie Hamada Field.
Four-time defending Division II state champion 'Iolani, which was walloped by Farrington, 42-7, last week, improved to 2-1 before opening Interscholastic League of Honolulu action at 5 p.m. Friday against Damien at Aloha Stadium. Wai'anae, the reigning DI state runner-up, fell to 0-3.

Foy, a 5-foot-11, 170-pound junior, was just 11 of 28 for 71 yards with one interception and no TDs last week but was 15 of 21 for 226 yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone yesterday as the Raiders took a 14-7 lead.

"We just had to make some slight adjustments, change some angles," Foy said. "It was mostly miscommunication, but we worked hard on it all week, starting Monday. That was our mission, that we were gonna be better this week. We ran hard and threw a lot and worked on coverages. It was just a matter of getting everybody on the same page."

It was Wai'anae that struck first, however, as the Seariders marched 86 yards in just eight plays -- highlighted by Leighton Panui's 55-yard run and capped by Kekoa Kaluhiokalani's 9-yard scoring pass to Lawrence Akana with 5:26 remaining in the first quarter.

Shaughn Spencer's extra point made it 7-0.

'Iolani tied it less than a minute into the second quarter on Foy's 22-yard TD pass to Dane Arakawa and Jordan Lee's PAT, then took the lead for good eight seconds before halftime on Foy's 25-yard strike to Tanner Nishioka on third-and-18.

The Raiders opened the second half with a 12-play, 63-yard scoring drive culminating in Foy's 29-yard strike to Kasey Takahashi on fourth-and-17, but Wai'anae responded just three plays from scrimmage later when Panui ran it in from two yards out and Spencer's extra point closed it to 21-14 with 7:18 left in the third quarter.

Panui's run was set up by Jason Towne's 49-yard scamper down the left sideline.

After Cleghorn Borge recovered an 'Iolani fumble on the next play from scrimmage, the Seariders marched 53 yards in 11 plays to the 2-yard line, but Panui was stopped just short on fourth-and-goal.

The Raiders later lost the ball on downs at the Wai'anae 22 with 1:52 remaining in the game, but sophomore defensive back James Los Banos sealed it two plays later with an interception near midfield as 'Iolani was able to run out the clock with the Seariders out of timeouts.

"We played it a little conservative at the end (on offense), but we wanted to test the kids on defense and see what they what they were made of," Raiders coach Wendell Look said. "Our defense was abused last week, but they played a heck of a second half today and they made two huge fourth-down stops. We wanted to see if they could respond again by making a game-winning play, and they did."

Wai'anae finished with 297 yards rushing, led by Sean Stevens-Sadamaru's 122 yards on 16 carries.