Iolani blanks Kealakehe for 2nd straight win


Conor Hannum caught six passes for 77 yards and three scores to lead Iolani to a 37-0 win over visiting Kealakehe at Eddie Hamada Field Saturday afternoon.

With the win the Raiders improved to 2-0 and picked up their first victory over a Division I team since making the jump from Division II. The Waveriders fell to 1-1.

"We had a great week of practice," said Hannum. "We were well prepared, watched a lot of film and did a lot of scout work. Our receivers coach Armond Chong put a lot of extra work this week and I feel like he in particular really got me ready this week."

Iolani scored on its first three possessions of the game to jump out to a 17-0 lead with 3:36 to go in the opening quarter. Raiders' coach Wendell Look was pleased with the offensive effort after going scoreless in the first quarter in the team's opener against Kamehameha-Maui last week.

"I liked how we came back offensively," said Look. "I thought we started of real slow against Kamehameha-Maui — but today we came right out of the shoot and did a good job. We executed right, made pretty good decisions, caught the ball a whole lot better today and the run game was a little more effective, which it needs to be."

Running back KJ Pascua carried the ball for 55 yards and bookend the Raiders' scoring with touchdown runs from four and 26 yards out.

"He runs the ball like a horse," Hannum said about Pascua. "O-line did a good job of getting the push. When he's running, I don't think there is a lot of people that can stop him. If we go out there and give him the ball, we're going to have a good day."

Keoni-Kordell Makekau booted a 39-yard field goal and Evan Minami was 4-for-5 on PATs to round out the Raiders' scoring.

Defensively the Raiders held Kealakehe to just eight yards of total offense in the first half. Christian Naeole finished with three tackles and a sack and Kevin Matsuoka and Chad Sanehira each had an interception. 

"That's what we expect from our defense," said Look. "They are going to have to pay at the level for us to play on the Division I level, I think next week is going to be the test for us, especially defensively because Farrington is gargantuan up front, that's what we got to be able to stop."

The Raiders host the Governors next Saturday at 2 p.m.

Kealakehe had a chance to get on the scoreboard in the second half with a 23-yard touchdown reception from Riggs Kurashige, but it was wiped out due to a false start penalty.

Pulama Louis was a bright spot for Kealakehe, finishing with a game-high seven tackles.

The Waveriders were without two of their top two running backs in the contest. Kobe Antolin, who scored two touchdowns in the team's season-opener, popped his MCL against Maui and Ini Paio suffered a hairline fracture in the leg during practice.



Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].