Damien holds off late Baldwin rally to set semifinal rematch with Kapaa

Brian Bautista | SL

Damien survived a scare from upset-minded Baldwin, escaping with a 28-14 win over the Bears to set up a semifinal rematch with defending state champion Kapaa in the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Division I Championships.

Quarterback AJ Tuifua factored into all four of the Monarchs' scores, rushing for three touchdowns and throwing for another, completing 18 of 31 pssses for 265 yards.

His biggest throw of the evening came in the form of 56 yard bomb to Wyatt Ho-Willams in the closing minutes, a completion that eventually up Damien with an all important insurance score.

"Me and AJ had the connection the entire game," said Ho-Williams, who finished with seven grabs for 170 yards, both game highs. "We knew we had to do something to seal the game already and that's what we did."

The duo also hooked up for the game's opening score, a 21 yard strike at the 10:07 mark, and the speedy wideout had nearly reached the century mark in yardage after just the first quarter.

None of the offensive antics in those closing minutes happen, however, without the goal stand near its defense. The Bears, momentum clearly swinging in their favor after a long completion that set the MIL champs in prime position to equalize the score, never materialized, as the Damien defense forced a turnover on downs.

"I had to tell them (the defense) it was on us," said Tyven Self-Gomes-Kelakai of that goal line sequence. "It was two-minute drill and we had to stop (Baldwin) there, not leave it to the offense."

A holding call that nullified what would have been a game-tying score, definitely hurt.

Tuifua's offensive output was matched, and then some perhaps, by the performance of Baldwin's dual threat QB Jordan Carbonell, who threw for 125 yards and rushed for that exact total, accounting for 250 of the team's 275 yard total.

"It was just of strategizing around him," said Self-Gomes-Kelakai of Carbonell. "We knew he was going to take the ball and do his thing."

The Bears made its first appearance in the state tournament since 2019, where it lost to Leilehua 34-7. It was looking for its first state tourney win since 2011.

As for the context of the rematch, Damien faced off last year with Warriors as the three seed and the Monarchs as the two, with the visiting KIF champs outscoring the ILH representatives, 55-33.