Hawaiian Electric Game of the Week
Leilehua survives Iolani's second-half surge


  



Sat, Oct 5, 2019 @ Aloha Stadium [ 5:00 pm ]


Final 1 2 3 4 T
Leilehua (10-3-0) 14 14 0 028
Iolani (10-3-0) 0 7 7 1125
Jonah Chong 255 yd 3 TD
Kekoa Turangan 268 yd 4 TD
Brock Hedani 17 yd
Jamil Vereen 139 yd
Wailoa Manuel 118 yd
Jayzon Ramos 134 yd 3 TD

HALAWA — Leilehua's first win at Aloha Stadium in five years came down to the wire.

Selau Aiava recorded an interception in the back right corner of the end zone with 43 seconds remaining in the the game to help seal the 10th-ranked Mules' 28-25 win over No. 9 Iolani Saturday night.

The Mules jumped out to a 28-7 lead at the break before holding off a furious rally by the Raiders (7-2 overall) to earn their fourth straight win as they improved to 7-1 on the season.

While running back Jamil Vereen and receiver Jayzon Ramos both went over the century mark in their respective statistical categories, this game was won by the men in the trenches.

The Mules' offensive line were the unsung heroes in the team's Saturday night win over Iolani.

Ramos agreed.

“All credit goes to our O-line, 100-percent,” he said. “They gave us the seconds to pass the ball, Kekoa made the throw and the receivers got open.”

While the win had no bearing on Leilehua’s placement in the OIA Division I standings, Iolani’s loss opened the door for Damien (7-2) in the ILH D1 race.

After the Monarchs’ 48-0 win over Aiea earlier in the night, both teams sit at 5-2 in the league standings with one game remaining in the regular season. Should the two teams finish with the same record, the two teams will have a playoff to determine the ILH D1 champion.

Chong threw three TD passes to spark the Raiders’ rally before getting intercepted late in the game.

His first scoring pass came on the first play of the second quarter when he hooked up with Carter Kamana on a 4-yard throw.

The Raiders would not find the end zone until the third quarter when Brody Logan Bantolina got loose on a wheel route for a 19-yard TD.

Wailoa Manuel, who led all Iolani receivers with 10 catches for 118 yards, booted a 25-yard field goal to make it a 28-17 game with 9:36 left in the fourth quarter.

Noah Gaudi made a 28-yard grab on third-and-23 late in the game to extend an Iolani drive and came up with a 22-yard TD reception on the following play for the Raiders’ final TD of the night. Manuel caught the 2-point conversion to make the score 28-25 with 2:34 to play in the game.

Iolani travels to Castle next Friday to close out the season while Damien takes on undefeated Moanalua (8-0) at Aloha Stadium the same night.

The Mules will wrap up the regular season on the road against winless Radford (0-7).



Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].




Show your support

Every contribution, no matter the size, will help ScoringLive continue its mission to provide the best and most comprehensive coverage of high school sports in the state of Hawaii and beyond.

Please consider making a contribution today.

ADVERTISEMENT


IMAGE GALLERY



MORE STORIES

Punahou continues unbeaten streak, hands Kamehameha second straight loss

Third-ranked Warriors suffered consecutive losses in the regular season for the first time since 2017.

No. 4 Iolani rallies to hand No. 1 Kamehameha first ILH loss

Ethan Akagi and CJ Taira scored the winning runs for the Raiders off a wild pitch to hand the top-ranked...

Punahou pulls away from PAC-5 to notch first ILH win

The Buffanblu ended a five-game skid and broke into the win column to keep the Wolfpack winless in the...

Kalani's Nishigaya headlines All-OIA East selections

Forward/midfielder Kaiulani Nishigaya helped lift Falcons to first-ever league title; Kaiser's Noelani...

Trojans' Fuamatu-Maafala leads All-OIA West picks

Mililani's Iai Fuamatu-Maafala named Player of the Year; Campbell's James Curran named coach of the year.

Knights' Turcios named All-OIA East player of the year

Damon Turcios lone Castle player named to first team; Kailua's Joseph Wood named coach of the year.