Roosevelt's Kekai Kaimikaua wraps up Kamehameha-Hawaii's Austin Wilson in a Division II state tournament game. Brien Ing | SL

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Roosevelt's Kekai Kaimikaua wraps up Kamehameha-Hawaii's Austin Wilson in a Division II state tournament game. Brien Ing | SL

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KEAAU, Hawaii — It was an ugly win, but the Roosevelt football team will take it.

Despite a struggling offense, defense and special teams powered the visiting Rough Riders to a 31-7 win over fourth-seeded Kamehameha-Hawaii Saturday night in the opening round of the First Hawaiian Bank Division II Football State Championships at Paiea Stadium.

Roosevelt (10-2) scored 17 points off of turnovers and moves on to meet three-time defending state champion Lahainaluna (9-1) next Saturday at Sue D. Cooley Stadium.

The Rough Riders held the Warriors (10-4) to just 108 yards of total offense as they totaled 18 tackles for loss with three fumble recoveries.

"Our defensive performance was at its ‘A' game," said Keneke Gusman, who had six tackles for loss for Roosevelt. "Even though we let up one touchdown, I believe throughout the whole game we held it down as a defensive unit."

Roosevelt's defensive effort was matched by the Warriors, who pressured Sky Ogata into throwing four interceptions.

Still, the rest of the Rough Riders had each other's backs.

"A win is a win," said linebacker Shepherd Kekahuna, who scored on a 39-yard fumble return to give Roosevelt a 17-0 lead late in the second quarter. "We had some downs here and there and one of our teammates was down, but we just have to come back next week and work twice as hard."

Kekahuna provided a jolt offensively with two TD runs, the Rough Riders' final two scores of the night.

"I'm willing to do anything for my team to come out victorious," said Kekahuna. "They needed me on offense so I went on offense and did what I needed to do for my team."

After KS-Hawaii's Izayah Chartrand-Penera picked off Ogata on a deep throw down the right sideline, the Roosevelt offense got the ball back in good field position after Kalua Nahale blocked a punt that put the Rough Riders at the Warriors' 15-yard line.

Three plays later Ogata connected with Chase Akana on a 15-yard TD pass to give Roosevelt a 7-0 lead with 6:38 showing on the first quarter scoreboard.

Roosevelt's defense came away with its first takeaway of the game on the ensuing series when Ty DeBrum picked off Koby Tabuyo-Kahale inside KS-Hawaii territory. This help set up Isaac Segawa's 29-yard field goal to put the Rough Riders up by 10 points after the first quarter.

Kekahuna's scoop-and-score came one play after the Warriors converted a fourth-and-1 in a wildcat set. A bad snap opened the door for Kekahuna to burst through to the end zone.

A fumble derailed the Warriors' drive again on the following possession. Kaeo Akana stripped sack Tabuyo-Kahale and Kekai Kaimikaua was able to return it 10 yards to the 5-yard line to set up Kekahuna's 2-yard TD run to give the Rough Riders a 24-0 lead with 2:33 remaining in the first half.

The Warriors made a change behind center after the Kekahuna's TD run and remained competitive with freshman Michael Perry at the controls.

Perry got KS-Hawaii on the scoreboard on a 6-yard TD pass to Chartrand-Penera to make it a 24-7 game with 9:26 left in regulation.

Both teams ended up punting on their next possession before a 61-yard run by Mitchel Camacho led to Kekahuna's 1-yard TD run with 3:50 remaining in the game.