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Brandon Ching | ScoringLiveNovember 4, 2023, 6:05am
Fri, Nov 3, 2023 @ Radford [ 6:30 pm ]
ALIAMANU—The Monarchs are the new kings of the ILH.
AJ Tuifua and Sylas Alaimalo powered the offense and No. 13 Damien got a goal line stop in the end to hold off No. 14 Iolani, 42-37, in a thrilling ILH Division I winner-take-all contest at Radford's John E. Velasco Stadium Friday.
The Monarchs (8-3 overall, 6-1 ILH) rode a four-game win streak and reached the HHSAA/First Hawaiian Bank Division I Football State Championships for the first time since 2017, when it reached the state final that year and lost to eventual champion Hilo, 35-19.
"That's all I wanted to do. Shout out to coach Eddie (Klaneski). He gave me the keys to the program and I wanted to make him proud for what he built and I wanted to continue to build it. I knew the first year was going to be a rough year but now we here in my third year. I wanted to make him proud, knowing he left the program in good terms and making the alumni proud," third-year Damien coach and 2009 alumnus Anthony "Bones" Tuitele said.
In the bracket reveal, Damien drew No. 12 Farrington, the OIA Division I runner-up, to set up an all-Kalihi first round meeting at Kaiser Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. Winner of that game advances to face second seed and OIA champion Waipahu in the semifinals the following week.
The Raiders end their season with a 6-3 overall record, 5-2 in the ILH and failed to qualify for the state tournament for the first time since 2015.
"Iolani has been running this division for so long. Respect to them and coach Wendell (Look) but our boys knew what was at stake and we believed and fought and we did our thing today," Tuitele said.
Tuifua completed 11 of his 21 pass attempts for 232 yards, four scores without an interception.
Nalu Chinen-Zablan caught two touchdowns and a team-high 86 receiving yards and had five kick off return attempts for 121 yards.
CJ Villanueva was 8-for-8 passing on a 15-play, 71 yard drive and Iolani got down to the Damien 1 yard line after he completed a 13-yard pass to Hyrum Horita. Ronin Fanelli was stuffed for no-gain and the Raiders had to call their final timeout with 18.1 seconds left.
"We have to trust our defense and have our defense do their job. They did, they stopped them and we came away with the win," Tuifua said.
Kekama Kane's would-be touchdown catch was no good as he was deemed to have stepped out of bounds in the back of the end zone. Villanueva went to Kane again, but he could not haul it in to bring up fourth-and-goal with 8.4 seconds left.
Taniela Taliauli lined up in the slot, Villanueva got it to him and as he reached out for the goal line, Wyatt Ho-Williams stopped him short for a turnover on downs.
"Once I saw him coming in, this ball was going to go to him. I was going to watch out for him and the ball went straight to him and did my job," Ho-Williams said of the game-saving stop.
"He's their best player for a reason," Tuitele said of Taliauli. "We had our best player on him and he had a chance to make a play and tie the game up. Our freshman came up and did his thing. He came a long way and happy for that kid."
Iolani was 2 of 5 on fourth down conversions.
Damien took over and kneeled it in the end zone for a safety to end the game.
"Our defense dug deep. This whole year, they've been struggling. I'm happy for our defense getting the stop. I told my guys to take us home and that's what they did," Tuitele said.
Villanueva passed for 369 yards, three touchdowns on 32-of-56 passing without an interception.
Like their first two matchups, Damien and Iolani traded points on offense.
"It was a hard war between the two teams that kept going back-and-forth. We pulled it off, we did our job, listened to our coaches and worked hard every single week and we pulled it off," Ho-Williams said.
Alaimalo rushed for 228 yards and two scores on 20 carries and overcame three lost fumbles. He caught a 9-yard pass to open the series but Iolani recovered the fumble. Damien's defense forced a three-and-out and Alaimalo rewarded them with a 91-yard run for a 7-0 lead.
Kane caught 14 passes for 192 yards and reeled a 5-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7.
Damien took the lead after Tuifua found a wide-open Ian Sera near their own sideline for a 55-yard touchdown.
Two of Alaimalo's fumbles lead to Iolani points. Taliauli recovered the fumble on the 8. Four plays later on fourth-and-goal, Kane took the reverse for a 3-yard score to tie the game at 14.
"I'll be honest this game describes his life," Tuitele said of Alaimalo. "We were struggling in the beginning and we faced a lot of adversity. The kid brushed it off and did his thing. We all knew he can stick this adversity and fight through. The game reminded me of his life and I'm happy for this team, the parents and this program.
Iolani took the lead, 21-14 after Noah Sakuda knocked the ball loose and Zion Junk recovered it on the 24. The Raiders converted another four-play scoring drive with Villanueva's 12-yard keeper.
Damien tied the game with a three-play drive capped by Tuifua's 63-yard touchdown pass to Dayton Savea, who caught four passes for 78 yards.
Alaimalo reclaimed the lead for the Monarchs with a 54-yard touchdown run to make it, 28-21 with 6:13 to go in the second half.
Iolani answered with a eight-play, 69 yard drive as Kane caught his second touchdown from 16 yards out to tie the game at 28.
Alaimalo and Tuifua converted three third downs with long runs and Nalu Chinen-Zablan caught a 17-yard score from Tuifua with 20.7 seconds to go up, 35-28 at halftime.
The Raiders scored on their opening possession in the second half. Kane converted a third-and-9 with a 14-yard grab and Fanelli broke loose for a 22-yard run. Jaeden Park's 16-yard pass set up Villanueva's 15-yard screen pass to Jadon Anzai to tie the game at 35.
Iolani forced a Damien turnover on downs and got to the Monarchs' 7 on eight plays. However, back-to-back sacks by Ethan Ramos and Brayden Taum pushed Iolani back to their 32. Micah Neizmen knocked away a pass to force a turnover on downs.
Each team traded two punts before Damien got its go-ahead score with 6:41 left and started on their own 21. The Monarchs reached their own 45, but Chinen-Zablan was stopped 3 yards short on third down. Damien called timeout and went for it on fourth-and-3.
"When I called that timeout, I said, ‘This is going to set our game right here. This is going to be our game and let's roll the dice. They said, ‘Coach let's go, let's do this. I told the offense, games are going to come down to us. We came up clutch and shout out to my defense for coming up clutch," Tuitele said.
Tuifua went to Chinen-Zablan, who broke tackles on his way to a 48-yard touchdown with 4:18 left in the fourth and Kawakami's kick made it, 42-35.
"I got to trust Nalu and my receivers for blocking. Nela (Taliauli), he's a good guy, he's a dawg. He was batting down balls and I had to get it over Nela and trust Nalu to do his thing," Tuifua said.
"I was trying to get the first down to be honest, keep the drive alive," Tuitele said of the play call. "It was a screen to him and used Sy (Sylas) as a decoy and getting the ball out to him. He made a play and this is where we're at now. I've been waiting for Nalu and happy for him."
Samuel Kawakami went 6-for-6 on PATs and Marcos King went 5-for-5.
Iolani won the first matchup, 63-56 on Sept. 22 but Damien returned the favor and won the second contest, 69-35.
Fourth seed and MIL champion No. 8 Lahainaluna faces fifth seed and KIF champion No. 10 Kapaa in the other bracket. Winner will face defending Division I state champion and the tournament's top seed Konawaena at Julian Yates Field.
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