Four-time defending champion Iolani rallied from 13-3 halftime decifit to beat Kapaa, 17-13, Saturday in a semifinal of the First Hawaiian Bank Division II state football tournament at Iolani's Kozuki Stadium.

The Raiders (7-4) will play Waipahu (9-3) for the Division II title, 4 p.m. Friday at Aloha Stadium.

Receiver Tanner Nishioka rushed for two third-quarter touchdowns on runs of two and six yards to complete the comeback that was jump-started with a late second-quarter 25-yard field goal by Jordan Lee.

"You have to give those kids credit," Iolani coach Wendell Look said of Kapaa. "When we came back from Kauai, the main thing that impressed me most was Kapaa's will to get it done. They don't want to lose. What they had to go through to get to this game, the adversity that they faced, to come out of it, that shows a lot of character."

After a conservative and scoreless first quarter, the Warriors used a 15-play, 81-yard drive capped by a one-yard TD run by QB John Das. Bronson Aiwohi missed the PAT to keep it 6-0 with 8:20 left in the first quarter.

Following an interception by Keane Agoot, the Warriors scored on Das' 18-yard TD pass to Aaron Baltazar. With Aiwohi's PAT, Kapaa made it 13-0 with 5:05 left in the half.

The Raiders finally got on the board on Lee's 25-yard field goal with 1:13 to pull them to 13-3 at the half.

The Raiders scored on their first two series of the second half to take the lead, each on end around runs by Nishioka.

Concerned with Iolani's no-huddle and quick-striking offense, Kapaa tried to control the ball on the ground most of the game. Das rushed for 86 yards on 17 carries and Aiwohi for 62 on 20 carries. But the Warriors had only limited service from their top rusher, Syndreck D'Sio, who had just two carries for five yards. He a bit dinged up from the Kauai Interscholastic Federation title game against Waimea.

"They show you spread, but they're more of a running team," Look said. "They like to pound the ball, kind of ball-control you. They were missing 28 (Syndreck D'Sio). If they had him, would've been a whole different story."

Iolani did its best to control the ball, too. Lee led all rushers with 136 yards on 16 carries.

For Kapaa (8-4), it was the end of a dream season. The Warriors won their first KIF title since 1989.

"That is a team of champions," Kapaa coach Keli'i Morgado said of Iolani. "That team, they're never out of a game. We knew that. That's what we talked about at halftime. They're going to come roaring back. They always do. Just be patient and just stay in the game. And we did. We just came up a little bit short against a proven champion. It's our first time to the dance and we couldn't be more proud of this team."

The championship will be a first for Waipahu, while this will be Iolani's seventh. The Raiders have won five D2 titles. The coaches of both teams - Iolani's Look and Waipahu's Eric Keola - are Iolani graduates. Keola was a sophomore when Look was a senior on the 1977 Raiders team.

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