Kelii Ruiz rules Kaua‘i rush

Kaua‘i 40, Roosevelt 9 – Kaua‘i High School scored five second-half touchdowns in the 40-9 crushing of visiting Roosevelt High School in the First Hawaiian Bank Division II State Championship quarterfinals last night at Vidinha Stadium.

Kelii Ruiz rushed for 171 yards in 24 carries with two touchdowns, his final TD coming in with 13 seconds to go. Peleku Yasay, the sophomore running back brought up from the junior varsity squad came up with 90 yards on nine carries with a pair of touchdowns.

“Junior varsity and varsity duplicated. That’s how we play football at Kaua‘i High School,” first-year varsity head coach Derek Borrero said in congratulating the team. “You showed them you were for real.”

Starting quarterback Trent Allianic put Kaua‘i on the boards, in the first quarter, when he found an open slot in the middle and ran for a 73-yard touchdown. He would later leave the game early completing six catches on 10 attempts for 52 yards.

Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation Offensive Player of the Year Andrew Renaud, who started the game in the slot position, moved to quarterback to take over for Allianic. Renaud completed a 20-yard pass to wide receiver Tyrus Ceria-Lux for another Red Raider touchdown.

Defensively for the Raiders, Defensive Player of the Year Darren Satta, Joey Banasihan, Chad Koga, Kupa Gracochea combined for seven sacks.

Keala Lovell caught one interception.

For Roosevelt, Alex Fowler kicked a 25-yard field goal in the second quarter and running back Ranson Tuitama caught a 13-yard pass from Shon Fujii in the third quarter.

The Raiders (8-1, 5-1 KIF) advance to the semifinals to play No. 2 ‘Iolani School (4-6, 3-4 Interscholastic League of Honolulu) at 2 p.m. Saturday at ‘Iolani.

In other Division II action, No. 4 Kaimuki High School defeated Kamehameha Schools Hawai‘i 22-0.

Kaimuki also advance to the semifinals and faces top-ranked Lahainaluna High School at 7 p.m. Saturday at the War Memorial Stadium.