HONOLULU — The Kaua‘i High School Red Raiders gave themselves chances to become the first KIF team to ever win an HHSAA football state championship, but ended up on the short end of a 24-17 battle with the ‘Iolani Raiders,
HONOLULU — The Kaua‘i High School Red Raiders gave themselves chances to become the first KIF team to ever win an HHSAA football state championship, but ended up on the short end of a 24-17 battle with the ‘Iolani Raiders, Friday night in Honolulu.
Even after suffering their lone defeat of the season after 11 straight wins, Kaua‘i head coach Derek Borrero said it was “chilling” to be able to watch his seniors get to play their final high school game at Aloha Stadium.
“They are so disciplined, they sacrificed a lot to be here,” he said. “I’m just happy we had this opportunity.”
The start of the game was a worst-case scenario for Kaua‘i, as Trey Shimabukuro’s first pass on the game’s first play from scrimmage was intercepted by ‘Iolani defensive back Reid Saito and taken 36 yards for a touchdown. Just 13 seconds into the contest, it was 7-0 ‘Iolani.
Though it was a shock to the system, Borrero said the team was still up emotionally. He felt like it was a wake-up call, but in a positive sense.
“That play made us realize we’re not on Kaua‘i,” he said. “It was an eye-opener for us.”
The interception was the first of nine first-half turnovers for the two teams. ‘Iolani had six giveaways to Kaua‘i’s, but the best the Red Raiders could manage was a 10-10 halftime tie, never taking the lead in an eventual one-touchdown defeat.
Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation Defensive Player of the Year Cameron Largusa came up with four takeaways by himself on the night, picking off three ‘Iolani passes and coming up with a fumble recovery to keep Kaua‘i close.
The magnitude of the game was not lost on Kaua‘i, or Coach Borrero.
“A small percent of these guys played here in Pop Warner, but it’s the first time for most of them.”
Borrero said that when he and the team got off the team bus to enter the stadium tunnels, he purposely walked behind his players so he could take in their excitement.
“It’s like Christmas on Dec. 4,” he said.
In Shimabukuro’s final game for Kaua‘i, the KIF Offensive Player of the Year was 21 of 43 for 204 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions against a strong ‘Iolani squad that walked away with its third consecutive HHSAA championship and fourth in five years.
Following the opening-drive interception, Kaua‘i went three and out on its next possession, putting ‘Iolani’s offense on the field for the first time. Largusa returned the favor for his squad, intercepting the first pass from Jarrett Arakawa.
Kaua‘i settled down and responded with a 12-play drive that resulted in a 40-yard field goal made by Shea Shimabukuro, cutting the score to 7-3 with 6:36 to play in the first quarter.
‘Iolani put together its own 12-play drive, which ended with a 28-yard field goal make by Andrew Skalman, giving ‘Iolani the 10-3 edge with 1:04 to play in the first.
Largusa continued to come up huge for the Red Raiders, intercepting two more Arakawa passes in the second quarter. Each were big plays to thwart ‘Iolani drives, as both occurred inside the Kaua‘i 5-yard line.
The Kaua‘i offense was unable to capitalize after each takeaway, fumbling once and going three and out after the other. However, they caught a break when Travis Koga forced a fumble on an ‘Iolani punt return by Sean Nada, with Kalena “Boom” Rodero-Workman pouncing on the loose ball at the ‘Iolani 45.
Trey Shimabukuro took advantage, taking his offense into the end zone in just three plays. A 20-yard reception by Kevin Reyes — which was juggled by two defenders before being caught — was followed by a 16-yard dart to Shea Shimabukuro.
On 1st and Goal at the 9, Trey hit Jamen Kealoha-Albarado on a flag route, which he also juggled before gathering as he hit the turf. At the 4:58 mark of the first half, Kaua‘i had pulled even at 10-10.
Both teams continued to play hot potato with the football, yet neither team added another score before intermission.
The second half began as the first half ended, with each quarterback throwing an interception on the first two possessions. Koga was the thief for Kaua‘i, while Skalman nabbed one for ‘Iolani.
Following the traded picks, ‘Iolani found the end zone after an 11-play drive that was capped off by a three-yard touchdown run by Ammon Baldomero. With 4:19 remaining in the third, ‘Iolani grabbed a 17-10 lead.
Baldomero was the workhorse for the ‘Iolani offense, carrying the ball 34 times for 118 yards and the one score.
The ‘Iolani offense got the ball right back and went to work once more, using a 15-play drive to kill a large chunk of second-half clock. They completed their efforts with a 3-yard touchdown pass to an unlikely target: offensive lineman Seali‘i Espenesa. The 6-foot 2-inch, 315-pound lineman’s reception made it 24-10 with 8:25 to play.
Trey Shimabukuro tried to lead his team back into contention and moved the offense into scoring range. An 8-yard pass to Kealoha-Albarado made it a one-possession game with 2:02 to play.
But the onsides kick was covered by ‘Iolani, which ran three plays and killed the final minutes of action.
Taran Tani led Kaua‘i with 98 receiving yards on seven catches, a number of them acrobatic grabs over the middle, but running back Paleku Yasay was unable to find consistent running lanes for most of the night, finishing with 12 carries for 36 yards.
One of the biggest thorns in Kaua‘i’s side was the inability to get the defense off the field. ‘Iolani converted nine of 13 third downs, many of them for 10-plus yards. This led to a lopsided time of possession as Kaua‘i controlled the ball for just 17:35 of the 48-minute game.
Borrero admitted that sleep was tough to come by on Thursday night. He fell asleep late and was up at 8 a.m., with a 3:30 nightmare about the “turfmonster” in between. Kaua‘i has played on grass fields all season long, now playing the championship on a turf field.
The team stayed to watch the Division I championship game between Kahuku and Kamehameha and was scheduled to return to Kaua‘i today.
• David Simon, Sports Writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or dsimon@kauaipubco.com.
