LIHU‘E — A shout of “Bring on ‘Iolani!” rang out from the Kaua‘i cheering section at Vidinha Stadium as the final seconds ticked off the clock, Saturday. Yet it took everything the Red Raiders had to advance beyond the Kalaheo
LIHU‘E — A shout of “Bring on ‘Iolani!” rang out from the Kaua‘i cheering section at Vidinha Stadium as the final seconds ticked off the clock, Saturday.
Yet it took everything the Red Raiders had to advance beyond the Kalaheo Mustangs in the quarterfinal matchup, Kaua‘i coming back twice in the game for a 17-13 victory.
“It could have gone either way, because Kalaheo is just tough,” Kaua‘i head coach Derek Borrero said after the game. “The ball bounced our way… but we matched up pretty well.”
Running back/wide receiver Darren Acoba sparked the Kaua‘i offense, scoring second-half touchdown runs of 30 and 29 yards on his way to a Player of the Game nod. He finished the night with 152 yards on 14 carries, along with two catches for 24 yards.
“He’s just a stud kid,” Borrero said about Acoba. “I wish I had him another year… He’s always there at practice, first and last. He’s just a solid kid. It’s nice to have a guy with speed like that who can run away from people.”
Acoba ran away from the Mustang defenders on his initial score early in the second half, breaking a run off the right side, running through an arm tackle and getting to the edge before displaying his track speed.
That touchdown came on the second offensive play of the second half after Jake Leake gave the Raiders great field position at the Mustang 34-yard line with a 53-yard kickoff return.
The touchdown gave Kaua‘i its first lead at 10-7, just 50 seconds into the third quarter.
The Mustangs re-gained the lead late in the quarter after Shannon Aiwohi put a big hit on Raider quarterback Shea Shimabukuro, jarring the ball loose. Jesse Carney was there to make the recovery at the Kalaheo 45.
Carney, the Mustangs’ top running back and one of the leading rushers in the state, was held in check for much of the game but had 37 total yards on the ensuing drive, including a 17-yard reception that set up a first down at the Kaua‘i 11.
Kalaheo scored on the next play as quarterback Justin Pagan hit Nainoa Frank with a quick slant, the 6-foot-4 receiver scoring easily against loose coverage.
A missed point after made the score 13-10, Kalaheo with the lead at the 1:50 mark of the third quarter.
The Raiders responded in kind on their next possession, Acoba getting great blocking up front and taking four straight runs for a total of 67 yards, the final carry a 29-yard scamper to the left side. Acoba put the finishing touch on the run with a low hurdle over a would-be tackler.
The Shimabukuro PAT made it a 17-13 game with 38 seconds to play in the third, as the Raider defense stiffened up to maintain the margin.
The Mustangs had the ball twice in the fourth quarter with chances to move ahead, but a big third-down sack by Michael Kahoekapu-Cruz after initial pressure from Austin Oshiro ended one drive at midfield.
Kalaheo committed its third turnover of the night on its final drive, as a Pagan fumble was pounced on by Christopher Hau, giving Kaua‘i the ball at the Mustang 36 with just 1:54 to play.
Travis Koga finished the evening off with three runs, the final one a 17-yard plow on 3rd and 3 to put the game on ice.
Koga had nine carries for 45 yards while also piling up tackles on the defensive side.
“We just feel fortunate we’ve got good backs,” Borrero said. “They’re learning how to read the blocks. In the early stages they would just run outside when the whole thing is inside, and they’re finally seeing it.”
Leake left the game with a left shoulder injury immediately following his 53-yard kick return to open the third, but ran well in the first half to the tune of 49 yards on nine carries. His status for the ‘Iolani game appears to be in doubt.
“It doesn’t look good right now,” said Borrero. “It popped and went back in, but the way Keith (Burgess) and Kevin (Cadiente) were taking care of him, they said it looks like those ligaments are kind of stretched. If we had another two or three weeks, he’d probably be back, but by next Saturday, I don’t think so.”
Attention now turns to the Division II top seed, ‘Iolani, who knocked off the Raiders in the 2009 state championship game, 24-17. Kaua‘i will be heading to ‘Iolani’s home field for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff on Saturday.
“Iolani is just a whole other animal — a totally different monster,” Borrero said. “They totally shut down Kamehameha’s running game early in the season and I’m sure (‘Iolani defensive coordinator Delbert Tengan) is licking his chops right now for us. So it’s two things: It’s going to be the scheme and the physicality on the field… Can we match up man for man? That’s going to be the key.”
Kalaheo got on the board first, Saturday evening, taking the game’s opening possession right down the field on a 16-play, 71-yard drive that culminated with a Pagan 2-yard touchdown keeper. Danielle Ferguson added the extra point to give the Mustangs a 7-0 lead at the 4:08 mark of the first quarter.
The drive was aided by a Kaua‘i offsides penalty on a 4th and 6 that put the Mustangs just a yard away from a new set of downs, a yard that Pagan then picked up on a 2-yard dive.
Pagan went 4 for 5 for 51 yards on the drive and finished the day with 146 yards on 14 of 19 passing. He tossed one touchdown and one interception.
He also had 57 yards rushing on 17 carries with a touchdown and two fumbles.
Kaua‘i put together a 10-play, 44-yard drive on its first possession of the night, but elected to punt the ball away on 4th and 3 at the Kalaheo 44.
Starting at its own 10, Kalaheo had another impressive drive, benefitting from two more fourth-down offsides penalties on the Raiders that each resulted in first downs. After moving to the Kaua‘i 36, Kalaheo had its first of three turnovers on a fumbled snap as Kalen Kimura pounced on the loose ball.
Kalaheo had five turnovers in its O‘ahu Interscholastic Association White Division championship loss to Kaimuki, falling 48-12.
The Raiders quickly moved the ball down the field, but came away empty when a Shimabukuro 38-yard field goal attempt went wide right.
But the quarterback/defensive back/kicker immediately got his offensive unit the ball back by intercepting the first pass from Pagan on the ensuing drive.
“He’s a special kid,” Borrero said about Shimabukuro. “He’s a young man of few words, but the desire is in his heart. I think the success his cousin (Trey Shimabukuro) had the years before, it’s a family thing. They love the game of football and he’s a great leader. The kids respect him a whole lot.
“So he’s not one of those guys looking for the big numbers,” he said. “If it’s there, it’s there. But he’s just running this offense to a T. He’s doing exactly what we want him to do.”
Shimabukuro was 2 for 4 for 24 yards, both passes hauled in by Acoba.
Kalaheo’s Carney finished the game with just 45 yards on 10 carries, as the running back battled both a case of the flu and the Raiders’ tough front seven.
Borrero gave all the credit to devensive coordinator Mike Tresler for having the kids completely prepared for whatever the Mustangs may have shown them.
“He is so meticulous in every little thing,” he said about Tresler. “That’s why he goes off. People who come to our practice and don’t know what we do, they think he’s just a crazy man. But he wants to take care of every little thing, so the kids knew exactly” what to do.
Kauai High School Red Raiders advance to the Semi-Finals of the First Hawaiian Bank/Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association Division II football state championship. The Red Raiders will face top seed ‘Iolani.
Darren Acoba scores his second TD of the game on 29-yard run with :38 seconds left in the 3rd quarter.
The Kalaheo Mustangs had just taken the lead on an 11-yard TD pass with 1:45 left in the 3rd quarter. Mustangs missed the PAT.
Darren Acoba’s first score was a 30-yard TD to put Kauai Red Raiders up 10-7 over Kalaheo Mustangs with 11:00 left in 3rd quarter.
For complete recap of today’s play off game check out Sunday’s edition of The Garden Island newspaper.
