By Wes Nakama
Despite it happening in the second week of September, the first 2025 football meeting between Damien and ‘Iolani had some playoff-type implications, and the Monarchs grabbed control with an impressive 35-20 road victory at Eddie Hamada Field on Friday afternoon.
With the win Damien improved to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in the ILH Division I standings, while the Raiders fell to 2-3, 0-1 with their third straight defeat.
The Monarchs led, 35-14, after Jonah Wong’s 10-yard touchdown run and Jacob Inocencio’s extra point with 7:39 remaining in the game. But ‘Iolani closed it to 35-20 on A.P. Perkins’ 64-yard TD pass to Kekama Kane with 6:46 still to go. The PAT attempt failed.
Things then looked encouraging for the Raiders after Zack Bagoyo recovered the ensuing onside kick at midfield, and the Raiders advanced to the 30 eight plays later. But on fourth-and-14, a downfield pass fell incomplete and Damien regained possession. After a three-and-out, ‘Iolani got the ball back, but an interception three plays later killed any hopes of a comeback.
“That was a big thing, was finishing the game,” Monarchs coach Bones Tuitele said. “The last two games that we had (losses at Roosevelt and Punahou) we were right there at the half, but when we came out for the second half, one series determined the whole game which is how things got away. So learning from the past two games, it told us we gotta finish. If we don’t finish, then we’re leaving it up to (other’s) hands. Let’s go take it. I’m proud of my kids for finishing the game, but we still gotta clean up some things.”
Damien also started strong, taking a quick 14-0 lead in the game’s first seven minutes after touchdown throws by AJ Tuifua (13 yards to Wyatt Ho-Williams and 71 yards to Sam Kawakami) and extra points by Inocencio.
The Raiders cut the deficit in half with Perkins’ 11-yard TD pass to Kane and Ty Mitsunaga’s PAT, but the Monarchs answered three plays later with Tuifua’s 68-yard scoring pass to Ho-Williams. Inocencio tacked on the extra point to stretch the lead to 21-7 with 39 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
‘Iolani did respond again, closing it to 21-14 at halftime after a 14-yard touchdown pass from Kane to Perkins, a sophomore who was making his first varsity start at quarterback after three-year starter CJ Villanueva suffered a shoulder injury two weeks ago at Leilehua.
“Their system is well-developed for their personnel and what they do, and that’s why ‘Iolani is always tough to beat,” Tuitele said. “The guy back there (Perkins) was good.”
Damien dealt a huge blow when Tuitele connected with Ho-Williams on a 40-yard TD pass on fourth-and-3, with 5:28 left in the third quarter. Inocencios’ extra point made it 28-14. The Monarchs then extended it with Wong’s scoring run with 7:39 to go in the fourth.
“We had our chances on both sides of the ball, but we didn’t finish, so we gotta find out why,” Raiders coach Wendell Look said. “They made plays, and we didn’t.”
Tuifua, a four-year starter, finished with 22 completions in 29 attempts for 370 yards and four touchdowns, with two interceptions. He showed a noticeably quicker release, and a consistently tighter spiral on his throws.
“He’s always been accurate, he’s got good pocket presence, and for a big guy he’s pretty mobile and he hurt us with his legs,” Look said. “And he’s in sync with his guys, so he’s tough to defend.”
Ho-Williams caught five passes for 151 yards and three TDs, and Kawakami finished with four catches for 103 yards.
Perkins went 23 of 45 for 259 yards and three touchdowns, with two picks.
“He just has to take care of the ball and manage the game,” Look said. “But again, it’s not just him — it’s the three phases of the game that we didn’t play well. That first series (on defense), we get them in a punting situation, and we let them escape (with Ho-Williams running for the first down). And we game-planned that, we knew that’s what they would do, he was gonna roll out and we would put pressure on him … we just didn’t make the play. But again, that’s experience, they just gotta get better.
“We gotta do a better job of getting them to understand the situations, and when it’s time to step up and make plays.”
Photos: Gavin Yasunari
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