By Wes Nakama
In what turned out to be an intense battle of attrition, Saint Damien held off 'Iolani, 20-13, on Halloween Night at Kaiser Stadium to earn the ILH's lone Division I State Tournament berth.
Fill-in dual threat quarterback Wyatt Ho-Williams rushed for 172 yards and two touchdowns and also completed 7 of 12 passes for 43 more yards as the Monarchs improved to 5-3. They will face Baldwin (9-1) at 7:30 p.m. at Farrington's Skippa Diaz Stadium. The Raiders ended their first season under head coach Pat Samsonas at 6-3.
With starting quarterback Tonga Tuifua unavailable due to injury, Ho-Williams moved over from his usual receiver position and promptly guided Saint Damien to a six-play, 80-yard drive after the opening kickoff capped by his own 15-yard dash to paydirt. Ray Almeida tacked on the extra point for a quick 7-0 lead. 'Iolani answered on the ensuing drive by advancing to the Monarchs' 23, but the drive stalled with a tackle-for-loss followed by two interceptions, and Ty Mistunaga salvaged it with a 40-yard field goal to cut the lead to 7-3.
Saint Damien came right back with an 11-play, 80-yard drive culminating in Ho-Williams' 18-yard touchdown pass to Blazyn Toafe. The extra point attempt was blocked, leaving the score at 13-3 with 1:18 remaining in the first quarter.
That is how the score remained until almost the end of the third quarter, when Mitsunaga's 39-yard field goal trimmed the lead to 13-6 with 14 seconds left. The Raiders had gained possession at the Monarchs' 11 after Colton Takamori's interception and return, but went backwards on three downs due to a penalty and two incompletions. On three previous possessions, 'Iolani advanced to the Monarchs' 32 or closer, only to come away with zero points each time.
The Raiders' top two running backs were out due to suspension and first-quarter injury, which limited their options.
"We were down two running backs, and not taking advantage of (field position) definitely hurt us," 'Iolani coach Pat Samsonas said. "Usually you need more than one running back to win games."
The Raiders finally found the end zone early in the fourth quarter when they capped a seven-play, 95-yard drive with Nixon Ling's 7-yard pass to Aka Lau Kong. Mitsunaga's PAT tied the score at 13-13 with 9:10 still to go.
But after forcing a three-and-out on the ensuing possession, 'Iolani lost a fumble at its own 28, and Saint Damien capitalized just five plays later on Ho-Williams' 9-yard run on a quarterback keeper. Almeida converted the extra point to make it 20-13 with 2:43 on the clock.
The Monarchs then effectively sealed the victory with Shaesten Pakele-Akau's interception with 1:15 remaining.
"There were a lot of things leading up to this game, for our kids, a lot of emotions," Saint Damien coach Bones Tuitele said, referring to Tuifua's injury the previous week. "We were trying to control it. So looking at how it played out, it was relief. But shout out to Coach (Samsonas), 'Iolani did a helluva job, the future is bright for them."
Ho-Williams, who played quarterback in his Pop Warner years and was a backup QB for the Monarchs since his sophomore season two years ago, said that experience helped make the sudden switch a smooth transition.
"Coach Bones always told me to be prepared to be in this position in the future," said Ho-Williams, an athletic and speedy 6-foot senior who has 635 yards and seven TD's on 35 catches this season. "We (the team) had a lot of conversations, we had to restart from the previous game (a 28-18 loss at 'Iolani). We just had to regroup, communicate amongst each other and be ready."
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