State Tournament Football: Iolani vs. Kauai
By the time the Iolani Football team opens play this weekend in the semifinals of the 2007 Hawaii Football State Championship, they will have had more than three weeks off to recover from injuries and prepare for a final run at what could be their second Division II State Championship in just three years.
The layoff may seem like quite a while, but when you consider that during their final regular season game against Punahou on November 2nd, the Raiders lost starting quarterback Kela Marciel and running back Justin Yamamoto to concussions and were without as many as four starters on defense due to injury (safety Breland Almadova, outside linebacker/db Peter Takara, inside linebacker Jarom Baldomero and lineman Matt Koyama) … another week may have been nice.
Come gametime on Saturday, Iolani should have most of their players back and ready to face KIF Champion Kauai. In the quarterfinals last weekend, the Red Raiders racked up 324 yards on the ground and scored four rushing touchdowns in a 40-9 win over OIA White Division runner-up Roosevelt at home in Lihue.
The semifinal matchup is scheduled for 2:00pm at Kozuki Stadium on the Iolani School Campus.