Stowers' grand feat may become rare on O'ahu

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

In what may be a rare feat on O'ahu from now on, Iolani School junior Raynold Stowers cracked the 1,000-yard rushing barrier this season by finishing with 1,027 yards on 143 carries.

With the Interscholastic League of Honolulu switching to a seven-game regular season in 2001 and the O'ahu Interscholastic Association following suit this year, a player must average 142.9 yards per game to rush for 1,000.

The feat already was difficult, even with 10-game and eight-game schedules. Radford's Bernard Rembert set an OIA record with 1,413 yards in 1968. A year later, Farrington's Onosai Tanuvasa became the ILH's first 1,000-yard man, going for 1,076.

Since then, it has been accomplished by more than a handful of players in each league.

Among them are Iolani's Joe Igber (in 1997 and 1998), Punahou's Mosi Tatupu (1972, 1973) and Alema Harrington (1983), Kamehameha's Kaulana Park (1980) and Jacob Ordenstein (1996), St. Louis' Tupu Alualu (1988) and Damien's Jason Keo (1994) in the ILH.

Besides Rembert, the OIA's 1,000-yard club includes Kahuku's Charley Ah You (1969), Richard Stevenson (1986) and Mark Atuaia (1990), Wai'anae's Mike Vierra (1973), Kalaheo's Ronnie Bond (1976), Kaiser's Boyd Yap (1980), Farrington's Ului Halaeua (1988) and Randall Okimoto (1990), Leilehua's Adrian Murrell (1987, 1988) and Tito Rivera (1991) and Campbell's Isaac White (1994).

Igber holds the ILH's single-season record with 1,993 yards in 1998 and Atuaia holds the OIA record with 2,025 in 1990.

Punahou wins title: Punahou finished unbeaten to capture the ILH intermediate (grades 7 to 9) football title.

In what amounted to a championship game, Punahou defeated Iolani, 3-0, Nov. 2 at Punahou on a 19-yard field goal by River Kim in the third quarter. Punahou finished 5-0-1, Kamehameha 4-1-1 and Iolani 4-2.