Whether it's a high-scoring affair or a defensive battle, there's never a dull second in a Damien-'Iolani football game.

The Monarchs' defensive stand in the closing seconds preserved Kama Bailey's 1-yard touchdown run with one minute, 41 seconds left to lift Damien over No. 10 'Iolani, 14-10, yesterday in Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II action at Kozuki Stadium.

"It's a great feeling right now," Damien coach Dean Nakagawa said. "I feel best for these guys, especially the seniors. They hung together. They learned through trial and error."

The Monarchs (3-3-1 overall, 2-1-1 ILH) aided their chances for the ILH Division II title. The two played to a 34-all game the first time around; each has another D-II game with Pac-Five, as well as two games against D-1 opponents.

"We have to beat some D-1 schools," 'Iolani coach Wendell Look said of pulling into a tie with Damien to force a playoff. "They're in the driver's seat now."

It looked like it was going to be another defensive coordinator's nightmare when Bailey scored on a 50-yard run on the second play from scrimmage just 55 seconds into the game. Wayland Sakamoto's PAT gave Damien an early 7-0 lead. Bailey had 222 yards on 33 carries.

The Raiders tied the game in the second quarter, capping a seven-play, 82-yard drive with a 15-yard TD run by running back Justin Yamamoto with 4:35 left in the half.

The Raiders took a 10-7 lead on Kody Adams' 24-yard field goal with 11:51 left in the game.

Damien then mounted a 20-play drive that milked 10:10 off the clock with Bailey scoring on third-and-goal from the 1.

It was a bizarre drive that saw the Monarchs convert three third downs to first down and one on fourth down. Damien eventually faced fourth-and-28 from the 'Iolani 30, Bailey took a handoff and completed a 19-yard pass to Kenneth Rossi Jr. to the 'Iolani 11. But 'Iolani was called for roughing the passer, an automatic first down. The half-the-distance to the goal penalty moved the ball to the 'Iolani 6. Bailey rushed for 5 yards to the 1. Martin was stopped for no gain on second down before Bailey scored.

"I told coach I wanted the ball, but we gave it to Kama and he made the play," Martin said.

Damien's ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, giving 'Iolani possession at its 35. The Raiders moved to the Damien 13 with 27 seconds left. After quarterback Ryan Dung rushed for three yards, a personal foul against Damien put the ball half the distance to the goal to the Damien 5. (Unlike roughing the passer, it is not an automatic first down.) On third-and-2, Dung's pass was incomplete. 'Iolani called time with 10 seconds left, but Dung's fourth-down pass in the end zone to Lionel Fujioka was short, ending the drive. Damien took a knee to kill the remaining seconds.

"Defensively, I thought we played a much better game (than the last meeting)," Look said. "Offensively, we just didn't finish. (The Monarchs) finished when they had to. We must've had four, five opportunities in the red zone and came out with zero."

'Iolani reached Damien's 20 or closer five times. But Christian Vasconic intercepted a pass in the end zone for a touchback to kill one drive and 'Iolani missed a 22-yard field goal. The last try was 'Iolani's final drive. The other two times, the Raiders scored.

DAMIEN (3-3-1, 2-1-1) 7 0 0 7—14

'IOLANI (3-3-1,1-2-1) 0 7 0 3—10

Dam — Kama Bailey 50 run (Wayland Sakamoto kick).

Iol — Justin Yamamoto 15 run (Kody Adams kick).

Iol — FG Adams 24.

Dam — Bailey 1 run (Sakamoto kick).

RUSHING — Damien: George Martin 15-85, Bailey 33-222, Chris Cross 1-1, Haku Correa 1-2, Team 1-(minus 1). 'Iolani: Ryan Dung 12-99, Yamamoto 12-40, Ronnie Hirokawa 1-13, Kela Marciel 1-2.

PASSING — Damien: Martin 5-13-0—34, Bailey 1-1-0—19. 'Iolani: Dung 15-31-1—193, Team 0-1-0—0, Marciel 0-1-0—0.

RECEIVING — Damien: Kawika Anders 1-12, J.J. Kaina 3-13, Shane Philpot 1-9, Kenneth Rossi Jr. 1-19. 'Iolani: Lionel Fujioka 4-63, Hirokawa 5-76, Aaron Fong 1-5, Reid Furukawa 3-18, Yamamoto 2-30.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertis er.com or 525-8042.

KAMEHAMEHA 28, PAC-FIVE 15

Ryan Montez returned a third-quarter kickoff 95 yards for the go-ahead touchdown and Truman Chun rushed for 105 yards and three TDs yesterday to help the Warriors rally past the Wolfpack at Aloha Stadium.

Kamehameha, ranked No. 4 in The Advertiser's statewide Top 10 poll of coaches and media, improved to 6-2 overall and 2-2 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu. Pac-Five fell to 2-5, 0-4.

The Wolfpack put a scare into the Warriors by taking an early 9-0 lead and going up, 15-14, after Bryson Beirne's 1-yard quarterback sneak with 47 seconds remaining in the third quarter. But their two-point conversion pass fell incomplete, and Montez took the ensuing kickoff at his own 5-yard line, shot up the middle and bounced to the outside, then broke two tackles along the right sideline en route to the end zone.

Pac-Five drove to the Kamehameha 28 on its next possession, but a pass on fourth-and-8 hit the intended receiver — who was open in first-down territory — in the back.

The Warriors then drove 72 yards in 16 plays, capped by Chun's 8-yard touchdown run with 40 seconds remaining.

The Wolfpack took a 3-0 lead midway through the first quarter on Josh Mun's 29-yard field goal, then went up 9-0 with 8:12 left in the half on Liko Satele's 8-yard TD run. The extra point attempt was blocked.

Kamehameha closed it to 9-7 with 3:54 left in the half after Chun's 9-yard scoring run, then took a 14-9 lead on a 2-yard TD run by Chun midway through the third quarter.

PAC-FIVE (2-5, 0-4) 3 6 6 0—15

KAMEHAMEHA (6-2, 2-2) 0 7 14 7—28

Pac — FG Josh Mun 29

Pac — Liko Satele 8 run (kick blocked)

KS — Truman Chun 9 run (Tyler Akao kick)

KS — Chun 2 run (Akao kick)

Pac — Bryson Beirne 1 run (pass failed)

KS — Ryan Montez 95 kick off return (Akao kick)

KS — Chun 8 run (Akao kick)

RUSHING — Pac-Five: Shandon Augustus 9-53, Phillip Sarubbi 1-1, Bryson Beirne 3-(minus 18), Jordan Ho-Ching 12-157, Satele 6-24. Kamehameha: Chun 20-105, Michael Hoke 5-3, Ryan Montez 6-19, Pono Perez 3-20.

PASSING — Pac-Five: Augustus 0-2-0—0, Beirne 5-14-2—54. Kamehameha: Hoke 9-12-0—58.

RECEIVING — Pac-Five: Augustus 2-28, Ho-Ching 1-14, Jaimie Rivera 1-6, Satele 1-6. Kamehameha: Kekoa Osorio 2-5, Justin Saniatan 1-0, Chun 3-17, Charles Soon III 2-30, Ian Bernardino 1-6.

LAST NIGHT'S RESULTS

Damien 14, No. 10 'Iolani 10

Kamehameha 28, Pac-Five 15

Punahou vs. Saint Louis, late

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.