'Iolani proved it is a special team last night against Radford behind the special-teams play of Breland Almadova.

Almadova, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound senior, sparked a dominant second half for 'Iolani with a go-ahead 67-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the Raiders' 35-20 victory over Radford in the final of the First Hawaiian Bank Division II State Football Championships at Aloha Stadium.

'Iolani, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion and No. 1 seed, is the first Division II team to win consecutive state titles. The first DII state championship game was in 2003.

"It's great. It's an awesome experience," said Almadova, who also plays safety. "I've been playing with some of these guys for three years. It's awesome."

Almadova also had a 17-yard punt return in the first period and his 26-yard punt return helped set up an 'Iolani touchdown just before halftime.

"Breland has played solid all year," said 'Iolani coach Wendell Look. "He finally was healthy this year. We expected big things from him and he came through, not only tonight, but for the whole season. He's been rock steady, not only on defense, but on special teams also."

Radford, the O'ahu Interscholastic Association White Conference runner-up, squibbed the second-half kickoff and recovered the ball at the Raiders' 44. The Rams scored nine plays later on an 18-yard option pass from Doug Brown, the backup quarterback, to Brad Osborne on fourth-and-8 to tie it at 14-14 with 7:01 remaining.

Radford also squibbed the ensuing kickoff, but wasn't as fortunate. Almadova fielded the ball at the 32, cut up the middle and scored down the left sideline with Trevyn Tulonghari running interference for him.

"I just tried to make a play for the team because we were struggling," Almadova said. "The ball bounced my way. I just took it and went. I had great blocking up front. It was a helluva effort."

'Iolani, ranked No. 8 in The Advertiser's Top 10 poll, ended up not running an offensive play in the third period with long drives by Radford, ranked No. 10, drives sandwiching Almadova's touchdown.

The Raiders put things away in the fourth with an electrifying 70-yard touchdown run by Kela Marciel with 9:44 left and a 49-yarder by Kellen Imada, which made it 35-14 with 8:52 left.

Almadova, who finished with four tackles, topped things off with an interception and 27-yard return later in the fourth.

"I was just playing a zone defense like any other game and tried to stop big plays," he said. "My teammates even called, 'Watch him go for the end zone.' "

In the second quarter, just before the break, Almadova's 26-yard punt return gave 'Iolani (11-3) the ball at the Rams' 38. 'Iolani needed just three plays to score with Jarrett Arakawa hitting Tulonghari on a 27-yard pass with 35 seconds left before halftime.

"Anytime you can catch one right before the half ... We were fortunate that we had a good return and hit a big play," Look said. "That was one of the turning points of the game."

Added Almadova: "Good blocking, good blocking. The defense stepped up, the middle stepped up and stopped the run. We got a punt return and got good field possession just before the half and got a score and got the momentum."

Radford (10-4) actually out-gained 'Iolani on offense — 274 yards to 259. But the Raiders had 220 kickoff return yards and another 64 on punts returns. The Rams had a combined 147 return yards.

Local sports fans likely will see Almadova playing for the University of Hawai'i-Manoa baseball team next season.

"I'm going to focus on baseball, work hard and earn a starting spot," he said.