St. Louis defeats Warriors to win ILH title, state berth
By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
St. Louis countered Kamehameha's quickness with speed in rushing to a 38-14 victory to capture its 16th consecutive Interscholastic League of Honolulu football title last night.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
An Aloha Stadium crowd of 10,106 watched the second-ranked Crusaders (6-0-1 ILH, 8-0-1 overall) advance to their third consecutive state tournament, where they will try to reclaim the title they won in 1999 after falling to top-ranked Kahuku last year. That guarantees St. Louis coach Cal Lee will end his high-school coaching career in postseason.
St. Louis receiver Ross Dickerson couldn't escape the grasps of two Kamehameha defenders after catching a pass during the first quarter of last night's Interscholastic League of Honolulu game at Aloha Stadium.
The third-ranked Warriors ended their season, 5-1-1, 8-1-1.
The Crusaders used their smaller, but speedier running backs, junior Justin Cabansag (5-8, 170) and sophomore B.J. Batts (5-7, 167), as well as slotback counters, to neutralize the Warriors' quick front seven. Cabansag and Batts combined for 201 yards and four touchdowns.
"They give us a little added dimension because they have quickness and they can hurt you with the big plays," Lee said.
In past seasons, St. Louis' run-and-shoot usually featured a big, burly running back, such as Pesefea Fiaseu and Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala, runners who tipped the scales at over 200 pounds.
Batts had 102 yards on 12 carries, including a back-breaking 21-yard TD run late in the game to lock the door on the Warriors. Cabansag had 99 yards on 12 carries, including TD runs of 4, 2 and 12 yards.
Just for good measure, the Crusaders kept Kamehameha honest with slotback counters to Ross Dickerson and even used a counter reverse with Kainoa Fernandez.
Quarterback Bobby George, who had labored early in the season, did not let two fumbles that led to Kamehameha's two scores affect the rest of his play.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
Even better was St. Louis' defense, which allowed 175 yards rushing and 174 yards passing in its 24-24 tie last time against Kamehameha. This time, the Warriors were held to 202 yards in total offense — 153 passing and 49 rushing. Warrior running back Kelena Ho'okano the league's leading rusher with 706 yards entering the game, finished with 18 yards on 12 carries.
Kamehemeha's Preston Lingaton (2) and Brenden Nakata are among those scrambling to recover a fumble by St. Louis quarterback Bobby George in the first quarter. The Warriors' J.P. Kennedy recovered in the end zone for a Kamehameha touchdown.
"We played a little better fundamentals," Lee said. "Our staff did a good job preparing them."
Defensive lineman John Siofele had his best game of the season with eight tackles, three of them for negative yardage and three hurries on Warriors' quarterback Caleb Spencer.
Compounding Kamehameha's matters was the loss of guard Enoka Lucas in the second quarter with a sprained right achillies. He is considered a Division I prospect.
"It was a bad loss," Lucas said. "Lot of mental mistakes. As a unit, I guess we didn't do what we had to."
The Crusaders scored on their first series of the game after taking the opening kickoff. Cabansag capped the drive, scoring on a four-yard run.
The Warriors had their ensuing drive stopped at the St. Louis 20. But on first down, George caught a pass deflected by a Kamehameha player, but fumbled at the 7 after getting blind-sided by Brandon Ala. The ball rolled into the end zone where J. P. Kennedy recovered for the touchdown. The 2-point try failed, so the Crusaders led 7-6 with 5:13 left in the first quarter.
St. Louis had its second drive kept alive with a fake punt when Tito Sallas completed a 16-yard pass to Timo Paepule for a first down at the Kamehameha 27. Four plays later George hit Jason Rivers with a 15-yard TD pass to make it 14-6.
The Crusaders added another Cabansag TD in the second quarter and got a 27-yard field goal by Michael Houar with no time showing on the clock at the half to give St. Louis a 24-6 lead.
St. Louis opened the second half by forcing Kamehameha to punt on its first series.
The Warriors scored their other TD following a fumble. The Crusaders lost the center-quarterback exchange, where Kennedy recovered the ball at the St. Louis 1. Ho'okano scored on a run on the next play. Spencer hit Kahe Santos for the 2-point conversion.
Batts' 21-yard TD run in the fourth quarter sealed the victory.
ST. LOUIS 14 10 7 7 — 38
KAMEHAMEHA 6 0 8 0 — 14
StL—Justin Cabansag 4 run (Michael Houar kick)
Kam—JP Kennedy fumble recovery in end zone (run failed)
StL—Jason Rivers 15 pass from Bobby George (Houar kick)
StL—Cabansag 2 run (Houar kick)
StL—FG Houar 27
StL—Cabansag 12 run (Houar kick)
Kam—Kelena Ho'okano 1 run (Kahe Santos pass from Caleb Spencer)
StL—B.J. Batts 21 run (Houar kick)
RUSHING—St. Louis: George 4-3, Batts 12-102, Cabansag 12-99, Ross Dickerson 4-43, Prince Brown 4-15, Kainoa Fernandez 1-8. Kamehameha: Caleb Spencer 5-19, Dane Montez 2-4, Ho'okano 12-18, Santos 1-8.
PASSING—St. Louis: George 16-31-0—169, Tito Sallas 1-1-0—16. Kamehameha: Spencer 15-26-1—-153.
RECEIVING—St. Louis: Dickerson 2-37, Sallas 5-60, Keahua Bowman 2-7, George 1-(minus 13), Fernandez 2-37, Timo Paepule 1-16, Jon Amano 1-5, Jason Rivers 3-36. Kamehameha: Josh Vierra 4-44, Keano Noa 4-57, Keoni Ruth 3-26, Kanoa Ing 1-3, Ho'okano 1-11, Noah Peterson 2-12.
