Crusader defense rises to occasion
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Columnist
The St. Louis School defense had been here in the shadows of its goalposts before over the previous two years and the memories were as fresh as the rain dropping on their helmets from the Halawa skies.
So, too, were the scars from consecutive failed bids to recapture the Chevron State Football Championship in 2000 and '01.
This time, they vowed, it would be different. "This time," said senior cornerback Jonah Lakatani, "we knew what we had to do and we were determined to do it."
"It" would be keeping the Castle High offense out of the end zone, a task that 10 other teams this season had found much easier to hope for than to accomplish.
But a St. Louis defense that found itself backed to the wall by both the Knights and its own demanding history, was able to stand up to both in a 34-15 victory that had become its own crusade of sorts.
On three series in the red zone, the Crusaders held the Knights without a touchdown. (Castle's only touchdown came on Ernesto Lopez's 23-yard blocked punt return). Twice in the second quarter and once again in the third quarter with the game still very much on the line, the Crusader defense came through.
In 13 plays from inside the St. Louis 20-yard line, all Castle would have to show for it would be a string of three field goals — 25, 36 and 32 yards.
And history has taught us that you don't beat the Crusaders with field goals. You want to take down St. Louis, you do it with touchdowns or not at all.
Not even these Knights, the most industrious of opponents and feisty of foes could find a way around a defense that held them to two conversions on 11 third-down tries.
That the 5-foot-6 inch state championship trophy, as tall as some of the young men who helped win it back for St. Louis, goes to Kalaepohaku for the first time since 1999 would be testament to a defense that has given up but one touchdown in 10 quarters.
"Our defense has come up big for us all year," said St. Louis coach Delbert Tengan by way of a post-game salute. "We shot ourselves in the foot a few times (3 turnovers) but the defense did the job until our offense could get going."
"They did a great job; they ranked up there with some of our best defenses," said Cal Lee, former head coach.
"Oh, man we had to play hard. We knew we couldn't give it up now," said Lakatani who led by example with two interceptions. "We hadn't won a state championship in our (two previous) years and we couldn't let this opportunity get away; especially for the seniors."
On this night, the Crusaders stared down their own past and the Knights' best shots to author a new ending.
