Kamehameha, St. Louis square off again for crown
By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
For the sixth time in as many years, St. Louis and Kamehameha will meet in a regular-season finale that will either determine the Interscholastic League of Honolulu football champion or force a playoff for the title.
The two perennial private school powers meet at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at Aloha Stadium.
If the Warriors (6-0 ILH, 9-0 overall) win, they will capture their first league championship since 1979. Kamehameha, ranked first in The Advertiser Top 10, beat St. Louis, 41-20, earlier in the season and hold a one-game lead on their opponent in Division I. Since Division II champion Iolani (4-2) already has two losses (4-2), the Raiders have no hope for a playoff.
If the No. 2-ranked Crusaders (5-1, 6-2) win, they will end the regular season in a tie for first with the Warriors and force a playoff Thursday to determine the champion and the league's only state tournament berth.
The Crusaders are aware of what's at stake, but are trying to keep things in perspective.
"The way we look at it, we're not trying to preserve a streak," St. Louis coach Delbert Tengan said. "Any coach wants to win a championship. We've accomplished what we needed to set this up. Now we need to get a victory on Saturday in order to move on. For us, it's playoff football. If we don't win, we call it a season."
In their previous meeting, Warriors quarterback Caleb Spencer completed 14 of 27 passes for 274 yards and four touchdowns. Offensively, the Crusaders had 195 yards, limiting quarterback Bobby George to 137 yards passing.
"Defensively, we made a ton of mistakes in alignment and coverage," Tengan said. "On the offensive side, we need to execute better. I think our passing game has evolved since we played them the last time. We need to have a good mixture of the run and pass."
In that game, George left with an ankle injury, but has not missed a game since. Also, all-state wide receiver Jason Rivers returned last week against Pac-Five after missing three games that followed the Kamehameha game.
"(Receiver) Shane Butcher has been carrying the load," Tengan said. "With Jason, it gives us a good 1-2 punch in our offense in the passing game."
Meanwhile, the Warriors know they will be looking at a much-improved St. Louis team, one that is not expected to make the same mistakes twice. Although they executed their pass and run well and contained St. Louis' vaunted passing game in their previous meeting, Kamehameha coach Kanani Souza said his team will have to play better.
"We expect (the Crusaders) to be better," Souza said. "It looks like they're running on all cylinders."
Since the last meeting, the Warriors have dealt with a rash of injuries. He said backups just have to be ready.
"We expect them to rise," Souza said.
Last year, both teams entered the regular-season finale with 5-0-1 records; they played to 24-all in their first meeting, but St. Louis won the second game, 38-14.
In 2000, St. Louis beat Kamehameha, 31-6 in the first round and 34-0 in the second to avert a playoff.
But from 1997 to 1999, each team won one game, forcing a playoff each time. St. Louis prevailed in each of those playoffs.
St. Louis is 36-6-2 against Kamehameha in the past two decades.
