St. Louis beats Kamehameha, forces ILH playoff

By Wes Nakama and Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writers

For the fourth time in six years, St. Louis and Kamehameha will face off in a playoff for the Interscholastic League of Honolulu football championship.

Tualau Fale's block of an extra-point kick, and Timo Paepule's one-yard run in the third quarter were the difference as St. Louis edged Kamehameha, 14-13, tonight in an ILH regular season finale at Aloha Stadium.

The Warriors (6-1 ILH, 9-1 overall), ranked first in The Advertiser Top 10, and Crusaders (6-1, 7-2) finished the regular season tied. A playoff to determine the ILH champion and the league's sole state tournament berth will be 7:30 p.m. next Saturday at Aloha Stadium.

The Warriors' Kekoa Smith missed a 32-yard field goal with 2:01 left in the game, then the Crusaders ran out the clock.

The Crusaders are trying to extend their championship streak to 17; the Warriors are looking for their first title since 1979.

With the game tied at 7, Kahe Santos caught a 1-yard TD pass from Caleb Spencer, but the blocked PAT gave Kamehameha a 13-7 lead. It turned out to haunt the Warriors. The Crusaders scored later in third quarter on Paepule's run. Kaeo Adams' PAT was the difference. Had the game ended in a tie, the Warriors would have won the title.

All-state wide receiver Jason Rivers had seven receptions for 154 yards, including a 45-yard TD pass from Bobby George in the second quarter that tied the game at 7.

Kamehameha opened the game with a time-consuming drive that ended with a Spencer sneak from one yard in the first quarter to give the Warriors a 7-0 lead.

In the last 22 years, St. Louis is 6-0 in playoff games.

• Pac-Five 45, Damien 6: Ryan Leong rushed for three touchdowns for the Wolfpack (2-5 ILH, 3-7 overall) in a game that utilized the 35-point differential mercy rule after Pac-Five scored with 33 seconds left in the third quarter.

Darci Hata booted a 32-yard field goal for Pac-Five, as well as six PATs.