St. Louis holds off Kamehameha, 14-13
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
St. Louis School's Interscholastic League of Honolulu football dynasty will live for at least another week.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
The Crusaders, winners of the past 16 ILH championships, vaulted themselves into yet another title game last night by holding off previously undefeated Kamehameha, 14-13, before a tense crowd of 10,178 at Aloha Stadium. St. Louis' victory means the teams finish the regular season tied with 6-1 records, forcing a playoff at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the stadium for the league's title.
St. Louis' Jason Rivers, left, jukes past Jason Fong-Aiu (20) and Tamatoa Silva (29) on his way to a touchdown.
"You know, in this election there was a motto, 'It's Time,' " Crusaders coach Delbert Tengan said. "But we told our players our motto is, 'Not Yet.' "
Kamehameha, 9-1 overall and ranked No. 1 in The Advertiser's statewide Top 10 poll of media and coaches, came agonizingly close to shutting out St. Louis (7-2, No. 2) from the postseason for the first time since 1985.
The Warriors had a chance to take a 16-14 lead with 2:01 remaining in the game, but Kekoa Smith's 32-yard field goal attempt missed wide left. Kamehameha still had all three timeouts left, but the Crusaders gained two first downs and ran out the clock.
"All our coaches did a great job preparing the team," Tengan said. "In a big game like this, you gotta make the plays, and we made just enough to win."
What turned out to be the game's biggest play came with 6:17 remaining in the third quarter. That's when St. Louis linebacker Tualau Fale stormed through the line and blocked an extra-point attempt after the Warriors had taken a 13-7 lead. Kamehameha's touchdown came on a 1-yard pass from Caleb Spencer to tight end Kahe Santos.
The Crusaders answered with a 10-play, 79-yard drive culminating in Timo Paepule's 1-yard touchdown run with 2:19 left in the quarter. Kaeo Adams' extra point was true.
Kamehameha drove to the St. Louis 19-yard line on its next possession, but lost the ball on a fumble after a short reception. Linebacker Dylan Moss caused the fumble and defensive end Tolifili Liufau recovered it.
"Dylan made a great play," Tengan said, "and if you hustle to the ball, good things happen."
The Warriors got the ball back at midfield, however, after Jason Fong-Aiu's interception. They advanced to the 10, but running back Travis Beyer was thrown for a 5-yard loss on third-and-2. That set up Smith's field goal attempt.
Fale finished with 14 tackles, including four for a loss. Paepule, who starts at strong safety, had 10 tackles and Liufau added seven tackles and one sack.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
Despite the low score, the game featured outstanding offensive performances on both sides. Crusaders receiver Jason Rivers had his best game of the season, catching seven passes for 154 yards and one touchdown.
St. Louis’ Justin Cabansag attemps to get by Kamehameha’s Micah Lau in the second quarter.
"He did a great job," Warriors coach Kanani Souza said.
For Kamehameha, senior quarterback Kawai Akina completed 19 of 26 passes without an interception for 213 yards. Akina spent most of the season as a backup to Spencer, who lined up at wide receiver and caught five passes for 50 yards.
St. Louis also showed some new looks, lining up Rivers in the slot and using Paepule in short-yardage situations. Rivers had only two catches in the teams' earlier meeting this season, which the Warriors won 41-20.
"We tried to move Jason around and get some prime matchups," Tengan said. "But no matter what kind of trick plays or formations you use, it always comes down to your basic offense. You've got to execute the nuts and bolts."
KAMEHAMEHA (9-1, 6-1) 7 0 6 0 — 13
ST. LOUIS (7-2, 6-1) 0 7 7 0 — 14
Kam — Caleb Spencer 1 run (Kepa Gaison kick)
SL — Jason Rivers 45 pass from Bobby George (Kaeo Adams kick)
Kam — Kahe Santos 1 pass from Spencer (kick blocked)
SL — Timo Paepule 1 run (Adams kick)
RUSHING — Kamehameha: Travis Beyer 18-63, Keoni Ruth 2-2, Kawai Akina 3-(minus 3), Spencer 2-1. St. Louis: Justin Cabansag 12-79, George 4-(minus 18), B.J. Batts 5-(minus 7), Paepule 3-7.
PASSING — Kamehameha: Akina 19-26-0—213, Spencer 1-1-0—1. St. Louis: George 12-22-0—214, Stanley Nihipali 0-1-1—0.
RECEIVING — Kamehameha: Spencer 5-50, Ruth 5-63, Santos 5-43, Josh Vierra 2-23, Beyer 2-29, Dustin Grace 1-6. St. Louis: Rivers 7-154, Tyson Marks 1-9, Shawn Kauleinamoku 1-19, Shane Butcher 2-21, Batts 1-11.
• • •
• 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.
Damien ended its season at 0-7 and 1-8.
PAC-FIVE (2-5, 3-7) 14 17 14 0 — 45
DAMIEN (0-7, 1-7) 0 6 0 0 — 6
Pac—Ryan Leong 2 run (Darci Hata kick)
Pac—Leong 1 run (Hata kick)
Dam—Ranson DeCosta 1 run (kick failed)
Pac—Leong 3 run (Hata kick)
Pac—Ryan Urabe 23 pass from McShane Dator (Hata kick)
Pac—FG Hata 32.
Pac—Dave Stewart 24 fumble return (Hata kick)
Pac—Dator 9 run (Hata kick)
RUSHING—Pac-Five: Leong 13-48, Shane Lawrence 5-33, Stewart 8-53, Andrew Rutherford 4-8, Dennis Moku Pilialoha 1-0, Dator 5-24, Urabe 1-9. Damien: DeCosta 5-19, Cory Mullen 5-26, Fehi Savelo 7-49, Fuavaa Faualo 3-(minus 2), Tevita Williams 4-10, Team 1-(minus 29), Zachary Shimizu 1-(minus 11), Brandon Baguio 1-6.
PASSING—Pac-Five: Leong 0-1-0—0, Dator 6-13-1—110, Patrick Smith 0-1-0—0. Damien: DeCosta 1-5-0—4, Williams 2-12-3—15, Shimizu 1-3-0—34.
RECEIVING—Pac-Five: Urabe 3-77, Cody Walker 1-5, Leong 1-21, Travis Tyler 1-7. Damien: Micah Komine 3-49, Christopher Gaylord 1-4.
MAUI
• Baldwin 49, Maui 24: Kaluka Maiava scored on runs of 1 and 5 yards to help the Baldwin Bears (4-0 second half) to a Maui Interscholastic League victory over Maui (2-2) at War Memorial Stadium last night.
The Bears have already clinched the MIL championship and will host the third-place team from the O'ahu Interscholastic Association in the first round of the state playoffs on Nov. 22.
