St. Louis says it's on a crusade

By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

After being denied the past two titles of the 4-year-old Chevron State Football Championships, St. Louis School has a theme for its postseason: "Bring it back."

"Our motto for this state tournament is 'bring it back,' " Crusaders' coach Delbert Tengan said. Advertiser library photo • Aug. 6, 2002

"Our motto for this state tournament is 'bring it back,' " Crusaders' first-year coach Delbert Tengan said. "We want to bring the state title back to St. Louis. The No. 1 thing is we cannot be complacent or satisfied with just being ILH champs. Being ILH champs give you the opportunity to come to this tournament. We want to make sure we make the most of this opportunity."

But Tengan said his Crusaders aren't looking past Farrington (6-6), the O'ahu Interscholastic Association's fourth-place representative and the team that denied Kahuku from returning to the state tournament. St. Louis and Farrington will meet in one quarterfinal at 8 p.m. Friday at Aloha Stadium.

The Governors are meeting the Crusaders for the first time since they played in the 1990 O'ahu Prep Bowl. St. Louis won, 38-3. Randall Okimoto, who ran for 1,244 yards that season to set a Farrington single-season record, has returned as head coach.

"Personally, I'm excited," said the Governors' first-year coach. "The last time we played them was 1990. I've kind of been waiting for this opportunity."

Joked Tengan: "Randall makes me feel old. I was coaching when he played in the Prep Bowl."

The OIA's fourth team is 0-3 in quarterfinals. Farrington lost to Baldwin, 25-19, in a 1999 tournament opener in Wailuku, Maui.

The last two years, the OIA's fourth team opened against the Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion. St. Louis beat Castle, 48-0, in 2000 and 'Aiea, 54-7, in 2001.

Okimoto told his players they should not be intimidated by St. Louis, a perennial power for more than two decades. After all, they did beat Kahuku.

"We told our boys you have to look forward to playing the best," Okimoto said. "St. Louis has the tradition of being the best."

At least Farrington is playing on familiar turf. Kailua (9-2), the OIA runner-up, and McKinley (8-4), the OIA third-place finisher, will have to travel to Neighbor Islands in other Friday quarterfinals.

Kailua will play 13-time defending Kaua'i Interscholastic Federation champion Waimea (7-1) at Vidinha Stadium, where OIA teams are 0-2 in quarterfinals, including a 20-18 win by Waimea against Kailua in 1999.

"When we went up there last time, we lost by two points and we had three touchdowns called back," Kailua coach Darren Johnson said. "We're going up with a better football team and more disciplined than we've ever been."

McKinley (8-4), making its tournament debut, will play Maui Interscholastic League champion Baldwin (8-1) at Wailuku's War Memorial Stadium. The Tigers can ask Farrington how tough it is to play there.

Castle (8-4) gets to stay home after winning the OIA championship. The Knights will face Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion Hawai'i Prep (8-3), also making its tournament debut, at 5 p.m. Friday at Aloha Stadium.

"We're two similar teams," Castle coach Nelson Maeda said. "We both have guys going two ways. They've been compared to, which says a lot about their team, as the high school version of the Air Force Academy. Very disciplined, smart team that doesn't make a lot of mistakes. We know we have a lot to contend with."

Hawai'i Prep is the fourth different BIIF representative in as many years. In contrast, Waimea and St. Louis have qualified for every tournament since its inception in 1999.

"The community in Waimea is ecstatic," fourth-year coach Hawai'i Prep coach Tom Goodspeed said. "They've been awesome supporters, really come out to support us in all our games. I think the Big Island was shocked that we took it. We were a little shocked, too, but deep down, we knew we could do it."

ELIGIBILITY UPDATE

• Crusader star can't play: St. Louis all-state defensive lineman Tolifili Liufau is not eligible to play in the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association-sponsored tournament because he exceeded the maximum participation rule, which says an athlete has four consecutive years to compete. The rule applies to all state tournaments.

"Anytime you lose somebody of that caliber, it's going to affect you, definitely," Tengan said. "But somebody just has to step it up, just like the way Keao Monteihl stepped it up (with four interceptions against Kamehameha in Saturday's 27-12 win for the ILH championship)."

Tavita Thompson or Tyrone Alualu are likely to replace Liufau, Tengan said.

In jeopardy for the quarterfinals is Kailua linebacker Eddie Campbell, who was ejected from Friday's OIA championship against Castle. By OIA rules, a player or coach ejected from a game is suspended for the next game.

Kailua coach Darren Johnson said he has video to prove the call was unjustified and plans to appeal the ruling today. Johnson said officials told him Campbell kicked a player; Johnson said Campbell tripped on a player.

"We lost him in the game, but defensively, we still shut down Castle (62 yards on offense)," Johnson said. "We feel we're OK. We still have some kids who can play. We play a lot of kids."

Although a St. Louis player was ejected from Saturday's game against Kamehameha, he is eligible to play because the ILH does not have the same rule as the OIA.

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