Crusaders take advantage of turnovers, 51-0

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

Waimea High School football players have been known to run the steep hills of Koke'e to condition themselves for big challenges during the season.

But yesterday at Aloha Stadium, St. Louis proved to be too tough a mountain to scale. The Crusaders (10-2) crushed the underdog Menehune, 51-0, in state semifinal action to advance to their fourth consecutive championship game.

St. Louis will play Castle, a 27-21 winner over McKinley in three overtimes last night, for the title on Friday.

"Their athletes are in a different class," Waimea coach Jon Kobayashi said of the Saints. "You just gotta give credit to their coaching staff and their players, because they were just better than us."

Last week, the Menehune (8-2) took advantage of seven Kailua turnovers to pull off a 24-21 upset. But the tables turned last night, as Waimea threw four interceptions and lost four fumbles. The Crusaders also scored on a 44-yard punt return by Pono Vierra to take a 7-0 lead barely two minutes into the game.

St. Louis' Pase Fiaseu made an interception less than two minutes later, setting up a 19-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Bobby George to receiver Shane Butcher. On the ensuing possession, Saints linebacker Tualau Fale recovered a fumble on the Menehune 31-yard line, and Kaeo Adams made a 30-yard field goal with 6:59 remaining in the first quarter to put St. Louis up 17-0.

"Our offensive coordinator (Vince Passas) said our game plan was to put 'em away early," George said. "That's what we did, and it came to our advantage."

The Crusaders later put together a nine-play, 53-yard drive culminating in Justin Cabansag's 1-yard touchdown run to take a 23-0 lead with 57 seconds left in the first quarter. Defensively, St. Louis held Waimea to 10 total yards in the quarter.

"I think our defense set the tone for the game," Saints coach Delbert Tengan said. "Our main focus on offense was to be careful and secure the ball. We knew we could be successful running the ball, because we have the firepower to do it. And we wanted to have a good get-off, to make them chase us."

St. Louis kept rolling, and the Menehune kept chasing.

Even after Jordon Dizon pinned the Crusaders on their own 1 with a 65-yard punt midway through the second quarter, St. Louis responded with an 11-play, 99-yard drive capped by B.J. Batts' 3-yard touchdown run. The Saints made it 37-0 with 4:47 remaining in the half after converting another Waimea fumble into points, this time on Batts' 1-yard TD run.

Vierra made an interception on the Menehune's next series and Cabansag scored on a 2-yard touchdown run to help St. Louis take a 44-0 halftime lead.

In those two quarters, George completed 7 of 14 passes for 107 yards, Cabansag rushed for 80 yards on 11 carries and Batts added 62 yards on six rushes.

"They have a high-powered offense, and they executed it well," Kobayashi said. "They beat us on both ends of the ball, plus special teams. We tried to come back, but we just didn't have the manpower."

Waimea defensive back Tyson Fernandez said St. Louis was "really fast, faster than Kailua."

Fellow defensive back Dane Koga agreed.

"They're super fast, and good," Koga said. "They read our defense well, they knew where the open spots were."

George said he noticed something else about the Menehune.

"They never gave up, they kept fighting all the way to the end," George said. "That's all you can ask for."

Waimea Menehune (8-2) 0 0 0 0— 0
St. Louis Crusaders (10-2) 23 21 7 0—51

• St.L—Pono Vierra 44 punt return (Kaeo Adams kick)
• St.L—Shane Butcher 19 pass from Bobby George (Adams kick)
• St.L—FG Adams 30
• St.L—Justin Cabansag 1 run (kick failed)
• St.L—B.J. Batts 3 run (Adams kick)
• St.L—Batts 1 run (Adams kick)
• St.L—Cabansag 2 run (Adams kick)
• St.L—Tani Nahalea 16 fumble recovery (Adams kick)

RUSHING—Waimea: Jordan Dizon 21-25, Rhyan Parbo 2-9, Gary Mata 2-0, Jon Palacio 3-(minus 15). St. Louis: Cabansag 12-91, Batts 7-67, Justin Kruse 5-17, George 3-16, Wyatt Williams 6-11, Derrick Hohu 1-10, Kealii Perbera 2-7, Jason Rivers 1-2.

PASSING—Waimea: Palacio 4-14-4—55, Austin Alquiza 0-1-0—0. St. Louis: George 7-14-0—109, Stanley Nihipali 0-2-1—0.

Receiving—Waimea: Dane Koga 2-33, Tyson Fernanadez 1-24, Dizon 1-(minus 2). St. Louis: Butcher 4-67, Rivers 2-27, Shawn Kauleinamoku 1-15.