Crusaders win opener

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

St. Louis' Justin Cabansag, right, is off and running with Punahou's Shon Morishige in pursuit. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

The Crusaders, ranked No. 21 in the nation by USA Today and No. 1 in The Advertiser's statewide Top 10 poll, scored 28 points in the second quarter and 21 in the third to improve to 2-0 overall, 1-0 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu.

Punahou, ranked No. 7 by The Advertiser, fell to 2-1, 0-1.

Justin Cabansag rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries and B.J. Batts added 99 yards rushing and one touchdown on 11 carries to lead St. Louis.

Crusaders quarterback Bobby George completed 9 of 15 passes for 188 yards and one touchdown. He was not intercepted.

The game was the ILH debut for St. Louis coach Delbert Tengan, who took over after Cal Lee's 20 hugely successful seasons at the helm.

"I don't think they changed their M.O.," Buffanblu coach Kale Ane said. "They ran the ball a little more than usual, but that's because they can. They have a strong line, and they were very effective."

It took some time for the Saints to get rolling. They fumbled the ball away on their second play from scrimmage, had three penalties and a fumble before punting on their next possession and lost the ball on yet another fumble on their third series.

St. Louis finally clicked on its fourth possession, a six-play, 51-yard drive culminating in Cabansag's 4-yard touchdown run with 10:38 remaining in the half. The Crusaders made it 14-0 after Shane Butcher recovered a teammate's fumble in the end zone with 5:31 left. Batts scored on a 19-yard run to help push the lead to 21-0 with 1:25 remaining, and Pase Fiaseu returned an interception 48 yards for a score on the next play from scrimmage to help put St. Louis up 28-0 at intermission.

"We were a little rusty after two weeks off, and that's probably part of the reason we had a hard time holding on to the ball," Tengan said. "Our timing was off on offense in the beginning, but then we controlled the running game and it started to pick up after that."

Senior linebacker Tualau Fale led St. Louis' defense with 12 tackles, including two for a loss, and five hurries.

ST. LOUIS (2-0, 1-0) 0 28 21 0 — 49
PUNAHOU (2-1, 0-1) 0 0 0 0 — 0

SL — Justin Cabansag 4 run (Kaeo Adams kick)

SL — Shane Butcher recovered fumble in end zone (Adams kick)

SL — B.J. Batts 19 run (Adams kick)

SL — Pase Fiaseu 48 interception return (Adams kick)

SL — Jon Amano 74 pass from Bobby George (Adams kick)

SL — Cabansag 40 run (Amano kick)

SL — Chester Wilson recovered fumble in end zone (Michael Houar kick)

RUSHING — SL: Cabansag 11-113, Batts 11-99, George 2-(-14), Marcus Higa 8-41, Stanley Nihipali 1-0. P: Joshua Balete 2-2, Robbie Miller 6-1, Jason Sakata 2-6, Tamatoa Hackney 3-18, Reyn Wicklund 1-9.

PASSING — SL: George 9-15-0—188, Nihipali 1-2-1—4, Keali'i Perbera 1-1-0—8. P: Drew Monahan 11-24-1—129, Kevin Cronin 0-4-1—0.

RECEIVING — SL: Jon Amano 4-108, Butcher 2-56, Shawn Kauleinamoku 1-4, Jason Rivers 2-21, Guy Rodrigues 1-2, Zane Labetos 1-8. P: Chad Tamashiro 2-24, Sakata 3-43, Mark Veneri 3-10, Kainoa Higgins 2-18, Wicklund 1-34.