Crusaders cast wary eye to ILH game vs. Warriors

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

St. Louis School football coach Delbert Tengan had just enough time on Sunday to watch one quarter's worth of videotape on the Crusaders' 31-21 loss to De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) the previous night.

"Then I had to start watching (tape of) Kamehameha," he said.

St. Louis has had little time to reflect on its respectable defeat to the nation's No. 1-ranked team, because tonight the Crusaders face yet another huge challenge in the Warriors, who are ranked No. 2 in The Advertiser's statewide Top 10 poll.

The showdown between the Interscholastic League of Honolulu powers is set for about 7:30 at Aloha Stadium.

While St. Louis (2-1 overall) had garnered much of the state's attention as The Advertiser's No. 1-ranked team, Kamehameha built a 4-0 record by defeating Baldwin, Waimea, Kapa'a and Punahou by an aggregate score of 167-27.

"They are very explosive," Tengan said. "They're well-balanced with their running and passing, and their offensive line has great size. They've got offensive weapons similar to what we saw last Saturday."

The Warriors have an experienced quarterback in senior Caleb Spencer, a dangerous open-field threat in running back Travis Beyer and two speedy receivers in Josh Vierra and Keoni Ruth.

Kamehameha's defense, which lost two NCAA Division I recruits (Hawai'i's Abu Ma'afala and Washington's Brandon Ala) to graduation, has not lost a step, Tengan said.

"They're very aggressive and they have a blitzing scheme that always gives us problems," Tengan said. "And they have defensive backs who can cover."

Despite four impressive victories, Warriors coach Kanani Souza said his team is "still not running on all cylinders." And he said they will need to do that in order to defeat the Crusaders, who impressed many Mainland observers with their performance against usually dominant De La Salle.

"I was impressed with St. Louis even before that game," Souza said.

Tengan said the Saints won't have trouble finding motivation tonight, despite spending a great amount of emotion last week.

"They know what's at stake, they know the other team is hungry to take something from us," Tengan said. "Our defense wants to redeem itself, so they're looking forward to that opportunity. That's what's good about having a game like this — you don't have time to dwell on a loss. It's a chance to move on."