Kamehameha tops St. Louis, 41-20

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

Kamehameha running back Travis Beyer lunges into the end zone in the first quarter. He rushed for 57 yards on 16 carries in the No. 2 Warriors' victory over No. 1 St. Louis. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Kamehameha, ranked No. 2 in the Advertiser's statewide Top 10 poll, established itself as Hawai'i's new gridiron king, at least for now, with a stunning 41-20 victory over No. 1 St. Louis last night before a crowd of 6,470 at Aloha Stadium. The Warriors (5-0 overall) improved to 2-0 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu while dropping the Crusaders to 2-2, 1-1. This marks the first time since 1993 that St. Louis has lost back-to-back games.

The Crusaders also lost consecutive games in 1990, the only other time in the past 17 seasons that has happened. St. Louis lost to De La Salle, the nation's No. 1-ranked team, 31-21 last week.

"We were a little flat, we busted some coverages and made enough mistakes to last us a whole season," Crusaders coach Delbert Tengan said. "But we still had our chances. We were steady on defense for awhile, and then things started to fall apart."

Kamehameha quarterback Caleb Spencer shredded the St. Louis defense by completing 14 of 27 passes for 274 yards and four touchdowns. His main targets were Josh Vierra (seven catches, 115 yards, three touchdowns) and Keoni Ruth (four catches, 110 yards, one TD), but Spencer also found tight end Kahe Santos three times for 49 yards, not including a two-point conversion pass that made the score 34-20 with 11:22 remaining in the game.

Warriors running back Travis Beyer also kept the Crusaders honest by rushing for 57 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries.

"Our offense is amazing," said Kamehameha cornerback Kekoa Smith. "We have too many weapons. We're too hard to beat, even in practice."

Smith and the other Warriors cornerback, Tamatoa Silva, did their part by keeping tight coverage on St. Louis' top receivers, Jason Rivers and Shane Butcher. Rivers finished with four catches for 45 yards, but was shut out in the first half. Butcher made one catch for minus-one yard. Neither found the end zone.

"Our corners might have been the two most important guys out there," Kamehameha coach Kanani Souza said.

Crusaders quarterback Bobby George completed only 13 of 32 passes for just 137 yards, and he was intercepted twice. He left the game with an ankle injury in the fourth quarter and did not return.

The key series may have come in the third quarter, when St. Louis had first-and-goal at the Warriors' 1-yard line trailing 19-14. The Crusaders ended up losing the ball on downs, and Kamehameha responded with a 71-yard touchdown pass from Spencer to Ruth that helped give the Warriors a 26-14 lead with 4:56 left.

"That kind of took the wind out of our sails," Tengan said. "But if you're a good team, you come back from something like that."

ST. LOUIS (2-2, 1-1) 14 0 6 0—20
KAMEHAMEHA (5-0, 2-0) 7 12 7 15—41

SL—Shane Perry 3 pass from Bobby George (Kaeo Adams kick)

Kam—Travis Beyer 9 run (Kepa Gaison kick)

SL—B.J. Batts 92 kickoff return (Adams kick)

Kam—Josh Vierra 43 pass from Caleb Spencer (kick failed)

Kam—Vierra 13 pass from Spencer (pass failed)

Kam—Ruth 71 pass from Spencer (Gaison kick)

SL—Batts 10 run (kick failed)

Kam—Vierra 16 pass from Spencer (Kahe Santos pass from Spencer)

Kam—Samson Castillo 2 run (Gaison kick)

RUSHING—SL: Justin Cabansag 15-67, Batts 6-26, George 5-(-42), Stanley Nihipali 1-(-5), Justin Kruse 2-4, Derrick Hohu 1-8. Kam: Keoni Ruth 3-2, Beyer 16-57, Spencer 6-20, Santos 2-(-1), Castillo 3-1.

PASSING—SL: George 13-32-2—137, Nihipali 0-1-0—0. Kam: Spencer 14-27-1—274.

RECEIVING—SL: Shane Butcher 1-(-1), Batts 2-22, Perry 1-3, Jon Amano 5-68, Jason Rivers 4-45. Kam: Ruth 4-110, Santos 3-49, Vierra 7-115.

Pac-Five 41, Damien 7: The Wolfpack jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and out-gained the Monarchs in first-half yardage 198-79 en route to a victory at Aloha Stadium.

Sualata Sivi Savini returned an interception 56 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter to help give Pac-Five a 14-0 lead.

Wolfpack senior Ryan Leong rushed for 83 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries and caught four passes for 48 yards.

Pac-Five quarterback McShane Dator completed 11 of 29 passes for 164 yards and one touchdown and also rushed for one touchdown.

Damien running back Cory Mullen rushed for 131 yards on 17 carries.

DAMIEN (0-3, 0-2) 0 7 0 0— 7
PAC-FIVE (2-3, 1-1) 21 7 13 0—41

PAC—McShane Dator 1 run (Darci Hata kick)

PAC—Sualata Sivi Savini 56 interception return (Hata kick)

PAC—Ryan Leong 1 run (Hata kick)

DAMI—Ranson DeCosta 20 run (DeCosta kick)

PAC—Brandyn McCall 24 pass from Dator (Hata kick)

PAC—Dennis Moku Pilialoha 1 run (kick blocked)

PAC—Nick Miyamoto 34 fumble return (Hata kick)

RUSHING—Dami: DeCosta 6-27, Fehi Sevelo 7-25, Tevita Williams 4-(-10), Cory Mullen 17-131, Fuava'a Faualo 1-(-2), Brandon Baguio 1-5. Pac: Leong 10-83, Gyles Lawrence 5-18, Dator 8-22, Pilialoha 1-1, Dave Stewart 7-29, Cheyne Abbey-Chong 5-7.

PASSING—Dami: Williams 3-12-1—10, Zachary Shimizu 0-2-1—0. Pac: Dator 11-29-0—164, Jordan Tani 0-1-1—0.

RECEIVING—Dami: Faualo 1-1, Christopher Gaylord 1-5, Sevelo 1-4. Pac: Leong 4-48, Ryan Urabe 3-67, Travis Tyler 3-25, McCall 1-24.

Non-counting result

At Punahou

Punahou 7, Iolani 6