The difference was three points on the scoreboard, but on the field it was about two yards.

That was the key adjustment for top-ranked Saint Louis to shut down No. 4 Kamehameha in the second half in a 17-14 come-from-behind thriller before 4,977 at Aloha Stadium.

The Crusaders need to win one of their final two games (against Damien and Iolani, both of Division II) to wrap up the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I championship. The Warriors (6-3, 2-3 overall) were eliminated, falling three games behind the first-place Crusaders (8-0, 5-0) with two to play.

"We came out a little slow, but I had faith in my offense the whole time," Saint Louis defensive end Scott Smith said. "As long as we didn't get down on each other and just kept picking up each other and playing like a team, we'd be victorious."

Appropriately, Smith put the finishing touch by sacking Michael Hoke on the final play of the game to snuff the Warriors' comeback bid that ended after a second-and-26 from the Saint Louis 39 with eight seconds left.

Micah Mamiya scored on a 1-yard run with three minutes, 41 seconds left to cap three unanswered scores by the Crusaders in the second half. On third-and-goal, Mamiya faked a dive to the tailback right, and scooted through a little gap near left guard to score the go-ahead TD.

The rally was made possible when the Crusaders' defense settled the game by blanking the Warriors in the second half.

The Warriors built a 14-0 lead in the second quarter on running back Truman Chun's 2 and 3-yard TD runs. He and the Warriors' other running back, Ryan Montez, made some crucial big runs inside against Saint Louis in long-yardage situations when left end Smith lined up wide.

The Crusaders adjusted by moving him about two yards closer inside, bringing a linebacker up for support outside to neutralize the inside run.

"Kamehameha was coming out running a lot, especially on first down," Saint Louis defensive coordinator Jacob Yoro said. "So I figured, we move Scott in, shore up the inside a little bit more, and move 'em out on passing downs."

Yoro challenged his defense.

"We came out a little flat, probably a letdown from last week," he said. "I told them if they were ready to make some plays. They came out firing in the second half."

Smith and the other defensive end, Solomona Aigamaua, each had two sacks. One of Smith's sacks caused a fumble, and he also had a fumble recovery.

"We tried to adjust to a couple things, but penalties, that kind of stuff, hurt us," Kamehameha coach Kanani Souza said.

The Crusaders' offense took care of business, too, scoring on their first two series of the second half to close to 14-10.

Saint Louis scored on its first series by capping an 11-play, 76-yard drive with Mamiya hitting Chase Alcott on a 7-yard TD pass. Alcott came across from the right and made a diving catch on the left side of the end zone to pull the Saints to 14-7.

The Crusaders then had two apparent TDs nullified by penalties on their next drive, settling for a 25-yard field goal by Kenton Chun to make it 14-10 with 26 seconds left in the third quarter.

"That gave us a lift," Saint Louis coach Delbert Tengan said of the first two second-half scores. "It gave us some confidence."

The Saints' winning drive had a critical pass interference against Kamehameha on third-and-8 at the Warriors' 12. It appeared contact from the defender came after the receiver was already out of bounds. Souza concurred with that assessment. It not only put the ball half the distance to the goal, but refreshed a set of downs. Mamiya scored on third down.

"This team is a special team," Tengan said. "I feel these guys have the will to win. They refuse to lose and that's what they talked about at halftime. They said they were going to leave it all on the field in the second half and they did exactly that."

SAINT LOUIS (8-0, 5-0) 0 0 10 7—17

KAMEHAMEHA (6-3, 2-3) 0 14 0 0—14

Kam — Truman Chun 2 run (Tyler Akao kick)

Kam — Chun 3 run (Akao kick)

StL — Chase Alcott 7 pass from Micah Mamiya (Kenton Chun kick)

StL — FG Chun 25

StL — Mamiya 1 run (Chun kick)

RUSHING — Saint Louis: Mamiya 9-23, Keani Nishigawa 9-16, Austin Wahinekona 10-76, Deven Essner 3-7, Ryan Iaea 1-0, Alcott 2-13. Kamehameha: Michael Hoke 10-(minus 19), Chun 13-34, Ryan Montez 13-66.

PASSING — Saint Louis: Mamiya 13-26-1—193. Kamehameha: Hoke 4-12-0—77, Team 0-2-0—0.

RECEIVING — Saint Louis: Shane Ahlo 4-34, Tamatoa DeMello 2-10, Iaea 1-3, Alcott 4-77, Kulia Aiona 1-38, Ricksson Pacarro 1-31. Kamehameha: Charles Soon III 1-15, Kaneakua Friel 2-29, Ian Bernardino 1-33.

'IOLANI 29, PAC-FIVE 22

Running back Justin Yamamoto rushed for two touchdowns and 121 yards as the Raiders (4-3-1 overall, 2-2-1 ILH) held off a late surge by the Wolfpack (2-6, 0-5) at Aloha Stadium.

Trailing 29-14 following a safety, Pac-Five recycled a fumble into a 14-yard touchdown by Jordan Ho-Ching with 2:05 left in the game. Ho-Ching ran in the 2-point conversion to pull the Wolfpack to with seven.

After a failed onside kick attempt, the Raiders punted after three downs, giving Pac-Five the ball back at its 19 with 1:03 left. Pac-Five moved to the 'Iolani 43, but on fourth-and-1, Kendall Huang sacked Bryson Beirne to preserve the lead for the Raiders, who took over on downs and then took a knee to milk the remaining ticks off the clock.

Quarterback Ryan Dung had a 38-yard TD run off a nice fake to the running back up the middle that Increased 'Iolani's lead to 20-7.

'IOLANI (4-3-1, 2-2-1) 13 7 9 0—29

PAC-FIVE (2-6, 0-5) 7 0 7 8—22

Iol — FG Kody Adams 35

Iol — Justin Yamamoto 2 run (Adams kick)

Pac — Shandon Augustus 13 run (Josh Mun kick)

Iol — FG Adams 19

Iol — Ryan Dung 38 run (Adams kick)

Iol — Yamamoto 4 run (Adams kick)

Pac — Jaime Rivera 2 run (Mun kick)

Iol — Safety, ball downed in end zone

Pac — Jordan Ho-Ching 14 run (Ho-Ching run)

RUSHING — 'Iolani: Dung 6-43, Yamamoto 17-121, Reid Furukawa 5-8, Kela Marciel 2-19, Team 1-(minus 1). Pac-Five: Bryson Beirne 4-6, Augustus 14-74, Liko Satele 1-1, Ho-Ching 12-78, Zachary Fujimoto 1-(minus 3), Phillip Sarubbi 1-4, Rivera 4-21, Team 1-(minus 20).

PASSING — 'Iolani: Dung 9-27-0—170. Pac-Five: Beirne 16-30-1—120, Augustus 0-1-0—0.

RECEIVING — 'Iolani: Jordan Nakamura 1-5, Lionel Fujioka 3-72, Aaron Fong 3-63, Ronnie Hirokawa 1-10, Furukawa 1-20. Pac-Five: Ho-Ching 7-61, Matt Shibata 1-5, Sarubbi 1-11, Augustus 4-20, Matthew Bayan 2-23, Fujimoto 1-0.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.