No matter what happens Friday night in the ILH Division I title game between No. 2 Punahou and No. 3 Saint Louis, both teams will play in the state tournament.
The creation of a three-tier format this year means neither of these teams will end their seasons in the ILH title game, taking away some of the pressure from years past.
Still, an ILH title is on the line between the defending champion Crusaders (7-1) and the Buffanblu (7-1), who had won four in a row prior to last year.
The two regular season meetings were the exact opposite. Saint Louis dialed up 64 points over the final three quarters in a 20-point win in the first game that saw QB Tua Tagovailoa account for nine touchdowns. In the rematch, Punahou held Tagovailoa without a TD for the first time in his three-year career to win 33-20.
Punahou QB Nick Kapule set an ILH Division I record with 495 passing yards in the first meeting against Saint Louis. He’s thrown for more than 450 yards in two of his last six games. Meanwhile, Tagovailoa has been held to less than 150 yards passing in each of his last three games and has thrown an interception in four consecutive games. Both are the worst streaks of his career. Can the Crusaders turn it around against the prolific passing offense of Punahou?
No. 3 Saint Louis 28, No. 2 Punahou 14
Saint Louis wins its second consecutive ILH Division I title.
at Aloha Stadium
Punahou (7-2) 0 14 0 0 — 14
Saint Louis (8-1) 7 14 0 7 — 28
StL—Ronson Young 52 pass from Tua Tagovailoa (Jacob Tobias kick)
StL—Young 10 run (Tobias kick)
StL—Young 5 run (Tobias kick)
Pun—Enoch Nawahine 8 run (Jeff Chan kick)
Pun—Keala Martinson 6 pass from Nick Kapule (Chan kick)
StL—Young 31 pass from Tagovailoa (Tobias kick)
RUSHING—Punahou: Nawahine 10-35, Kapule 15-24. Saint Louis: Tagovailoa 16-98, Young 12-83, Dyan Silva 4-13, Tosh Kekahuna-Kalawe 4-5, Chevan Cordeiro 1-2.
PASSING—Punahou: Kapule 24-41-5-219. Saint Louis: Tagovailoa 10-19-1-192.
RECEIVING—Punahou: Martinson 8-65, Judd Cockett 7-40, Ethan Takeyama 4-86, Nawahine 3-9, Eamon Brady 1-12, Tamatoa Falatea 1-7. Saint Louis: Young 5-94, Leelan Oasay 2-17, Chandler Washington-Villanueva 1-37, Jaymason Nunuha 1-34, Kekahuna-Kalawe 1-10.
FOURTH QUARTER
Isaac Slade-Matautia finishes this one off with the fifth INT of the game for Saint Louis. FINAL.
Fourth-and-1 for Saint Louis and Punahou calls timeout with 2:33 remaining.
Bad punt and Punahou takes over on its 46 with 5:05 left. Rick Sandry gets in on the pick and that will just about do it. Huge night for the Crusaders defense.
Crusaders run it twice for 1 yard. Third-and-9. False start. Third-and-14. Tagovailoa picks up 8 but Saint Louis will punt it away with about 5 minutes remaining.
Kaeo Freitas with a sack as the Saint Louis interior D is blowing up the Punahou OL. Three-and-out.
Saint Louis will start on its 45. Tagovailoa stays in at QB. BOOM. A 55-yard bomb connects, Tagovailoa to Young for a TD, but NO! Holding on Saint Louis. Instead its first-and-27 at the 28. Now a 21-yard pass is wiped away by an ineligible receiver. Tagovailoa steps into one and hits Chandler Washington-Villanueva for a 37-yard pass right on the money. Just a beautiful throw. First down at the 40. Tagovailoa runs for 13 and bowls over a Punahou defender to the 27. Loss of 4 as big play is made by Lakalaka on defense. Tagovailoa to Young. ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL THROW TO THE BACK OF THE END ZONE. Young gets a foot in for a 31-yard TD pass. 28-14.
Punahou starts second-and-9 on its 23. Twelve minutes to decide the ILH champion. Kapule forced to scramble and steps out of bounds at the 15 for an 8-yard loss. Incomplete pass and punt.
THIRD QUARTER
Buffanblu will start on their 22 with 4 ticks on the third-quarter clock.
Saint Louis at its 20. 2:46 left in third quarter. Tagovailoa runs for 13 on the QB draw but is slow to get up and now the trainers are out to take a look. He walks off under his own power slowly. Chevan Cordeiro in at QB. Two runs for 4 yards sets up third-and-6 and Tagovailoa back in the game after missing two plays. Pass is behind Kekahuna-Kalawe and incomplete. Saint Louis will punt.
Slade-Matautia blitzes off the edge and Kapule never sees him. Sack for a 5-yard loss. Crusaders coming all night. Third-and-9 and Eamon Brady‘s first catch of the game is a big one for 11 yards. Another third-and-6 coming up. Saint Louis blitzes and Isaiah Feary drops what was almost a fourth Kapule INT. Punahou punts. Touchback.
Crusaders will get the ball first at their 21. Tagovailoa breaks off a 45-yard run on first play. Crusaders with 155 rushing yards after Young picks up 10. Young with 6 more but fumbles but Saint Louis is quick to jump on it. Ball inside the 20. Kaumatule with the tackle for no gain. Tagovailoa picks up 4 to the 9 to set up third-and-6. Tagovailoa hits Young for 3 yards to the 6. Saint Louis will kick the field goal but they draw Punahou offsides to pick up the first down at the 3. Saint Louis tried to run it in but is called for a hold. Ball back at the 18. Tagovailoa tries to throw it away but is called for intentional grounding. Ball on the 36. Now third-and-goal. Delay of game. Now third-and-goal from the 41. Deep pass is caught by Jaymason Nunuha for 34 yards to the 7. Tobias with the field-goal attempt and it hits the left upright and bounces back. No good. Punahou ball on the 20.
HALFTIME BOX
at Aloha Stadium
Punahou (7-1) 0 14
Saint Louis (7-1) 7 14
StL—Ronson Young 52 pass from Tua Tagovailoa (Jacob Tobias kick)
StL—Young 10 run (Tobias kick)
StL—Young 5 run (Tobias kick)
Pun—Enoch Nawahine 8 run (Jeff Chan kick)
Pun—Keala Martinson 6 pass from Nick Kapule (Chan kick)
RUSHING—Punahou: Kapule 7-32, Nawahine 7-26. Saint Louis: Young 7-67, Tagovailoa 10-33, Dylan Silva 1-3.
PASSING—Punahou: Kapule 18-26-3-171. Saint Louis: Tagovailoa 5-11-1-82.
RECEIVING—Punahou: Martinson 8-65, Judd Cockett 5-22, Ethan Takeyama 3-76, Nawahine 2-8. Saint Louis: Young 2-55, Leelan Oasay 2-17, Tosh Kekahuna-Kalawe 1-10.
SECOND QUARTER
Punahou on own 35 with 54 seconds remaining. Kapule runs for 2 and is stopped. Clock ticking. Third-and-2 after 6-yard completion. Kapule runs for 6 to the 49 and then spikes it with 8 seconds remaining. Saint Louis’ sideline is called for a penalty. Not sure what it was. Ball moves to the 36. Martinson with a 9-yard reception to the 27 and he gets out of bounds. Jeff Chan tries a 44-yard field goal and it’s no good. HALFTIME.
Crusaders ball on their 31 with 1:27 remaining. Teams have combined for six turnovers in the first half. Tagovailoa gets nothing on the QB draw. After an incomplete pass, Suguturaga with a tackle for loss. Fourth-and-12 with 1:02 remaining. Saint Louis punts. Suguturaga has completed changed this game for Punahou.
Kapule runs for 14, hits Cockett for 11 and then throws a 6-yard TD pass to Keala Martinson. That’s TD pass No. 30 for Kapule this season. 21-14, 1:34.
Tagovailoa runs for 4 to give him 40 rush yards in the game and Punahou calls timeout. Interesting. 2:34 left in half. I know you want to get the ball back but if the Crusaders pick up a first down now they have the extra time. Tagovailoa completes a 14-yard pass to Oasay to move past Andrew Manley of Leilehua for second on career passing list. After an incomplete pass, Tagovailoa is sacked from behind by Miki Suguturaga who forces a fumble. Punahou recovers on the 31 of Saint Louis.
Punahou starts on its 34. Kapule runs for 10 and add on 15 on a personal foul on Saint Louis. Kapule hits Takeyama for 32 to the 5. After a sack, Enoch Nawahine 8-yard TD run. 2:42.
Third-and-7 and Tagovailoa goes spin cycle, breaking out of a tackle for a 33-yard gain to the Punahou 31. Young runs for 21 to the 10 and an illegal block by Punahou moves it to the 5. Ronson Young have a day. 5-yard TD run is his third of the game. 21-0, 4:55. Young 69 rushing yards, 55 receiving yards.
Kapule is picked over the middle by Isaiah Tufaga. Three picks in three plays. Kapule with as many picks (three) in first half as he had all season.
Saint Louis gives it right back as Tagovailoa buys time and then throws downfield right to Punahou DB Marist Liufau, who had nobody around him. Buffanblu ball on the Crusaders 36.
Crusaders dialing up a ton of pressure so far. Heckuva catch by Takeyama for a nice 30-yard completion to midfield. Fourth encroachment call on Saint Louis. Now a sideline warning on Saint Louis. Punahou second-and-10 at midfield. Nawahine with the catch out of the backfield but fumbles on the hit from Slade-Matautia. Nawahine recovers but pressure on next play forces Kapule to throw one up and Jalen Saole brings it in for the INT at the Saint Louis 25.
Falcon Kaumatule stops Tagovailoa for a loss of 2. Third-and-3 and Tagovailoa throws back over the middle to hit Young for exactly 3 and then Young with the 10-yard TD run. 14-0 Crusaders, 9:46, Q2.
Saint Louis will face a third-and-6 at its 40 to start. Pass incomplete. Punt coming up. Punt hits a Punahou player and Kekahi Haina recovers for Saint Louis at the Punahou 20.
FIRST QUARTER
Saint Louis starts on its 20. Young runs for 14 and a first down. DB Aaron Woo breaks up a deep ball from Tagovailoa.
Kapule hits Ethan Takeyama for 14 yards and then Takeyama is bumped out of bounds by Saint Louis DB Kama Moore, who is whistled for the penalty. DL Kaeo Freitas with a tackle for loss and then a false-start penalty sets up third-and-13. Make that third-and-18 as Punahou moves early again. Kapule forces one over the middle and it’s picked off by Moore. Fourth INT of the season for Kapule.
Young escapes trouble in the backfield and picks up a nice gain of 14 yards. Tagovailoa picks up 3 yards as Lakalaka gets another tackle. Third-and-2 and Tagovailoa hits Young quick over the middle, who makes a man miss and he’s off to the races. He’s hit at the 5, stays on his feet and puts the ball over the goal line! 52-yard TD pass from Tagovailoa to Young. 7-0 Crusaders. 3:55, Q1.
Two short completions set up third-and-1 and Saint Louis brings the house to force the incomplete pass. Buffanblu three-and-out.
First look at Saint Louis QB Tua Tagovailoa. False start on Michael Minihan after a 5-yard run by Ronson Young. Tagovailoa loses 1 on the scramble and then is sacked by Miki Suguturaga and Seyddrick Lakalaka for a loss of 2. Crusaders three-and-out.
Buffanblu start on their 18. Saint Louis jumps offsides to give up a first down on third-and-5 and then moves early again before the next snap. Enoch Nawahine runs for 9 as Saint Louis has blitzed LB Isaac Slade-Matautia off the edge on every play so far. Kapule’s first completion is 20 yards to Keala Martinson and then Saint Louis jumps offsides a THIRD time on the first drive. Third-and-8 on the 26. Crusaders call their first timeout. Punahou tries an option play and Saint Louis is all over it as the pitch is back, going out of bounds for a loss of 2. Fourth-and-10 and Kapule’s throw is just off target and Saint Louis takes over.
**********
Punahou will receive.
Cal Lee on the Saint Louis sideline tonight. Good to see him out there.
HISTORY: Saint Louis leads 62-27-1 in the Prep Bowl and state championship eras.
You want a victory here, it’s the ILH Title plus a bye the 1st weekend of the State Tournament, the good news is the loser still has a shot at the State Tournament and evening winning it, but must play an extra game ( 3 ) to win it. Should be a wild one tonight, both teams playing for the Championship.
Not really ilh. Win or lose, both get a bye next weekend. You never want too much dead time.
Secondly, you say winning this game means you avoid playing Kahuku in the semifinals. BUt you assume Kahuku is going to win the OIA. They have too many turnovers, they lose to Kapolei or Waianae.
First of spell your name right. It’s “Mahatma Gandhi” second check your stats. We own the turnover differential. Keep dreaming buddy. Unless Kahuku shoots themselves in the foot, which I doubt, we got this. Go learn how to spell and go learn football.
why not include where and when the games are, and how to buy a ticket, parking etc sigh
FYI… Sitiveni Kaufusi is not playing in this game.
Thanks. I think I mixed up a 3 and an 8. Won’t be the last time.
Who called St . Louis, St. Lulu, now go eat your words, cause the man from Ewa Beach (Tua ) tears apart Punahou’s players from Kauku’s ( Kahuku), Kahuku if you pass Waianae watch for the other Ewa Beach man Tagovailoa destroy Kahuku next week.
ILH you one ding dong. Ain’t no playmaker in that Punahou secondary. The tufaga kid for St Louis is from Laie and he did solid. Please just shut yo mouth until the season is over. That’s the problem. Too much talk then cry baby after.