Damien coach Eddie Klaneski hopes history will repeat itself when the Monarchs and St. Francis meet again for the ILH Division II championship at Aloha Stadium.
Next Saturday’s matchup will mark exactly one year since Damien beat St. Francis 20-12 in Halawa to win the 2016 ILH Division II title. Like last year, both teams split the season series.
The main difference this time around is that the Saints will have to beat the top-seeded Damien twice to claim the conference crown because the Monarchs earned the top seed in the regular season.
Klaneski hopes it doesn’t come down to a winner-take-all matchup, stressing the importance of the first contest.
“It’s gonna be huge for us. We don’t want to have to play those guys twice,” Klaneski said of the Saints. “We’re gonna put everything into the game this week and we hope we come out on top.
“If we play mistake-free, I think we’ll be OK because we have the pieces in place, we just haven’t been doing well on both sides of the ball so we gotta get a little bit better.”
Damien (8-2) sealed its spot in the championship game after a 30-20 victory over Pac-Five on Friday night at Aloha Stadium, but it was a game that disappointed Klaneski in lack of execution.
“We know St. Francis won and they’re up and coming right now. They’re on the rise and doing a lot of good things so if we don’t get it together, we very well might not be playing any longer,” Klaneski said.
Momentum would seem to favor St. Francis (7-3) heading into the upcoming week. The Saints are fresh off a 43-19 road rout of ‘Iolani. The game before that? A 19-0 shutout victory over Damien last Saturday.
“Beating them the first time will mean everything to us. We practice so hard, to have a loss like that last week motivates us even harder to keep working, refine our skills and keep playing,” Damien running back Keoua Kauhi added. “There’s a lot of seniors on this team and we don’t want to have them end their season like that.”
When Klaneski and his troops head back to the same venue where they won an ILH title last year, they’ll do so knowing that they’ve done it before.
But they’ll also know that it will take a lot more to do it again.
“The way we’re playing, we can lose at any time and it’s very frustrating as a coach,” he said. “Hopefully we can take care of our business and give St. Francis a game next week.”
I love the sound of confidence they speak with, knowing that the atomic bomb is about to hit them as if they are Hiroshima and they are under umbrellas, just enough to block the sun but not enough to block that punch in their mouths when they get marched on by Saint Francis Saints Boots again. last year the Saints had 4 starters injured in the game which was more then anything they experienced the whole season, that’s the only reason they had a chance! This game It should be 35-0 to shake them up for the next game which they should just save face and forfeit, before they get mercy ruled by halftime! They have 0 chance and they know it, who ever thinks they do make your argument, then go back to look at their last matchup vide where the Saints fumbled 2 in the red zone which was on the 5 and 10 yds. That would’ve been just more to think on! No one has shut out Klaneski, but watch Saints shut up Monarchs!
I agree that the Saints have all the necessary ingredients to win this contest for the ILH Division II Title. On paper (and in-person), the Saints are both physically imposing and athletically gifted. However, as we’ve seen throughout the season, their biggest foe is their self. If they can limit their mistakes, and their coaches can make the proper in-game adjustments, they should extend their season. On the other hand, I wouldn’t be so quick to rule the Monarchs out. Time after time, they’ve willed their selves to victory behind excellent coaching, toughness, discipline, and a knack to come through during clutch situations. This should be fun.