Saint Louis hasn’t been easy on new starting quarterbacks so far this season.
The Crusaders shut out Baldwin, which is adjusting to life without Keelan Ewaliko taking snaps, in a 55-0 win on Maui to open the season. A week later, Kahuku sophomore Tuli Wily-Matangi completed two passes in eight attempts for 12 yards as the Red Raiders relied on their ground game to keep pace before Saint Louis pulled away to a 45-24 win.
Following a bye, Saint Louis will line up across another youngster behind center on Friday when the top-ranked Crusaders open the ILH schedule against No. 4 Kamehameha at Aloha Stadium.
Kamehameha sophomore Noah Sua-Godinet continues his maturation process as a quarterback, having completed 59 percent of his throws (24-for-41) for 374 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions in wins over Farrington and Kealakehe the past two weeks.
“We’re trying to give him a little bit more each week, trying to bring him along slowly,” Kamehameha coach Doug Cosbie said.
This week’s ILH opener figures to be his toughest test to date.
Sua-Godinet recovered from a shaky start to complete 12 of 19 attempts for 251 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-0 win over Kealakehe on Saturday. He also kept the ball five times for 31 yards and a touchdown after fumbling a snap early in the game.
“We were planning to throw a little bit more than we usually do to test things out,” Sua-Godinet said.
Saint Louis quarterback Ryder Kuhns was in a similar spot early last season, when the sophomore shared starts with senior Kawai Mook-Garcia. Armed with that experience, Kuhns is 37-for-51 (72.5 percent) for 577 yards and seven touchdowns two games into his junior year.
Catching fire
Sua-Godinet connected with Nicholas Young on two 34-yard completions and threw two touchdown passes to William Young on fade patterns against Kealakehe.
William Young, a 6-foot-3 senior, also had a 42-yard reception and ended the night with six catches for 124 yards. If a Kamehameha receiver can break the century mark again this season, it’ll be the first time the Warriors have posted multiple 100-yard performances in a season since Aaron Nichols had three in 2005, including a 233-yard game against Punahou.
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