Saint Louis coach Cal Lee was typically understated after the Crusaders turned in a performance of three-pronged dominance Friday night.
“Alright, decent,” was Lee’s summation of No. 1 Saint Louis’ 72-6 rout of Farrington at Skippa Diaz Stadium.
Yes, the state’s winningest coach was pleased with the play of quarterback Jayden de Laura, who completed 13 of 17 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns in less than a half of action. Yet, collectively, “you’re looking for 100 percent. We’re still not there yet.”
Aside from a 95-yard kickoff return by Farrington sophomore Raymond Millare, Friday’s game appeared awfully close to that complete performance Lee and the Crusaders continue to pursue.
Linebacker Nick Herbig ignited the blowout with an 18-yard interception return for a touchdown 75 seconds into the game and the Crusader defense allowed just 4 yards in total offense on the night.
Saint Louis came away with three turnovers, allowed just two first downs and posted seven sacks.
“If we set the tone (on defense) it gets the offense fired (up) and it’ll get us fired up for the next series,” said Saint Louis defensive lineman Faatui Tuitele, who grew up about 5 minutes away at Mayor Wright Homes in Kalihi before moving to nearby Kukui Gardens. “That’s our goal to try to set the tone every game and I think Nick having that pick-six really lit the fire.”
The Crusaders lost a fumble on their opening drive and then reached the end zone on nine of their next 11 possessions. The exceptions came after the defense recovered a fumble with 15 seconds left in the first half and on the game’s final drive as they run out the clock.
De Laura completed touchdown passes to Makoa Close and Roman Wilson, running backs Robbie Paikai and Dayton Sam both rushed for two touchdowns, and backup quarterbacks Connor Apo and Alexander Bianco capped the Crusaders’ highest scoring performance since a 73-6 win over Pac-Five on Sept. 6, 2013.
Saint Louis QB Jayden de Laura went 13-for-17 for 254 yards in the Crusaders' win at Farrington. He started the night with a 37-yard laser to Makoa Close, who finished with four catches for 101 yards. @HawaiiPrepWorld pic.twitter.com/1l9RO28u8k
— Jason Kaneshiro (@jasonkaneshiro) October 6, 2018
Special teams contributed when Keanu Wallace returned a kickoff 73 yards to set up a 16-yard scoring drive. Mason Tufaga blocked a punt on Farrington’s next possession and Sam scored his first touchdown one play later. On Farrington’s next punt attempt, the snap sailed high and out of the end zone for a safety.
Farrington didn’t cross midfield until midway through the fourth quarter when Samsen Tanuvasa, who led the Governors with 54 rushing yards, took the short snap on a fake punt 27 yards.
After offering words of encouragement to Farrington players following Saint Louis’ 22nd consecutive win, Lee was a bit more open about the Crusaders’ postseason future.
The Crusaders (7-0, 6-0 ILH Open) had secured the top seed in the upcoming ILH Open division playoffs. They close the regular season on Oct. 12 against Kamehameha at Aloha Stadium and will have a bye while Kamehameha and Punahou meet in the first round of playoffs. The winner advances to face Saint Louis in the division title game on Oct. 27 with a state tournament berth at stake.
“To me that’s not fair. You win the championship and the only thing you got is a bye,” Lee said. “That’s our league.”
The outcome against an ILH opponent didn’t impact Farrington’s postseason hopes and the Governors remain at 1-3 in the OIA Open division going into their regular-season finale against Kahuku.
The Governors played without senior quarterback Chris Afe, who suffered an injury in a “freak accident” in PE class earlier in the day, according to Farrington coach Daniel Sanchez, who said he got word of the injury around noon. Freshman Richard Tagataese played the entire game behind center.
Millare, a sophomore, provided the Governors’ highlight with his kickoff return in the second quarter.
“Raymond, I think if he keeps continuing to work he’s going to be something special,” Sanchez said. “We have a lot of sophomores right now. (Tagataese) is a freshman and I think this is great experience for those guys.
“I think what we get out of this is our underclassmen get to see what the No. 1 team in the state is like and you get to set goals for yourself in the offseason and that’s a program I think you would want to model.
“I kept encouraging the guys to keep playing, don’t give up, and telling the underclassmen, ‘remember this, remember how they played because this is where we want to get to.’ ”
Cal Lee: “To me that’s not fair. You win the championship and the only thing you got is a bye,” Lee said. “That’s our league.”
Whah, Whah, Whah. We only get a bye that’s NOT fair 😢
The so called God of coaching crying AGAIN. He recruits the best players in the state, has the best OC in Hawaii HS history, has a damn good defense and still scared to play Punahou a second time? All you Cal lovers that say he’ll play anybody, anywhere are you listening to the words that are coming out of his mouth?
Coach York would play UH the day after he plays STL & still not complain!!
??? Stop your crying! He’s just fighting for his team. York recruits just as hard as everyone and if the OIA would let 2 ILH teams play in states like they should this wouldn’t even be talked about. It’s sad when one of the best teams in the state is left out.
He’s not crying for his team. He’s speaking for the whole playoff system. The playoffs should be against the top eight teams of the Open Division. That will result in the best team winning.
Advantaged schools vs disadvantaged.
It was Hawaii all-stars vs Farrington, what did you expect the outcome to be?
Cal is a politician. Ron Lee is the offensive guy. Easy to win when you got all the advantages.
After next year, get rid of the alliance. Look at what St.Francis did to Kalani. The OIA will always be a punching bag for the ILH. St.Francis can probably beat Farrington. The bottom line is $$$. Farrington has always been a recruiting ground for the ILH. Now Moanalua and Mililani also takes from the Farrington district. That’s how big programs fold. It is no fluke that the biggest and best program in the nation are catholic schools. $$$ to pay for equipment, coaches,facilities and tuition exemptions. All good for them, but think about the other 60 players that have to show up to school after a 60 plus point whooping. The OIA can do just fine without the ILH.
SL should be allowed to have two teams in the open division.
There’s the cry babies again check this out it was find when the kahuku the mililani plays aiea Radford and all those junk teams like I said you cry babies is crying the guys that playing probably like the challenge and if you have a good program guys will want to go there period
The onslaught will continue…There’s no compition between ILH and the OIA teams..
Money, Coaching, Facilities, and of course the District exception..Coach Cal and his staff is doing exactly what he is getting paid to do…Prepare these Student Athletes for college and in the process some will obtain scholarships…But, they shouldn’t mix public and private ….9 1/2 out 10 The ILH will win…
#5.all ilh, the merge was forced by 3 million dollars, 4 years ago by ILH lawyers. #7.hammer. ahhhh, Radford blow out was a result of Frederick Salanoa making a recruited super team in 2015, winning the D2, then bailing along with players when Radford moved up. So hammer, what is 72-6?? Public school players gotta go PE, so your qb.gets hurt. At private, all day study hall with coaches and low calorie brunch. Why did Pac5 leave the ILH Open? Because the ILH knows those kids will get hurt. Remember pac5 was a State Prep bowl champ. What happened?
Last night the announcer said that the Rough Riders had transfers from St. Louis and St. Francis playing. Is that recruitment? No, parents can send their kids to the school best suited for the family.
Just let the ILH play in the ILH that’s it!
No complaints about recruiting, money, facilities etc…
No state championship, No Prep Bowl just individual ILH, OIA & Neighbor Island championships period!!!
I went to St. Louis…I had to go to PE, study hall was one period and optional, I’m still waiting to see where you got your info about a low calorie brunch because we weren’t invited. You all talk about St. Louis like we had amazing facilities and amenities! Most of us came from hard working-class families that struggled to pay tuition. I’m not gonna pretend to know what Mililani and Kahuku kids go through during the day. Furthmore, if you want your local school to have comparable facilities to private schools talk to your state representative. Good Luck getting them to do anything. They can’t even give a great team like Kahuku a decent football field! Here’s the real question. How does Waipahu get a turf grass field and Kahuku doesn’t?
@Afan
Because the RAIL passes right over Waipahu’s football field and they want tourists to see It and say Wow, Hawaii high schools have beautiful football fields. They will NEVER see Kahuku’s field that’s terrible & always flooded. Kahuku deserves better!
@HSfootball- incorrect about the STL coaches getting these kids ready for the next level and scholarships. Most of the STL football coaching staff are only chasing HS football wins, nothing else. They have had All Stars on the roster for a long time and the only ones that get looks get them based on their own size & athleticism, not because of the coaching they get (or really don’t get) at STL. Real coaching would have colleges kicking the door in and offering a lot more players then they are currently. Sorry but STL is winning mostly because of talent, not coaching.
You correct about kahuku field sucks should have a major up grade but the question is why do they play so many games on that shity field because the OIA want them to have every advantage to many injuries guys get on that shity field I no I played on that shity field and I rolled my ankle badly
Cal Lee and his coaching staff does make a difference , when Cal Lee left back in the early 2000’s, the coaches that followed did not have the staff that could keep winning Championships, once Cal Lee came back everything is running like a welled oiled Machine again, even you have talent you still need good coaches.
Get rid of this alliance, Cal just needs more teams to play so their high tuition paying families that pay his salary can be pleased to win. ILH schools are expected to win in every sport and they could careless about running over the OIA. “use them as punching bags”
I wonder how Damien fans feel that STL starting QB Delaura transfered to STL just to play 1 yr.
@ILH
When Cal left the recruiting of top talent wasn’t too elite, than Word of Life closed and Coach DA grabbed their BEST players P. Asiata & J. Parker both All State and D- player of the year!!
Without those two Recruits and Kahuku not being ineligible, STL and Mariota has NO state Tilte. CAL is Recruiter of the century!!
“No Recruit, No Titles” Plain & Simple!!
@Notes Delaura is just a Junior. He’s gonna play two years and you’re saying they’re expected to win? Like Herm Edwards said, “You play to win the game, Hello?!”
Call wasn’t the coach when Mariota was there dummy
Its easy to see that Ron Lee and the run & shoot is the difference maker at STL. A good offensive scheme with QBs & WRs who are coachable are the recepie for success out there. Mix in a few athletic guys on defense and you have enough to win. Coach Cal and his defense are suspect to a good quick passing attack. Luckily they have their offense to keep the games out of reach. If there are coaches out at STL that know what they’re doing, its on the offensive side of the ball.
@Wake up
Learn to read, I said Coach “DA” (Darnell Arceneaux) ! Who’s the Dummy? Change your name to Go Sleep, instead of wake up😂
@Truth
Well said… That’s why I always say Ron is the REAL Head Coach and REAL reason STL is who they are. If Cal retires and Ron stays STL will still win but if Ron leaves STL will not be the same.
Mililani wants no part of STL. Only thing Coach York is willing to play with is other people’s wives. @??? What’s the matter did Cal not put you in the game? Scrub
Ron lee offense didnt do to well at Utah or Univ. of Hawaii, or at Kalani HS. Truth is, like any other offense, you need better athletes then your competition and that is what Cal is for, to recruit n supply Ron with the kids that have been training all their lives for those offensive positions. Nice to have a talent like Tua and Delaura fall in to your lap.
Recruited, not rooted!
I give STL credit, they get a lot of parents to pay for overpriced education (because the education you get a STL you can get at a public school) for their kids to sit on the bench. STL doesn’t make your kid good, the kids are already good when they get there. Plenty public school kids getting big D1 offers!
Coach C can you shut up already? U giving everyone on here one headache.
I’ll finish with this thought about STL. This year’s team is full of individuals, coaching staff included. I know of at least one guy that only coach there to make sure his kid will get playing time when he moves up to varsity. As for the players they look selfish and want the spotlight only on them when they make a play. Their own arrogance will be their worst enemy and when they implode against a team that plays together it will be exposed.
Truth
U sound like a B#tthurt parent who son or nephew ain’t getting NO PT at STL. Lol. Relax Tampax. That STL D is only getting started. When all 11 starters are in the field at the same time they look unstoppable. This next few weeks will show. Good luck to all STUDENT athletes in the coming weeks. Stay Healthy
Nephew is a starter on offense and I watch practice when I come pick him up twice a week. I dont care too much for the defense because I don’t know anyone on there but Its not hard to see the difference in coaching on both sides of the ball. Ron and company are utilizing these players to their potential. The same cannot be said for the defense, unless you are the coach that I’ve heard about?
Based on these comments above a bunch of you never played sports. As for all day study hall and no PE you obviously know absolutely nothing about St.Louis. I went there and study hall was after school. No such thing as free healthy lunches. We bought lunch and practiced on a field that only had grass the first 2 weeks of practice after that only dirt, rocks and red ants. Mind you whenever we had a water break during practice we drank from an old green rubber hose. Let us not forget the hard work these student athletes put in year round to become successful. You want to win moire games get off your okole and train and practice harder.We would have Friday night games that ended at midnight and we would be back at practice at 8am Saturday morning. Congrats to all the successful program that are competing this year!!!
Truth
So ur nephew is a starter on the O? But u have a problem wt the DC not utilizing thier players?? Wth? 1st off ur neph is a backup( way back) not a starter lol. 2nd I’m a fan of HS sports. 3rd I don’t have to watch practice because to i know that the STL D is crazy when all 11 starters are on the field at the same time. Maybe u mad at the coach who’s son is on the team cause he used to pk on u in school or if ur a female he dumped u for ur bestie in HS lol. Again relax Tampax it’s not that serious
Serious enough for you to keep replying back. I put an opinion on the board and now I got bullied in high school or dumped by some coach AND you know who my nephew is? Lol That’s impressive you got all that from a few posts. Lets see how good you really are who wins the Super Bowl this year? I’m leaving for Vegas tomorrow night and I want to put money down. You are right about it not being that serious. I’ll go right you go left.