Saint Louis is ranked nationally again, not that Ron Lee was expecting it.
MaxPreps unveiled its Top 100 preseason football rankings on Tuesday, slotting Saint Louis at No. 30. A previous Crusaders’ opponent, St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.) is at No. 6. Mater Dei (Calif.) is No. 1, followed by IMG Academy (Fla.), St. John Bosco (Calif.), Austin Westlake and Thompson (Ala.).
Saint Louis’ preseason foe on Aug. 20, Bishop Gorman, is No. 13.
“We had no football, so that’s fine. I’m not too concerned about that. We need to play,” said Lee, the head coach and offensive coordinator. “I really don’t know if we should even be at 30. I look at our team right now, so young, that I’ll take 30, but it doesn’t really matter. Bishop Gorman is a good, solid team.”
Individually, Crusaders are picking up momentum. Wide receiver Devon Tauaefa received scholarship offers from Hawaii and Nevada on Sunday. Defensive back Kona Moore garnered an offer from UH recently, adding to his previous offers from Navy, Army and Louisiana-Monroe.
“I don’t think it really matters to us,” Moore said of the national ranking. “We’re just focused on our games.”
Lee is happy to see the Crusaders working out and developing.
“On defense we have only one Division I scholarship guy. You got other schools on Oahu that have several. On offense we have four or five,” Lee noted. “It all depends on how well we coach, how well we play. We’ll see where we’re at. It’s too early to tell. We’ve got a work ahead of us. We’ve got a lot of good players, but they haven’t played.”
The Crusaders have won the last four Open Division state titles. There are two scrimmages and the game at Bishop Gorman on the slate, but there is a puka on the weekend of Aug. 6.
“We’re looking for a game. We played in the Open so there’s not much out there. I just want to play a game. We’ve got the scrimmages the week before. Even a controlled scrimmage would be good. If there’s anybody looking, I’d be happy to talk to them,” Lee said.
The possibilities are there, if in long-shot mode.
“I would love to play Hilo. The only problem is I can’t take another trip. That would be a good game for us if they don’t have anything scheduled. Even Lahainaluna,” Lee said.
COMMENTS