Saint Louis forces ILH playoff

No. 2 Saint Louis owned the second half to upset No. 1 Punahou 30-14 and force an Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I football championship game between the same two teams next Saturday.

Had the Crusaders (7-1, 5-1) not rallied from an early 14-0 deficit in front of a large Aloha Stadium crowd on Saturday night, they would have been done for the season. Instead, they handed the Buffanblu (8-1, 5-1) their first loss.

“It was meant to be,” said Saint Louis wide receiver Drew Kobayashi, who kick-started the comeback in the second quarter with a 97-yard TD catch and run of a Tua Tagovailoa pass. “The first time we played them (Punahou’s 51-45 double-overtime win), we messed up. This time, we played the real Crusaders game. I was not too worried (down by two TDs). I knew our defense would step up. The way the defense has been playing, they deserved this.”

Indeed. After that quick punch in the gut in the first quarter in which the Buffanblu’s Wayne Taulapapa scored on runs of 9 and 1 yards, the Saint Louis defense came up big with six turnovers.

“Six turnovers,” Punahou coach Kale Ane said. “Felt more like 60. We obviously made too many mistakes. They were forcing some (turnovers) on us and we made a couple by ourselves.”

Taulapapa fumbled three times, quarterback Ephraim Tuliloa thew three interceptions and Saint Louis kept Punahou away from the end zone the rest of the way.

“We were very fortunate,” Crusaders coach Cal Lee said. “Both sides played great and they came out with those two quick scores.

“We played a little defense after that,” he added in an understated fashion. “That’s what this game is all about, facing adversity. That’s what coaches are for. We want to know: How are the players going to handle it? We handled it very well.”

After Kobayashi’s long TD made it 14-7, Michael Malepeai put the next points on the board for Saint Louis by sacking Tuliloa in the end zone for a safety and a 14-9 halftime count.

Anson Levi’s interception early in the third quarter set the stage for the Crusaders’ go-ahead score. Tagovailoa hit Lanakila Wilson with a 34-yard pass, and then Tagovailoa ran it home from the 1 for a 16-14 lead with 5:59 left in the third.

Tagovailoa, who did not start at QB, ripped off runs of 17 and 19 yards and Saint Louis made it 23-14 on his 14-yard TD pass to Ronson Young with 28 seconds left in the third. The junior standout quarterback came off the bench in place of sophomore Chevan Cordeiro late in the opening quarter.

“This was more of a spiritual battle than a physical battle,” said Tagovailoa, who added, “From my point of view, there were no worries (despite the early deficit).”

The Crusaders wrapped it up with a 76-yard drive midway through the final period, capped on Saitaua Lefau’s 14-yard run.

Punahou will likely drop to No. 2 in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser Top 10 poll on Monday, with Saint Louis climbing to the top of the heap.

“It was a tough, physical game,” the Buffanblu’s Ane said. “I’m grateful that we have a chance to come back next weekend.”

A D-I state tournament berth will also be on the line Saturday. Punahou is going for its fifth straight ILH title. Saint Louis is trying for its first since 2010.

Punahou linebacker Laakea Look said, “We didn’t come to play. We were not prepared. Saint Louis played a helluva game. They came to play. We need to go back to practice and pay attention to holding on to the ball and fix some of the little problems.”