Defense carries Saint Louis past ‘Iolani

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BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM

Saint Louis’ Noa Purcell headed in the opposite direction after picking off a pass intended for ‘Iolani’s KJ Pascua and returning it for a touchdown.

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BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM

Saint Louis’ Leelan Oasay dove for the pylon while being pursued by ‘Iolani’s Kaua Nishigaya in the third quarter at Aloha Stadium. Oasay was ruled out of bounds before scoring a touchdown.

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All season long, Saint Louis was paced by its high-powered offense. On Friday, its defense set the tone in a 33-0 victory over ‘Iolani at Aloha Stadium.

The Crusaders forced four turnovers in the first half, stifling Raiders quarterback Jarin Yokogawa, who started at quarterback in place of Tai-John Mizutani. Mizutani was not dressed to play because of an undisclosed injury.

‘Iolani was shut out for the first time since jumping up to Division I. ‘Iolani was last shut out in 2013 by Punahou, when the Raiders were in Division II.

“It was really good,” Saint Louis quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said about the defense. “A lot of things happened tonight. The defense just saved us. With the defense’s tempo, it kind of got things going for our offense.”

The Raiders moved the ball into Crusaders territory twice in the first quarter, but both drives ended with interceptions, capped by Noa Purcell’s 85-yard interception return for a touchdown.

“We’re in zone and I had the back,” Purcell said. “I just tried to undercut it and the quarterback threw it. So I leaned and I went.”

‘Iolani had an interception of its own when Kyler Mento picked off Tagovailoa in the first quarter. It was Tagovailoa’s fourth consecutive game throwing an interception, the longest such streak of his career. His 113 passing yards also were a career low.

However, Tagovailoa recorded his 500th career completion in the third quarter on a 26-yard pass to Makoa Close.

This was Saint Louis’ second consecutive game without head coach Cal Lee, who is still recovering from kidney stone surgery.

“We just take it one game at a time,” acting head coach Wes Tufaga said. “The boys are excited about playing for an ILH championship. It’s going to be exciting and we’ll go from there.”

“He’s getting better,” Tufaga said of Lee’s status. “He’s feeling a lot better, so he should be at practice tomorrow.”

‘Iolani’s offense was led Isaac Anderson (77 yards) and KJ Pascua (64), who combined for 41 carries and 141 rushing yards.

After going winless in ILH play, the Raiders are now set to play in the state Division I tournament.

Punahou and Saint Louis have both punched tickets to the state tournament’s Open Division and will face off Friday for the ILH championship after the Buffanblu’s victory over Kamehameha.

“I mean, shoot. We just gotta work as a team,” Tagovailoa said. “We gotta keep playing as a team and that’s it.”