Tua Tagovailoa never gave Liberty High time to ease into its 2015 season.

The Saint Louis quarterback accounted for three first-quarter touchdowns and five total to lead the Crusaders to a 43-16 victory over the Patriots on Saturday night at Aloha Stadium.

Tagovailoa finished 28-for-37 for 392 yards and four touchdowns through the air. He also scored on a 50-yard touchdown run to help the Crusaders (2-0) break out early against the visiting Patriots from Henderson, Nev., who were making their season debut.

"We needed to get into our rhythm before anything could start to happen," Tagovailoa said. "They’re No. 2 in Nevada from what we heard and so a high-profile team like that you want to get as much touchdowns as you can."

The Patriots, who are the five-time defending Sunrise Regional champions in Nevada, eventually found an offensive rhythm and played Saint Louis tight for the later part of the second quarter and the entire second half.

But by then, Saint Louis had built an insurmountable lead, rolling up 528 total yards of offense.

"Tua is something electrifying," said Liberty offensive coordinator Chad Kapanui, a Roosevelt alum who played football at the University of Hawaii. "On both sides of the ball we couldn’t do (anything). We didn’t make plays when we need to on offense and our defense couldn’t stop them for a while."

Saint Louis scored touchdowns on its first four drives despite nine penalties in the first quarter.

Tagovailoa hurt the Patriots first with his feet, breaking four tackles on a 50-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 lead less than two minutes in.

From then on, he carved up the Patriots defense, finding seven different receivers in the first half.

Leelan Oasay and Drew Kobayashi were his favorite targets, but Lanakila Wilson and Ronson Young were the playmakers to find the end zone.

On fourth-and-16 from the Liberty 27, Tagovailoa threw a perfect pass down the middle of the field to Young, who had a defender on him but managed to haul in the catch for a 14-0 lead.

Wilson then hooked up with Tagovailoa for touchdowns catches of 30 and 41 yards. The second came after Tagovailoa slid his way out of a sack and then bought enough time to allow Wilson to get behind the defense.

"(Liberty) was a great team with what they ran, and it was no different than what we expected on film," Tagovailoa said. "Every aspect of what happened tonight is what we prepared for on film."

Liberty came back late in the half to score its first point on a fourth-down play. Quarterback Kenyon Oblad faked the handoff and found Nayton Koki, one of 13 players from Hawaii on the Liberty roster, for a 6-yard TD pass.

The Patriots were only outscored by a point in the second half and Oblad, despite the early struggles, finished a solid 25-for-39 for 275 yards and two touchdowns.

"We missed a couple of throws here and there and especially when we needed it, our quarterback had some wrong reads, but that’s what to expect with a young quarterback," Kapanui said. "I’m excited to get to work and correct a lot of things and get ready for Mililani on Friday night." The Patriots go from playing the No. 2 team in Hawaii on a Saturday to six days later hosting No. 1 Mililani in Nevada.

Oasay caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Tagovailoa in the third quarter to lead the Crusaders with eight receptions for 111 yards.

Darion Acohido led the Patriots with nine catches for 115 yards and a score.

Saint Louis improved to 15-5-1 against out-of-state teams dating back to 1967.