Now, onto the main event.

Third-ranked Saint Louis looked every bit a state title contender in swatting aside No. 8 Waianae 42-3 in an interleague game yesterday at Aloha Stadium. Next up: a showdown at top-ranked Kahuku in the Crusaders’ final prelude to Interscholastic League of Honolulu play.

Saints senior quarterback Marcus Mariota tossed four touchdowns against one interception in less than three quarters of work, going 14-for-19 for 178 yards. He picked apart the Seariders’ secondary without ever really taking a hit behind a stalwart offensive line.

That wasn’t for a lack of trying by Waianae. Crusaders coach Darnell Arceneaux appreciated the hard-hitting test offered by the Seariders, who are considered a contender in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red West.

"We got it (everything we wanted). Waianae came right at us," Arceneaux said. "They hit you in the mouth, and kinda like a boxer, you take a good shot, do you have a chin? And we showed tonight that we have a pretty good chin."

It was simply two different levels of football, as Mariota had all day to make his receivers happy by spreading the ball around in the Saints’ various offensive sets.

"We’re getting better week by week, and we’re looking forward to next week," Mariota said. "If I can get it to all the playmakers on offense, I’ve done my job. I let them do the work; they’ll score touchdowns."

He was 11-for-14 with 149 yards by halftime, and was pulled by the end of the third quarter as the Crusaders inserted their backups. There was little relief for Waianae, as second-string quarterback Kawai Mook-Garcia tagged the ‘Riders for 81 more yards, including a 45-yard touchdown to Jeremy Tabuyo to complete the scoring in the fourth quarter.

In all, Saint Louis rolled up 360 yards of total offense compared to 123 for Waianae. It was the second straight game the Leeward Coast power struggled to establish its wing-T offense after losing to Kahuku 27-7 in its opener.

Saint Louis led 28-3 at the break and wasted little time putting the game away in the second half. On the third Crusaders snap, Mook-Garcia hedged to the right, found a big hole and went 38 yards to set up the final Mariota touchdown, a 3-yarder to Duke Bukoski.

Return man Kaeo Aliviado got the Saints in exceptional field position on their first two drives. Mariota was quick to make the Seariders pay with effortless touchdown tosses to Joshua Tupua (7 yards) and Aliviado (25 yards).

Saint Louis tacked on a 27-yard touchdown strike from Mariota to Jared Tomaszek and 5-yard scoring spurt by Mook-Garcia in the second quarter. The rout was on, as Waianae managed only a 29-yard field goal by Shaughn Spencer in the second quarter.

After a disastrous first series by starting signal-caller Puletua Wilson, Waianae coach Danny Matsumoto went to backup signal-caller Devon Seabrooks for the rest of the first half. Seabrooks went a respectable 5-for-8 under constant pressure by the Crusaders’ defensive linemen and linebackers, but the Seariders’ ground game was consumed by the hungry Crusaders.

To add injury to insult, Seariders senior wide receiver Niko Camacho was leveled by a Saint Louis player during Waianae’s first punt just 3 minutes into the game. He remained down for more than 20 minutes and was placed onto a stretcher and taken off the field by an ambulance. Matsumoto didn’t know the extent of the injury and hadn’t heard his player’s status after the game.