No. 1 Saint Louis thwarts defensive-minded Aiea

Aaron Goo was good, indeed.

The senior came through with several key catches for first downs in the second half, and his two field goals helped No. 1-ranked Saint Louis pull away for a tough 22-14 win over Aiea on Friday night at Na Alii’s field.

Goo finished with nine receptions for 86 yards, and Jeremy Tabuyo had five catches for 100 yards and a touchdown.

"Aaron’s like our go-to guy," quarterbacks coach Vinnie Passas said. "We’d like him to touch the ball a little bit more. Jeremy’s going to attract double teams all season, so (that helps) Aaron and Dallas (Tuumalo). It’s a start, a work in progress. Aaron did a great job tonight."

It was a solid first start for Saint Louis’ Kawai Mook-Garcia, who passed for 242 yards (20-for-36) against a hostile, athletic and physical Aiea defense.

Saint Louis did just enough in the second half to keep the chains moving.

"We tried to see if we could get the ball upfield just a little bit more, understanding it’s Kawai’s first start," Passas added. "I thought he did an adequate job. All in all, he managed the game well."

Aiea was fairly satisfied with the near upset.

"Our kids played well against the No. 1 team in the state," coach Wendell Say said. "We need to work on a lot of things — execution and penalties. Penalties killed us."

A raucous crowd of about 1,500 watched Aiea rally from 14 points down to tie the game at 14 on safety Jholy Mauai’s 56-yard interception return with 9:30 remaining.

From there, field position became paramount. A botched lateral from Aiea quarterback Isaiah Fonoti to Hunter Va’a was recovered by Saint Louis defensive back Pali Galdeira, who returned the ball to the Aiea 5-yard line.

Aiea’s defense stiffened and Saint Louis had to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Goo for a 17-14 lead with 5:19 to go in the third quarter.

Na Alii encountered more poor field position on their ensuing possession, thanks to a penalty on the kickoff return that put the ball on the 5-yard line. That resulted in a snap that sailed over punter Ezra White’s head and out of the back of the end zone, and the visitors led 19-14 with 2:52 left in the third.

Goo tacked on another 20-yard field goal with 8 minutes remaining. Aiea’s last two possessions ended with an interception by Saint Louis linebacker Eli Biondine, and a four and out with less than 3 minutes to go.

It was a ragged game at times, dominated by penalties and a bunch of long TV timeouts. Saint Louis had 113 penalty yards in the first half but drew just one yellow flag in the second half for 5 yards.

Penalties hurt Aiea, as well, with 13 calls for 74 yards. Na Alii managed to stay in the game due to their great defensive effort. Their offense mustered just 60 total yards against a swarming Saints defense. Aiea had 35 rushing yards on 20 carries, and Fonoti was sacked three times — twice by Kamalei Correa and once by Kalei Auelua.

With 17 new starters, Saint Louis struck with surprising ease early. Kamana Pimental raced in for a 39-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage by the visitors.