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Saint Louis’ offense took what the defense provided to help the Crusaders keep pace in the ILH Division I race.
The Crusaders defense intercepted three Pac-Five passes in the first half of Saturday’s game at Aloha Stadium and the offense converted all three into touchdowns to spur Saint Louis to a 31-6 victory over the Division II Wolfpack.
With the win, No. 5 Saint Louis (4-1 ILH, 5-3 overall) remained a game behind second-ranked Punahou with two weeks left in the regular season. The Crusaders next face Kamehameha on Friday before closing the ILH schedule against the Buffanblu a week later.
"That’s the ultimate goal, to be in the hunt, to compete to have a chance for the ILH," Saint Louis coach Matt Wright said following the homecoming victory.
Saint Louis safety Tanner Oshiro came down with the Crusaders’ first two interceptions of the first half, and safety Pali Galdeira picked off a third as the Crusaders defense shut out the Wolfpack into the fourth quarter.
Saint Louis quarterback Kawai Mook-Garcia completed 11 of 19 passes for 221 yards and opened the scoring with a 34-yard touchdown pass to Wallen Teo following Oshiro’s first interception, which came on Pac-Five’s fifth play from scrimmage.
"That was super big, I had a lot of help," Mook-Garcia said. "The defense stepped it up this week."
Oshiro’s second pick led to an eight-play drive highlighted by a 49-yard completion to Jeremy Tabuyo and capped by Adam Noga’s 13-yard touchdown run.
After Galdeira’s interception on Pac-Five’s next possession, Mook-Garcia hit Devan Stubblefield on a 42-yard connection to set up a 5-yard scoring run by Kaulana Vinoya.
Still, it wasn’t Saint Louis’ sharpest performance, as the Crusaders were flagged for 17 penalties resulting in losses of 168 yards.
"That’s nasty," Wright said. "The penalties killed us, the discipline killed us. That’s not who we are. … There’s a lot we have to clean up. We can’t do that against great teams like Kamehameha and Punahou."
Pac-Five broke the shutout early in the fourth quarter when Keoni Tom-Millare scored from 3 yards out to close a six-play drive. The Crusaders responded with Mook-Garcia leading them to the game’s final touchdown, an 8-yard run by Allan Cui.
At Aloha Stadium
| Pac-Five (1-4, 2-6) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
— |
6 |
| Saint Louis (4-1, 5-3) |
7 |
14 |
3 |
7 |
— |
31 |
Stl–Wallen Teo 34 pass from Kawai Mook-Garcia (Aaron Peltier kick)
Stl–Adam Noga 13 run (Peltier kick)
Stl–Kaulana Vinoya 5 run (Peltier kick)
Stl–FG Peltier 20
Pac–Keoni Tom-MIllare 3 run (kick blocked)
Stl–Allan Cui 8 run (Peltier kick)
RUSHING–Pac-Five: Tom-Millare 12-50, Cody Kim 5-26, Justin Layco 2-5, Kekoa Iseri 2-5, Roycen Routt 1-(-1), Kekoa Blaisdell 2-(-8). Saint Louis: Noga 7-65, Vinoya 13-43, Cui 6-30, Jonah Reyes 5-10, Mook-Garcia 3-9.
PASSING–Pac-Five: Tom-Millare 6-18-2-86, Kim 2-5-1-12, Blaisdell 2-6-0-17. Saint Louis: Mook-Garcia 11-19-0-221, Ryder Kuhns 8-13-0-67, Robert Faleafine 1-4-1-7.
RECEIVING–Pac-Five: Routt 4-35, Kauila Chock 3-24, Layco 1-31, Tsubasa Brennan 1-20, Stirling Aponte 1-5. Saint Louis: Ricky Ahlo-Pinera 6-44, Kainoa Abreu 4-60, Jerrick Taboada 4-45, Teo 3-48, Jeremy Tabuyo 1-49.
No. 7 Kamehameha 48, Damien 20
The Warriors (3-2, 5-3) built a 41-13 lead at halftime and rebounded from last week’s loss to Saint Louis by rolling past the Division II Monarchs.
Kamehameha and Saint Louis meet again in the feature game of Friday’s doubleheader at Aloha Stadium.
Damien fell to 0-5 in the ILH and 3-5 overall.
At Aloha Stadium
| Damien (0-5, 3-5) |
0 |
13 |
0 |
7 |
— |
20 |
| KS (3-2, 5-3) |
34 |
7 |
7 |
0 |
— |
48 |
KS–Cid Camanse-Stevens 44 run (Tyler Fitzsimmons kick)
KS–Camanse-Stevens 15 run (Fitzsimmons kick)
KS–Kaulana Apelu 7 run (Noa Crabbe kick)
KS–Brandon Kahookele 7 run (kick failed)
KS–Kahookele 3 run (Fitzsimmons kick)
DMS–Leelan Lauti 1 run (Lyle Alloy-Glover kick)
KS–Camanse-Stevens 5 run (Crabbe kick)
DMS–Dustin Munar 2 pass from Syles Choy (kick failed)
KS–Apelu 17 run (Fitzsimmons kick)
DMS–Edwin Aumua 4 run (Alloy-Glover kick)
RUSHING–Damien: Syles 11-48, Aumua 3-7, Trevor Caspillo 8-4, Lauti 2-1. Kamehameha: Camanse-Stevens 5-81, Apelu 1-25, Kahookele 2-19, Josh Navarro-Ishiki 1-12, Kainoa Simao 3-11, Salanoa-Alo Wily 3-10.
PASSING–Damien: Choy 13-26-1-170, Labanon 0-1-0-0. Kamehameha: Camanse-Stevens 15-17-0-152, Nephi Stevens 1-2-0-11, Navarro-Ishiki 2-2-0-17.
RECEIVING–Damien: Alloy-Glover 3-54, Bryson Dalmacio 2-24, Caspillo 2-21, Munar 2-13, Dallas Labanon 1-33, Dylan Flores 1-13, Cullen Forburger 1-10, Aumua 1-2. Kamehameha: Austin Gerard 5-51, Pono Costorio-Carvalho 3-34, Apelu 2-32, Nick Young 2-17, Stevens 1-14, William Young 1-7, Kody Chai 1-7, Kalani Wengler 1-6, Wily 1-6, Simao 1-6.
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JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM