The Saint Louis Crusaders ran the ball so much in the early going, and they kept going and going.
The change of strategy worked. Jahred Silofau rushed for 181 yards and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa rushed for 84 yards and three touchdowns as No. 3 Saint Louis pulled away for a 47-20 win over No. 6 Kamehameha in the semifinals of the ILH Division I football playoffs on Friday at Aloha Stadium.
The win propels coach Cal Lee’s squad into the ILH D-I second-round final against No. 1 Punahou next week. Saint Louis lost to Punahou 55-7 on Aug. 29 in regular-season play.
Four of the Crusaders’ first six plays from scrimmage were runs, setting the tone. Both offenses moved the ball up and down the field in the first half. Tagovailoa was his usual, precise self with 14-for-16 passing, but they relied much more on the ground attack than usual with 22 carries for 102 yards in the first half.
Tagovailoa didn’t throw a TD pass in the first half, but Saint Louis led 19-7. Kamehameha pulled within 19-14 after Fatu Sua-Godinet used a slick fake pitch on an option keeper to score on an 8-yard run with 9:21 to go in the third quarter. After Chad Farias intercepted a deep post pass by Tagovailoa — only the third of the season by the QB — the Warriors had a chance to take the lead.
Instead, they stalled out at the Saint Louis 27-yard line. Defensive lineman Wallen Te’o batted away a fourth-and-3 pass by Sua-Godinet, stifling Kamehameha’s momentum.
Tagovailoa hit Cash Searle on a screen pass for a 5-yard touchdown, making it a 26-14 lead with 2:26 left in the third.
After Kamehameha’s next series stalled near midfield, Tagovailoa threw a long lateral to wide receiver Colton Nascimento, who launched a 54-yard TD pass to Drew Kobayashi. That put the Crusaders up 33-14 with 8:48 to play, and they coasted from there.
Sua-Godinet got hurt on a run for a first down, but two plays later, backup Justice Young sidestepped the pass rush and launched a bomb to Kumoku Werner, who outran two defenders for an 80-yard touchdown with 7:03 left.
The Crusaders then melted the clock down with more of Silofau, who is just a sophomore. Tagovailoa’s 2-yard sneak made it 40-20 with 1:35 to play.
Saint Louis capped the scoring with a 55-yard interception return by Toa Augafa with four ticks left on the clock.
Tagovailoa, another sophomore, passed for 193 yards and two TDs. He finished with 277 yards from scrimmage in his first playoff game.
Sua-Godinet finished with 244 yards through the air. Kamehameha (5-3) couldn’t get a consistent ground attack rolling against a much improved Saint Louis defense. The Warriors rushed for 89 yards on 19 carries. They had 413 yards of total offense.
Saint Louis amassed 536 total yards, including 291 on the ground (39 attempts).
