Saint Louis picks off ILH title

Saint Louis got defensive to keep the ILH title from going anywhere.

The third-ranked Crusaders forced six Punahou turnovers to avenge their only loss of the season and repeat as ILH champion with a 28-14 victory on Friday night at Aloha Stadium.

Saint Louis (8-1) intercepted Punahou quarterback Nick Kapule five times and held the second-ranked Buffanblu (7-2) to 19 points fewer than their previous season low of 33.

Ronson Young took care of the offense for Saint Louis, scoring all four Crusaders touchdowns.

He caught two touchdown passes from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and ran for two more scores to finish with 177 all-purpose yards.

“Punahou has a great defense. It’s never going to be easy against them,” Young said. “It was just us game-planning and us seeing what we didn’t see last (meeting).”

Tagovailoa, the Alabama commit who passed Leilehua’s Andrew Manley for second place on the state’s career passing list, finished 10-for-19 for 192 yards with two touchdowns and also ran for 98 yards on 16 carries.

Saint Louis led 21-14 in the fourth quarter when Tagovailoa came up with two of his biggest throws this season. He put a dime on the hands of Chandler Washington-Villanueva for a 37-yard completion on second-and-32 to move the chains. He then found Young in the back of the end zone with a perfectly thrown 31-yard TD pass that gave Young just enough time to get a foot down for the score to put the game away.

“Everything feels good when you’re winning,” Tagovailoa said. “Ronson works hard in practice, but tonight, what set him apart, was just being open.”

There was still time for Punahou to come back in the game down two scores, but the Crusaders defense was relentless in its pursuit of Kapule.

The lefty quarterback, who received his first Division I offer from Hawaii last weekend, was never allowed to sit in the pocket and pick apart the Crusaders defense.

He was pressured and forced to roll out on most of his deep drops and when it was all said and done, Kapule, who had thrown only three picks in eight games coming in, was 24-for-41 for 219 yards and a touchdown.

Kama Moore, Jalen Saole, Isaiah Tufaga and Rick Sandry all had interceptions and linebacker Isaac Slade-Matautia, who also had a sack, sealed the game with a pick in the final minute.

“I think the second half, we did a better job of containing him,” said Saint Louis coach Cal Lee, who was back on the sideline after missing two games with kidney stones. “We have great coverage on the back end, so that really helped.”

Lee’s presence was felt by everyone wearing a Crusaders uniform.

“Him on the sideline is just amazing to have,” Young said. “He’s always there to encourage us and keep us in check. It was honestly a blessing having him back.”

Both Saint Louis and Punahou had already clinched spots in the open division of the state tournament.

Lee is set to undergo surgery next week, but toughed out being on the sideline Friday night.

“They energize you. They make you feel better,” Lee said of his team. “The way they played tonight, you cannot help but feel better. It takes your mind off what is happening to you body.

“I’ll be fine. I got the operation next weekend and I’ll be as good as new.”

The teams combined for six turnovers in the first half, including three interceptions on consecutive plays.

Tagovailoa hit a 14-yard pass to Leelan Oasay in the second quarter to move past Manley for second place on the state’s career passing list. He now only trails another Crusader, Timmy Chang, who holds the state mark with 8,001 passing yards from 1997 to ’99.

Punahou trailed 21-0 and scored its only two touchdowns on consecutive possessions. Miki Suguturaga had a strip-sack of Tagovailoa to force a turnover and Kapule hit Keala Martinson on a 6-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-14 at halftime.