Saint Louis pulls away from Kahuku to win first Open Division title
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Saint Louis wide receiver Jonah Panoke hauled in a pass ahead of Kahuku defensive back Stokes Nihipali-Botelho for a touchdown in the first half tonight at Aloha Stadium.
Saint Louis senior quarterback Tua Tagovailoa accounted for two touchdowns and delivered the Crusaders their fourth state football championship in a 30-14 win over Kahuku on Saturday night in the inaugural Open Division final of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA State Football Championships at Aloha Stadium.
Tagovailoa threw a 52-yard touchdown pass to Jonah Panoke to break the state’s all-time career passing mark held by Timmy Chang, and added a 30-yard touchdown run with 4:44 remaining to make it a two-possession game.
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Saint Louis senior Darcy Freitas sacked Kahuku freshman quarterback Sol-Jay Maiava on fourth down on the next drive and the Crusaders (10-1) snapped the Red Raiders’ 24-game winning streak against Hawaii teams.
Dylan Silva added a 43-yard touchdown run for Saint Louis, which outscored Kahuku 17-0 in the fourth quarter.
The game was a rematch of last year’s state final won by the Red Raiders, 39-14.
Jacob Tobias made three field goals, including a 40-yarder with 11:50 remaining in the game that gave Saint Louis the lead for good.
The lead changed hands four times.
Kahuku (11-2) had won seven of the previous nine meetings against the Crusaders.
18 responses to “Saint Louis pulls away from Kahuku to win first Open Division title”
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Teacher still teaching, back to the chalkboard for the student…
Coaching was a great factor in this big win. Cal Lee solidifies he is the greatest head coach in Hawaii history in high school football. The student got paid back for running up the score last year and was taught a lesson that even with the better athletics you don’t always win the big games. Kahuku has more outstanding athletics, outstanding fans who support their school and community proud but were out coached in this game. Experience is tough to beat.
Koa trophy back home to Kalaepohaku! Crusaders left no doubt tonight and all season long.
Is Kahuku going to chg. their Head Coach?? It seems every time they lose the BIG ONE, the idiot Kahuku administration is always changing their Head Coach. Also, is Kahuku’s H.C. going to grant interviews or is he going to sulk like he did in Vegas when Bishop Gorman took it to Kahuku???
Kahuku found out they’re not as good as they thought. St. Louis is the best once again, no doubt due to Cal Lee.
Bwahahaha!!!!!
Leggo. THE RETURN OF THE KING
Very fitting for Tua to go out with an impressive performance; still hope he changes from Alabama to another school needing his services. Alabama has a soph. QB who looks like he’s not going to relinquish his starting position next season.
LOL .. He wouldn’t be the starting QB on the number one team in the country as a freshman. That really would be impressive. He’s good but not that good.
Great game and the effort put out on the field last night by St. Louis and Kahuku was even better than their respective regular season performances. What a treat to watch Hawaii HS football played at such a high level. Both teams played hard and demonstrated tremendous skill levels at all positions. Both teams were well coached and both teams showed great sportsmanship and mutual respect for each other. Can’t ask for anything more other than…..I hope some of these kids play for UH one day. Go Saints!
Great season by both teams. Tua, I look forward to watching you at the next level, you know Oregon needs a QB and I think there was several QBs that came out of St. Louis that played for the Ducks lol, as much as I would enjoy watching you chase a national championship with Bama, that kid Hurts just looks real good going forward. But where you choose to go, I will root for you and all of Hawaii’s Kids that play up here.
Congrats out to Coach Cal Lee and to the rest of the Crusader Ohana, your guys team was the best last night.
RR4L c/o87
I hope he stays committed and goes to BAMA. Even if he gets red-shirted next year, he will being looking at 2 outstanding years at QB for the Tide. ROLL TIDE!!!!
Must have been a long line of sad folks making their way back to the north shore from the stadium last night. I swear, that line of trucks, flags, and fans lasted for miles. These are the same masses of sensitive fans who will now call for the replacement of Tata. Kahuku fans, check your emotions. Lick your wounds. Congratulate St. Louis and prepare for next year.
crusaderstrong! all facets played well. o line held well; unlike the lost to punahou. improve by working on avoiding fumbles and penalties.
Hawaii’s high school athletic teams have always excelled. Great coaches, players and fans!
All season I read how the Saints were called St. Lulu etc… And how weak they are compared to the north shore team. I believe the loss last night was karma for the bashing all season. With that, they probably took the Saints way too lightly…. And now that was evident and obvious. I congratulate both teams! I only laugh at those bloggers who talk so big about the north shore team all season…. Until last night. A good lesson learned huh? You gots to learn to be humble and not trash others.
So the wide open, Run n Shoot based offense beat the running/ball control game. UH should take note.
The guy at U.H. already said something like no body runs the run and shoot any more and that he want to play power football like many of college football programs. LOL