Chevan Cordeiro is going to find out what it’s like to follow the headlining act.
The Saint Louis quarterback, now a senior with some mop-up duty under his belt the past two seasons, will be leading the Crusaders this year, taking over for the graduated Tua Tagovailoa, who rewrote Hawaii’s high school passing records and is now playing for Nick Saban at Alabama.
Cordeiro is up for the challenge of bringing Saint Louis (voted No. 1 in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s preseason Top 10) a second straight top-tier state title.
“We’re trying to chase another ring, win another championship,” Cordeiro said at the Crusaders’ field recently. “It’s a new team and we have different guys. A lot of the players on offense are new, but we’re trying to be ourselves and stay calm. We’re doing good. The O-line has worked hard this season and we’re ahead of schedule. Our wide receivers are better than last year and our defense is solid. We just gotta work together. If we’re glued together, we can go far.”
As far as pass-catching goes, coach Cal Lee has one of those good problems.
“We have 15 guys vying for those four slots, and they’re all good,” Lee said with conviction. “And they’re all competing, so that means everybody is going to get better.”
Chris Sykes, Tosh Kekahuna, Jonah Panoke, Kainalu Reyes-Hackney, Mitchell Quinn, and Roman Wilson are high up in the chase for starting receiver spots, and Cordeiro has been solid in delivering them the ball in scrimmages.
Lee, however, is concerned about the running back position, where he wishes there was the same kind of glut he’s finding among the wideouts and slots.
“That’s the question mark, running back” he said. “I wish we had more there. There are a handful of guys trying to win that starting spot.”
Eliki Tanuvasa, Josh White, Arasi Mose, Kekoa Bonner, Timothy Timoteo, and Ben Scott are among the leaders of the deep and cohesive offensive line.
Defense is the area where Saint Louis has improved the most since Lee came back as the team’s head coach in 2014. And it should be solid again.
“I feel like we’re going to have a pretty good run this year,” linebacker Noa Purcell said. “We just gotta just keep grinding in the race for this. We have Kahuku out there. And Punahou, and we still have to worry about the ILH first. So, it’s going to be a tough one this year. It will show if we did our part in the offseason.”
After rattling off the names of some of the key guys up front — Purcell, Isaiah Feary and Kila Kamakawiwiole at linebacker, and Faatui Tuitele, Gino Quinones, Michael Malepeai and Isaiah Filisi on the line — Lee said with raised eyebrows, “That’s not a bad front.”
Isaiah Tufaga and Kai Kaneshiro are veteran returnees in the defensive backfield.
“We gotta keep working,” Lee said when asked about the team’s potential to repeat as Interscholastic League of Honolulu and state champions. “Really. People are going to play us hard, so we have to practice harder.”
The Crusaders, who have 35 ILH championships. four state titles and 14 Prep Bowl victories, have scrimmaged Campbell, Kailua and Kaimuki in the preseason. They open with a nonleague game at Waianae on Saturday.
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SAINT LOUIS CRUSADERS 2017 SCHEDULE
>> Aug. 5: at Waianae, 6:30 p.m.
>> Aug. 12: *Baldwin, 3:30 p.m.
>> Sept. 1: *Kamehameha, 7:30 p.m.
>> Sept. 16: *Punahou, 6 p.m.
>> Sept. 23: *Narbonne (Calif.), 7 p.m.
>> Sept. 29: *Kamehameha, 7:30 p.m.
>> Oct. 7: *Punahou, 6 p.m.
Second round
>> Oct. 13 or Oct. 21: TBA
* — at Aloha Stadium
>> Head coach: Cal Lee, 263-39-5, 25th season
>> Last year: 10-1 (5-1 ILH D-I); beat ‘Iolani 33-0 in first round of ILH D-I playoffs; beat Punahou 28-14 in ILH D-I championship game; beat Waianae 42-7 in state tournament Open Division semifinals; beat Kahuku 30-14 in state tournament Open Division championship game
>> Key offensive returnees: Chevan Cordeiro, Sr., QB; Eliki Tanuvasa, Sr., OL; Arasi Mose, Jr., OL; Tosh Kekahuna, Sr., SB; Jonah Panoke, Sr., WR
>> Key defensive returnees: Isaiah Tufaga, Sr., DB; Kai Kaneshiro, Sr., DB; Noa Purcell, Sr., LB; Isaiah Feary, Sr., LB; Faatui Tuitele, Jr., DL
>> Crusaders with Division I FBS college offers: Isaiah Tufaga, Sr. DB; Chris Sykes, Sr. WR; Chevan Cordeiro, Sr., QB; Isaiah Feary, Sr., DB/LB; Kai Kaneshiro, Sr., DB; Jonah Panoke, Sr. WR; Noa Purcell, Sr., LB; Isaiah Taliulu, Sr., LB; Eliki Tanuvasa, Sr., OL; Faatui Tuitele, Jr., DL; Matt Sykes, So., WR; Mason Tufaga, Fr., LB/DB
