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A single, distant flash of lightning was visible above Aloha Stadium just before kickoff on Friday night.
It appeared again just after halftime in the form of a decisive strike from top-ranked Saint Louis. After leading No. 7 Kamehameha by just a touchdown at intermission, the Crusaders became rolling thunder in a 42-7 victory in the teams’ regular-season finale.
The game amounted to a playoff tune-up, one that the Crusaders (8-0, 7-0 ILH Open Division) took seriously. A 21-point third quarter carried them to their 10th straight win in the series.
“It feels good to close it out with a win, but playoffs is way different than the regular season,” said Crusaders quarterback Jayden de Laura, who threw three touchdown passes with no interceptions. “We gotta work on a lot of stuff when we go back to practice. We’ll see when we come back and play our next game.”
That will be for the ILH title — and a spot in the state tournament — against the winner of a playoff between Punahou and Kamehameha.
Although de Laura was 15-for-18 for 275 yards, he said afterward he felt he needs to improve his reads. He found Roman Wilson for touchdowns of 25 and 50 yards in the first half.
The Warriors (4-5, 3-4) got the last word of the half when the Crusaders muffed a punt return and Kamehameha recovered it at the Crusaders’ 4. After a false start, Christmas Togiai lofted a 9-yard ball to Titus Maunakea for the touchdown.
Saint Louis’ ground game was limited in the first half, but coach Cal Lee went to it heavily on his team’s opening drive of the third quarter. Robbie Paikai scored a 2-yard touchdown set up by Dayton Sam’s 21-yard power rush. Koali Nishigaya added a 33-yard touchdown in the period when de Laura threw across his body to the end zone.
“The run game helped us out, but we took our easy pass plays, or whatever we could get, we took advantage of that,” de Laura said.
Kiai Keone took over for Togiai at halftime, but linebacker Nicholas Herbig grabbed Keone’s first pass of the game out of the air and returned it 3 yards to make it 35-7.
From there, de Laura gave way to his backups for the final quarter and change. Chandon Sappal and Prince Solomon connected for a 19-yard touchdown in the fourth.
“We gotta play an entire game. … We played a hell of a first half,” said Warriors coach Abu Ma’afala. “We were effective at points on offense, special teams came up big, defense played a hell of a game trying to stop that offense — the most dynamic offense we got in the state.”
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GAME SUMMARY
No. 1 Saint Louis 42, No. 7 Kamehameha 7
At Aloha Stadium
>> Kamehameha (4-5, 3-4) 0 7 0 0 — 7
>> Saint Louis (8-0, 7-0) 7 7 21 7 — 42
Saint Louis — Roman Wilson 25 pass from Jayden de Laura (Garyn Napuunoa kick)
Saint Louis — Wilson 50 pass from de Laura (Napuunoa kick)
Kamehameha — Titus Maunakea 9 pass from Christmas Togiai (Preston Rezentes kick)
Saint Louis — Robbie Paikai 2 run (Napuunoa kick)
Saint Louis — Koali Nishigaya 33 pass from de Laura (Napuunoa kick)
Saint Louis — Nicholas Herbig 3 interception return (Napuunoa kick)
Saint Louis — Prince Solomon 19 pass from Chandon Sappal (Napuunoa kick)
RUSHING — Kamehameha: Alec Serrao 9-24, Braden Akima 16-22, Anthony Thomas-Fonoimoana 1-3, Benjamin Alapai 1-(minus 1), Kiai Keone 1-(minus 3), Wrx Kimura 3-(minus 3), Togiai 3-(minus 4). Saint Louis: Dayton Sam 11-68, Robbie Paikai 9-23, Ka‘ohu Kamakawiwo‘ole 3-20, de Laura 6-17, Logan Kalawaia 2-12, Alexander Bianco 1-10, Connor Apo 1-5, team 1-(minus 1).
PASSING — Kamehameha: Togiai 7-11-0-70, Keone 5-11-1-64. Saint Louis: de Laura 15-18-0-275, Apo 4-5-0-14, Sappal 1-1-0-19.
RECEIVING — Kamehameha: Skyler Ramos 3-43, Serrao 2-6, Edward Correa 1-21, Kahakili Pahio 1-16, Akıma 1-15, Shiloh Louis-Kaneakua 1-13, Maunakea 1-9, Micah Pasion 1-6, Brock Ai 1-5. Saint Louis: Nishigaya 7-99, Chance Beyer 6-100, Wilson 2-75, Solomon 1-19, Po‘okela Louis 1-5, Makoa Close 1-5, Matthew Sykes 1-3, Tama Albert Sula 1-2.
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