ICYMI: Four straight ILH titles for No. 1 Saint Louis

The sequel was great for a time.

No. 2 Punahou used all kinds of formations on defense in hopes of distracting Saint Louis’ young quarterback, Jayden de Laura. After all, the first-year starter was quite frazzled by the Buffanblu when the teams met on Sept. 15, a 35-28 win by the Crusaders.

On Saturday night, facing a slew of different looks, including an eight-man front to start the game, the junior passed for 242 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed for 51 yards and two more scores as No. 1 Saint Louis (9-0, 7-0) captured the ILH Open championship with a 45-21 rout at Aloha Stadium for its 24th straight win and fourth consecutive league crown.

The Crusaders also clinched the league’s only berth in the Open Division state tournament.

“I’m grateful for this opportunity. Not a lot of people can say that they went into the state tournament,” de Laura said.

Numbers don’t tell all. De Laura’s ability to move out of the pocket, avoiding a tenacious pass rush, was the difference for Saint Louis’ offense. The Crusaders had run the ball on 53 percent of their snaps this season, but really didn’t get the ground game on track until late in the first half.

By then, the lead was 28-7 entering the second half and Punahou’s relentless defense was beginning to tire.

No. 2 done in October

Despite its No. 2 ranking in the Star-Advertiser Top 10 and a 7-3 overall record with its only losses against Saint Louis since Aug. 10, Punahou’s season is over.

“Well, we all know the guidelines so we’re disappointed,” Punahou coach Kale Ane said after Saturday’s 45-21 loss to the Crusaders. “We knew going in that this was our opportunity to go to the state tournament, we just didn’t do our job.”

Punahou gave Saint Louis (9-0) its closest game of the year in a 35-28 victory for the Crusaders on Sept. 15. The Buffanblu did lose to Kahuku 41-28 to open their season, but beat Waianae and Kamehameha by a combined 87-0 to set up Saturday’s game.

“Oh yeah, for sure,” said senior Marist Liufau, who had seven tackles, two sacks and a fumble recovery against Saint Louis, when asked if the Buffanblu should still be playing. “We deserve to play, but it’s hard. We only have one seed but we can’t do anything about it. Saint Louis pulled through. It was all about tonight and there’s no excuses.”

Another title for Waipahu

Three weeks removed from dropping a second straight loss, Waipahu raised an OIA championship plaque for the second consecutive year.

The Marauders broke out to a 5-2 start this season and were 4-0 against OIA Division I competition before stumbling to a 50-20 home loss to Leilehua, followed by a 29-5 drubbing by Moanalua at Aloha Stadium on Oct. 5.

It took six periods in the mud at Kailua for the Marauders to regain their footing and they hit their stride in playoff wins over Leilehua and Castle to capture the OIA D-I crown a year after claiming the Division II title.

“These other games there were distractions, something going wrong,” Waipahu quarterback Cody Marques said after Friday’s 32-3 win over Castle at Aloha Stadium. “But this game was actually our full potential and the outcome is wonderful.”

After a mud-soaked 12-6 double-overtime win over Kailua on Oct. 12 to close the regular season, Waipahu dominated a rematch with Leilehua 29-6 in the semifinals last week and rolled past Castle on Friday.

The victory over the Knights also gave Waipahu the OIA’s berth in the four-team Division I state tournament, which opens Nov. 9.

“To be able to win a championship and go on to the state championship, we’re the only team out of division to get that opportunity, that’s amazing,” Waipahu running back Alfred Failauga said after rushing for 177 yards and two touchdowns in Friday’s win.

Roosevelt’s Hee gives back

Marcus Hee’s role in two takeaways on Friday doubled as a means of giving back.

With Roosevelt trailing Kaimuki in the fourth quarter of Friday’s OIA Division II championship game, the Rough Rider defensive back forced a fumble that teammate Isaac Kaleikau returned for the go-ahead touchdown. Hee later returned an interception 75 yards for a score to seal a 28-18 win and Roosevelt’s first title since claiming three consecutive ILH crowns from 1955 to ’57.

“I can’t even put it into words, because this community means so much to me,” Hee said. “They’ve been with me since my elementary days, been with me all the way to high school and they always took care of me and saw me as one of their own. So this is the least I could do for my family here at Roosevelt.”

Hee lives in Papakolea but spent his first two years of high school at Saint Louis. He transferred to Roosevelt as a junior and considered returning to Kalaepohaku, but ultimately remained with the Rough Rid ers and played a pivotal role in the program’s first championship in 48 years of OIA membership.

“He’s just an all-out gamer,” Roosevelt coach Kui Kahooilihala said. “He’s been a gamer the whole season.”

With St. Francis forfeiting its season, Roosevelt’s lone loss in an 11-1 campaign to date remains a 13-10 defeat to Kaimuki on Aug. 17. Other than St. Francis’ 20-14 win on Oct. 12, which is officially off the books, the Rough Riders have held all of their opponents to fewer than 20 points with Kaimuki’s total on Friday now marking a season high.

This week

The OIA Open Division champion will be crowned Friday night at Aloha Stadium when Kahuku plays Mililani in a rematch of the Trojans’ 38-10 win on Sept. 29.

Mililani (8-2) defeated Farrington, 47-7, on Saturday and has won five straight since back-to-back losses to St. John Bosco (Calif.) and Punahou.

This is the fourth time in five years the two teams will play for a league crown.

Kahuku (7-3) had four sacks and junior Peter John Mataira and Ilaisa Fotu returned interceptions for touchdowns in a 27-7 win over Campbell on Friday to clinch the Red Raiders’ fourth straight trip to the state tournament.

Campbell will play Farrington in the OIA Open third-place game Friday at Aloha Stadium with the winner advancing to states.