The preseason unanimous No. 1-ranked Saint Louis Crusaders never budged from their top-dog status, running the table for the second consecutive year with a 38-17 win over Mililani on Saturday night to capture the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Football State Championships at Aloha Stadium.
Senior Korvin Feagins intercepted three passes and Saint Louis (11-0) sacked Mililani quarterback Dillon Gabriel nine times to close out a third straight Open Division state championship.
The Crusaders are the first school to win three consecutive state titles in the top-tier division since the tournament format began in 1999 and have won all three Open titles since the third division was created in 2016.
Win No. 284 in his 26th season as Saint Louis head coach brought Cal Lee his fourth state championship to go along with his 14 Prep Bowl titles.
“This feels like the first one. I don’t think we keep count,” Lee said. “I don’t know how many people count it. I’m not.”
Saint Louis’ 26-game winning streak overall matches Kahuku’s run from 2000 to ’02 as the third-longest streak in state history behind two previous Lee squads.
The Crusaders won 55 games in a row from 1985 to 1990 and 31 straight from ’95 to ’97.
“It’s not easy,” Lee said. “Give the credit to all of the coaches and the players. They’re the ones who did everything. I was lucky to be here.”
Saint Louis’ junior linebacker duo of Nate Herbig and Jordan Botelho dominated from the outset, and both found the end zone in a 24-point third quarter to put the game away.
Herbig, who had four sacks, scooped up a punt blocked by Kila Kamakawiwo‘ole and returned it the short distance for a touchdown for a 24-3 advantage after Saint Louis led 14-3 at the break.
Saint Louis held a commanding 31-3 lead when Gabriel scored on a 1-yard run to make it 31-10.
Trojans sophomore Fatu Iosefa intercepted a Jayden de Laura pass and Mililani was in the red zone when a heavy rush caused Gabriel to drop the ball behind him.
Botelho was right there to scoop it up and ran untouched 74 yards the other way for the back-breaking touchdown.
“We definitely worked hard and gave it our all,” said defensive lineman Shane Kady, who was in on one of Mililani’s eight tackles for loss. “Saint Louis is a good team. I just think we didn’t come out that strong today. We played with heart and it didn’t come out in our favor at the end.”
Botelho finished with 21⁄2 sacks and Feagins had 10 tackles in addition to the three picks. Timothy Timoteo added two sacks.
Gabriel, who broke Tua Tagovailoa’s state career passing mark this season, finished 23-for-44 for 259 yards and two touchdowns (one rushing) in the final game of his high school career.
The Trojans finished the year 10-3.
De Laura, a junior who became the first Crusaders quarterback to win a state title as an underclassman since Timmy Chang won the Prep Bowl in 1998, finished 19-for-30 for 251 yards without a touchdown pass.
Dayton Sam scored Saint Louis’ other two offensive touchdowns on runs of 14 and 1 yards.
De Laura’s only touchdown came on a 1-yard run to cap a 10-play, 75-yard opening drive of the game when he skied over the pile for a 7-0 advantage.
A potential shootout turned into a defensive battle for the rest of the first half, with de Laura held to negative yards rushing.
The teams went more than 16 minutes without scoring until Mililani’s Liam McGehee put the Trojans on the board with a 44-yard field goal.
Saint Louis answered right back, with Sam scoring on a 14-yard touchdown run following another big pass play from de Laura to Roman Wilson.
Wilson had 133 yards receiving in the opening half and was responsible for more than half of the Crusaders’ total yards on five plays.
He finished with 148 receiving yards on seven catches.
—
GAME SUMMARY
At Aloha Stadium
>> Mililani (10-3) 0 3 7 7 — 17
>> Saint Louis (11-0) 7 7 24 0 — 38
Saint Louis — Jayden de Laura 1 run (Garyn Napuunoa kick)
Mililani — FG Liam McGehee 44
Saint Louis — Dayton Sam 14 run (Napuunoa kick)
Saint Louis — FG Napuunoa 32
Saint Louis — Nick Herbig 5 blocked punt return (Napuunoa kick)
Saint Louis — Dayton Sam 1 run (Napuunoa kick)
Mililani — Dillon Gabriel 1 run (McGehee kick)
Saint Louis — Jordan Botelho 74 fumble return (Napuunoa kick)
Saint Louis — Ryan Chang 22 pass from Gabriel (McGehee kick)
RUSHING — Mililani: Kilifi Malepeai 9-80, Gabriel 22-13, Raysen Motoyama 2-(minus 4). Saint Louis: Robbie Paikai 10-60, Sam 9-49, Ka’ohu Kamakawiwo’ole 4-23, Logan Kalawaia 7-18, Connor Apo 3-12, de Laura 10-1.
PASSING — Mililani: Gabriel 23-44-3-259. Saint Louis: de Laura 19-30-2-251.
RECEIVING — Mililani: Chang 8-98, Reichel Vegas 6-79, Maka Hill 3-33, Jansen York 2-27, Malepeai 2-13, Cy Kuboyama-Hayashi 1-15, Motoyama 1-(minus 6). Saint Louis: Roman Wilson 7-148, Chance Beyer 6-42, Koali Nishigaya 3-41, Makoa Close 1-7, Sam 1-7, Tama Albet Sula 1-6.
