Powerful Saint Louis gets in serious work with football scrimmages

The week would have begun with Moanalua and a scrimmage on Thursday.

Instead, Saint Louis canceled the Moanalua scrimmage and opted for a scrimmage with OIA powerhouse Mililani on Friday. The Crusaders then ended the week with scrimmage against Kailua on Saturday.

With more than 100 players to evaluate, coach Ron Lee and staff were busy scanning through footage on a busy Saturday afternoon at Kalaepohaku.

“I’m going to have to get out of the office. It’s too loud in here,” said Lee, now in his sixth decade of coaching. “I’ll call you back when I get away.”

Life in the football office is a constant for the Crusaders, especially those on the offensive side of the ball. Receivers and running backs get their hours of film study in, but no other position grinds through Lee’s analysis like the QBs do.

Friday’s tilt with Mililani was a good hour and 45 minutes, Lee said.

“We ran about 80 plays. Good work. Mililani is really good. They’re in midseason form. They’re very impressive. We just got through with Kailua. We didn’t go very long, but it was good for us. We let a lot of guys get reps.”

While many football programs are trying to increase numbers in preseason, the Crusaders are well stocked.

“We’re starting to give out equipment, game jerseys, lockers. Now it’s time to play. We’ve let, on the varsity, everyone get reps. But (later), not everybody’s going to get reps, so we might send them down to the JV. We have to discuss that tomorrow,” Lee said.

No program goes unscathed when it comes to offseason and preseason injuries, but for the Crusaders, so far, so good.

“We have minor stuff, nothing real serious,” Lee said. “We played a lot of guys, so it wasn’t high risk.”

This week, the four-time defending Open Division champions will be in battle mode at practice, and practice only.

“We don’t have anything next week. We’re still trying to find something,” Lee said.

One of the odd twists of the COVID-19 pandemic and cancellation of prep football in Hawaii is that incoming transfers don’t have to sit another season. One of them is offensive lineman Iapani “Poncho” Laloulu, a fast-rising prospect who recently got on the national radar. His most recent scholarship offer is from Florida.

“He’s very competitive and he’s very athletic,” Lee said of Laloulu, who transferred from Farrington. “He’s kind of learning the blocking schemes, but he moves well for his size. He can be off-balance and setting the wrong way, but he can recover. He’s come a long way from the start (of preseason practice) on the 19th, and he’s very physical.”

Prior to Laloulu’s arrival, Saint Louis already had a wealth of talent and depth on the O-line.

“Poncho helps, but he’s competing, too, to get on the field. We’ve got 10, 11 linemen that compete,” Lee said.

The scrimmage with Mililani was a revelation.

“Mililani gave us a hard time. We got hurt a little bit and got out-quicked going against different teams. Mililani was very quick on the outside. A lot of penetration by Mililani,” Lee said.

Trojans coach Rod York was mildly enthused.

“Great work,” he said.

The Crusaders will benefit from the early jolt from the Trojans.

“It’s good that we’ve got to move. Because of our size, we haven’t moved,” Lee noted. “Our protection scheme, if you’re uncovered, you have to ‘pop.’ We are a little slow popping on the back side.”

Saint Louis’ loaded O-line includes Ethan Spencer, a commit to Hawaii, Jonah Savaiinaea (Arizona) and La‘akea Kapoi (San Diego State). Lee believes more of his trench men will wind up at Division I college programs.

In the shotgun, the coach isn’t prepared to announce a starter yet. Senior AJ Bianco, junior Kekahi Graham and sophomore Oa Kamakawiwo‘ole are in an intriguing competition.

“Oh, we shared equal reps with all the quarterbacks in practice and the scrimmage. We’re going to have to meet and evaluate, work our 1s and 2s more. You’re not going to pull ahead. Right now, they’re pretty even,” Lee said.

“One guy will make the good play, then next time he doesn’t. We need to be more consistent with our reads and progressions, and that takes time.”

Lee also noted that a regular-season opener between Kamehameha and Mililani has been canceled. York confirmed that the Warriors are in quarantine due to a positive test for the virus.

“They canceled two days ago (on Thursday),” York said. “It may be rescheduled.”

States like Utah handled positive tests by shutting down for up to two weeks last season before returning. An emphasis on vaccination is key, Lee said.

“We’re always concerned. We want to do our part,” said Lee, who got vaccinated in January. “Sometimes, we forget because we’ve been going since spring, 45, 50 practices and we’ve been lucky with our tests for the (spring) scrimmages. Thank the good Lord, we haven’t had any cases. Now we’ve got a lot of kids vaccinated. We keep our protocols at the school.”

Meanwhile, York was busy heading to the field for a Saturday afternoon scrimmage with OIA powerhouse Kahuku. Not long from now, Sept. 11, Mililani will square off with national powerhouse Mater Dei at St. John Bosco’s stadium in Bellflower, Calif.

“We want to get every game we can get,” York said.