Saint Louis appears well on its way to putting a rough nonleague season behind it.
Kekahi Graham completed 21 of 25 passes for 289 yards and four touchdowns as No. 5 Saint Louis beat No. 10 Kamehameha 49-14 in an ILH Open Division game Saturday at Kamehameha.
The Crusaders didn’t look anything like a team that lost 28-7 to Mililani and 56-14 to Bishop Gorman (Nev.) in the nonleague season.
“We had a rough start at the beginning of our season and we were very upset at ourselves and we made up for it,” Graham said.
Saint Louis’ Jaysen Peters-de Laura had six catches for 60 yards and a touchdown.
“I feel like we did a 100 percent better job coming off a big loss to Bishop Gorman — we wanted to prove ourselves, especially against Kamehameha,” he said.
The Crusaders (1-0) scored touchdowns on their first three possessions.
On Saint Louis’ first play from scrimmage, Graham hit Chyler DeSilva on a 45-yard touchdown pass. Makena Kauai’s PAT kick made it 7-0 with 10:26 left in the opening quarter.
The Crusaders made it 14-0 on Graham’s 25-yard scoring pass to Peters-de Laura with 5:09 remaining in the quarter.
The Warriors answered with Kealii Ah Yat’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Kaina Watson and Kain Tubania’s PAT kick, which made it 14-7 with 2:02 left in the first quarter. Ah Yat was 5-for-5 for 38 yards on the drive.
Saint Louis went up 28-7 on Graham’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Titan Lacaden on the first play of the second quarter and Keola Apduhan’s 1-yard scoring run with 3:07 remaining before halftime.
“We need to bounce back and start off the game fast and not let up,” Peters-de Laura said.
Kamehameha got within 28-14 with nine seconds remaining in the half on Sheyden Iokia’s 22-yard touchdown pass from Ah Yat.
Graham was 11-for-14 for 174 yards in the first half for Saint Louis.
The Crusaders scored on the first possession of the second half on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Graham to Yosei Takahashi with 9:06 remaining in the third quarter.
Apduhan’s 1-yard scoring run with 5:07 remaining in the third and Hikaa Dancil-Evans’ 7-yard touchdown run with 53 seconds remaining made it 49-14.
DeSilva had four catches for 86 yards and Apduhan had 15 carries for 69 yards for Saint Louis, which had 168 yards rushing.
Ah Yat had 109 passing yards and 38 rushing for the Warriors (0-1), who had 178 yards of total offense.
Peters-de Laura said Saint Louis came in hungry and prepared for the game.
“Especially after the loss we had last week against Gorman, we knew that we had to work hard every day at practice and execute. We were in film every day right after school for an hour going over Kamehameha and stuff.”
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SAINT LOUIS 49, KAMEHAMEHA 14
At Kamehameha
Saint Louis (2-2, 1-0) 14 14 21 0 — 49
KS (0-2-1, 0-1) 7 7 0 0 — 14
StL—Chyler DeSilva 45 pass from Kekahi Graham (Makena Kauai kick)
StL—Jaysen Peters-de Laura 25 pass from Graham (Kauai kick)
KS—Kaina Watson 8 pass from Kealii Ah Yat (Kain Tubania kick)
StL—Titan Lacaden 12 pass from Graham (Kauai kick)
StL—Keola Apduhan 1 run (Kauai kick)
KS—Sheyden Iokia 22 pass from Ah Yat (Brady Akau kick)
StL—Yosei Takahashi 23 pass from Graham (Kauai kick)
StL—Apduhan 1 run (Kauai kick)
StL—Hikaa Dancil-Evans 7 run (Kauai kick)
RUSHING—Saint Louis: Apduhan 15-69, Chaz Delto 6-43, Dancil-Evans 3-27, Graham 8-15, Will Lentz 5-14, Jahren Altura 1-4, #39 1-2, team 1-(minus 6). Kamehameha: Ah Yat 11-38, Dreyton Stone 7-18, Sunrise Solatorio 2-9, Jeven Bolos-Reyes 1-5, Iokia 1-(minus 1).
PASSING—Saint Louis: Graham 21-25-0-289. Kamehameha: Ah Yat 12-26-1-109, Bolos-Reyes 2-3-0-6.
RECEIVING—Saint Louis: DeSilva 4-86, Peters-de Laura 6-60, Lacaden 4-36, Nick Delgadillo 2-48, Takahashi 2-31, Jordan Nunuha 2-19, Ricky Lepule Jr. 1-9. Kamehameha: Iokia 3-34, Kalai Bradley 2-21, Chavis Lee 2-21, Kahanu Kalahiki 2-13, Kaina Watson 2-13, Micah Akiu 1-7, Kala Hardie 2-6
