No. 3 Saint Louis did what it needed to do to finish the ILH regular season tied with No. 2 Punahou.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw for two touchdowns and rushed for another to lead the Crusaders to a 21-7 win over No. 10 Kamehameha on Friday night at Aloha Stadium.
Tagovailoa was held to 138 yards as the Saint Louis passing offense was slowed down for the second straight game. Kamehameha (3-5, 2-4) had its chances, but quarterback Thomas Yam was picked off twice in the end zone, including midway through the fourth quarter by Isaiah Tufaga.
“Our D-line got through and flushed (Yam) out of the pocket (and) I read the quarterback and jumped in front of the route,” Tufaga said. “It changed (the momentum) dramatically. Our offense was kind of slow, but we always feed off of each other.”
The Crusaders (6-1, 5-1) won a card draw after finishing tied with Punahou following last week’s 33-20 loss to the Buffanblu. Saint Louis will play ‘Iolani in the first game of a doubleheader next Friday night and Punahou will take on Kamehameha in the nightcap.
The winners of those two games will meet in two weeks to determine the ILH champion unless either Kamehameha or ‘Iolani pull off two upsets.
Saint Louis created turnovers when it needed and Tagovailoa rushed for 96 of Saint Louis’ 228 yards against the Warriors to deliver Saint Louis’ sixth consecutive win against Kamehameha.
Tagovailoa completed 10 of his 18 throws and was picked off once. It’s the first time in his career that Tagovailoa has been intercepted in three consecutive games.
“We’re trying to learn how to trust and believe in each other on offense, but it’s kind of hard when we get a drive going and kill ourselves with penalties,” Tagovailoa said.
Saint Louis looked like it was headed for an early rout of the Warriors as it scored easily on its first two drives.
Tagovailoa scored his 100th career touchdown on a 9-yard run and then tossed a 32-yard touchdown pass to Leelan Oasay for a 14-0 lead.
The Crusaders were shut out in the second quarter, with Kamehameha defensive lineman Nakoa Pauole leading the way. Pauole had one sack of Tagovailoa and nearly came up with another as the Crusaders punted twice and turned the ball over once on downs in the second quarter.
Kamehameha strung together a 62-yard scoring drive after the turnover on downs. Kamehameha quarterback Thomas Yam found running back Trever Kahunahana out of the backfield for an 8-yard touchdown to make it a 14-7 game.
Saint Louis couldn’t extend the lead in the third quarter as Tagovailoa was intercepted at the 1-yard line by Kalamaku Kuewa.
Defensive lineman Kaha’i Auld kept field position in Saint Louis’ favor when he sacked Yam on third down to force Kamehameha’s second three-and-out to start the second half.
Tagovailoa had a 40-yard touchdown run called back by a block-in-the-back penalty and was sacked for a second time by Pauole to force third-and-goal from the 12.
Saint Louis converted for a 21-7 lead when Tagovailoa found Chandler Washington-Villanueva for the senior’s second touchdown catch of the season.
