Chevan Cordeiro was admittedly nervous entering his first appearance as Saint Louis’ starting quarterback.
Nothing a few big plays couldn’t remedy.
After No. 1 Saint Louis opened Saturday’s season opener at No. 5 Waianae with a three-and-out, Cordeiro led the Crusaders to touchdowns on their next three possessions on their way to a commanding 49-7 nonconference victory in their first game of the post-Tua Tagovailoa era.
With Tagovailoa — a three-year starter who led Saint Louis to the Open Division state championship last season — now at Alabama, Cordeiro took control of the Crusaders offense and shook off a slow start to complete 10 of 16 pass attempts for 153 yards and a touchdown in one half of action.
He also sparked the Crusaders on the ground, scoring their first touchdown of the season with a 16-yard run and igniting another scoring drive with two more bursts of 20-plus yards when his passing options were covered.
“My nerves went away after I had those big runs,” said Cordeiro, who finished with 63 rushing yards and two touchdowns on seven carries.
Even so, he left Raymond Torii Field focused on points of improvement.
“I did all right. I missed a couple of reads and I could have done better,” Cordeiro said.
Senior Maika Bonner took over to start the third quarter and completed six of seven attempts for 123 yards and two touchdowns.
VIDEO REVIEW
Watch Paul Honda’s video of the first game played at Skippa Diaz Stadium between Farrington and Kamehameha here.
While the Saint Louis offense amassed 380 yards in total offense, the defense held Waianae to 17 yards while pushing the Seariders back for a net of minus-28 yards rushing. The Crusaders forced a three-and-out on seven of Waianae’s 12 possessions.
The Seariders were without All-State running back Rico Rosario. Waianae coach Walter Young declined to comment on Rosario’s absence other than saying “it’s a team game.”
“We correct mistakes and learn from them,” Young said. “Take nothing away from (the Crusaders), they’re a great team, that’s the defending champions. But our kids showed us character, they didn’t put their heads down, they went all the way and they tried their best and that’s all we can ask of them.”
A high snap on Waianae’s first punt attempt of the game gave Saint Louis possession at the Seariders’ 16 and Cordeiro opened the scoring with a keeper to the left pylon.
On Saint Louis’ next drive, Cordeiro glided through the Waianae defense for runs of 26 and 20 yards to set up a 7-yard touchdown pass to Tosh Kekahuna-Kalawe. He finished the Crusaders’ next possession with a 1-yard sneak on fourth-and-goal to give Saint Louis a 21-0 lead.
“We started so slow. I’m not sure if it’s the atmosphere or not playing at Aloha Stadium,” Saint Louis coach Cal Lee said. “But you know he’s got to get some reps — as a first-year starter he did a decent job. Waianae is a physical team and that’s a good test. I enjoyed playing them.”
Waianae linebacker Kanai Mauga, who led the Seariders with eight tackles, provided a spark with a 29-yard interception return midway through the second quarter and Justin Tacgere lofted an 8-yard touchdown pass to Atui Valu to get Waianae on the board.
But an interception by Saint Louis safety Kai Kaneshiro set up a four-play scoring drive capped by Kainalu Tumpap’s 10-yard run to give the Crusaders a 28-7 lead going into halftime.
Click here to see more photos.
