A grueling two-team race in the ILH that started with double overtime ended with another thriller that came down to the final minute.
Saint Louis senior Saitaua Lefau scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 4-yard run with 3:50 remaining and defensive back Ronson Timbreza came down with the game-clinching interception in the final minute to give the Crusaders an emotional 27-23 victory over Punahou on Saturday night at Aloha Stadium.
No. 1 Saint Louis (8-1) finished off back-to-back wins against previous-No. 1 Punahou (8-2) to end the Buffanblu’s four-year run atop the ILH.
The Crusaders won their first ILH title since 2010 by handing Punahou consecutive losses in ILH games for the first time in more than a decade.
"I’m just so happy for the players. They worked so hard and they deserve it," Saint Louis coach Cal Lee said. "We were fortunate the way things ended up. (Punahou) is a helluva football team. It’s too bad only one can go (to the state tournament). That’s the way it is."
Saint Louis blew a double-digit lead in the second half of a 51-45 double overtime loss to Punahou in the first meeting this season.
The Crusaders ended Punahou’s 20-game winning streak in the ILH last week to force a one-game playoff and then came back after losing a 20-10 lead in the third quarter.
This time, Saint Louis remained calm after falling behind late and took advantage of two Punahou formation penalties while trying to punt out of its own end zone.
The first punt was downed at the Crusaders 37, but Punahou had to attempt two more kicks following the penalties. Saint Louis eventually got the ball on the Punahou 33 when Jet Toner mis-hit the third punt out of bounds.
Crusaders quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who was 22-for-31 for 288 yards and three touchdowns, converted a fourth-and-9 on the next drive with an 11-yard pass to Noah Alejado.
Lefau, who had caught two touchdown passes from Tagovailoa in the first half, took a handoff out to the left and beat the defense to the end zone for the fourth lead change of the night.
"At first, I thought Tua was going to keep it, but he told me he believed in me and that I could do what I had to do," said Lefau, who rushed for 84 yards on 21 carries. "This means the world. We’re bringing back the streak, but we’ll go slow. We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. There is a lot of football left to be played."
Punahou got the ball back with a chance to keep its title streak alive.
Junior Nick Kapule started in place of senior Ephraim Tuliloa, who played four snaps and attempted only one pass.
He completed three passes to Ethan Takeyama on the drive and moved the ball across midfield with less than two minutes remaining.
Saint Louis linebacker Isaac Slade-Matautia stopped Wayne Taulapapa for a 4-yard loss and then Kapule was sacked by Dylan Toilolo and Tanielu Evaimalo to force third-and-22.
Kapule tried to throw a ball deep down the sideline but it hung in the air and fell into the arms of the leaping Timbreza, who went to the ground to start the celebration for the Crusaders.
"I saw that the receiver was running a slant or a post and when I saw the ball in the air I knew I had to get to it and get to it at its highest point so he wouldn’t get it," Timbreza said.
Taulapapa finished with 105 yards on 21 carries in his final high school game and closed his career with 3,279 yards and 52 touchdowns.
Kapule was 14-for-29 for 189 yards and two touchdowns and Takeyama had seven catches for 127 yards.
"I’m sure it was a fun game to watch," Punahou coach Kale Ane said. "We lost to a really good team and we can live with that. It hasn’t really sunk in yet that the season is over for us in October."
Only one team out of the ILH advances to the six-team field in the Division I state tournament.
Punahou trailed 20-10 in the third quarter when Saint Louis was called for a hold in the end zone, resulting in a safety.
The Buffanblu started their next drive in Saint Louis territory and Kapule found Cole Arceneaux on a 13-yard touchdown on fourth-and-11 in the corner of the end zone to pull within two.
Punahou converted the 2-point conversion on a pass from Kapule to Ethan Takeyama to tie the game and took the lead on Toner’s 50-yard field goal with 9:37 remaining.
Toner also made a 43-yard field goal in the first half.
No. 1 Saint Louis 27, No. 3 Punahou 23
| At Aloha Stadium |
| Saint Louis (8-1) |
7 |
6 |
7 |
7 |
— |
27 |
| Punahou (8-2) |
7 |
3 |
10 |
3 |
— |
23 |
StL–Saitaua Lefau 29 pass from Tua Tagovailoa (Jacob Tobias kick)
Pun–Ethan Takeyama 37 pass from Nick Kapule (Jet Toner kick)
Pun–FG Toner 43
StL–Lefau 10 pass from Tagovailoa (kick failed)
StL–Jahvin Spear 3 pass from Tagovailoa (Tobias kick)
Pun–Safety, holding penalty in end zone
Pun–Cole Arceneaux 13 pass from Kapule (Ethan Takeyama pass from Kapule)
Pun–FG Toner 50
StL–Lefau 4 run (Tobias kick)
RUSHING–Saint Louis: Lefau 21-84, Tagovailoa 9-36, Dylan Silva 1-10, Jimmy Gonsalves 1-1, team 1-(minus 2). Punahou: Wayne Taulapapa 21-105, Kapule 8-18, Ephraim Tuliloa 3-11.
PASSING–Saint Louis: Tagovailoa 22-31-0-288. Punahou: Kapule 14-29-1-189, Tuliloa 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING–Saint Louis: Spear 5-77, Lefau 5-58, Drew Kobayashi 4-75, Noah Alejado 4-49, Ronson Young 4-29. Punahou: Takeyama 7-127, Judd Cockett 4-12, Arceneaux 2-38, Stephen Barber 1-15, Kyle Yoshino 1-9.
