Saint Louis’ Titan Lacaden turned in a colossal performance Saturday against Punahou, which ensured the ILH Open Division season will be extended two more games.
Lacaden rushed 14 times for 248 yards and four touchdowns as Saint Louis routed Punahou 50-14 at Radford.
“We’re just going to keep grinding and work at practice and continue to do what we’re trying to do,” Saint Louis coach Tupu Alualu said.
Lacaden’s highlight-reel play was an electrifying 75-yard run that put the Crusaders ahead 31-14 with 1:44 remaining before halftime.
The Hawaii commit started up the middle, juked a defender, bounced to the right side, weaved through Punahou defenders and out-ran more defenders down the left side.
“My coaches tell me to stay patient, use my explosiveness to get to the line. That’s what I did,” Lacaden said. “The O-line did their thing, they blocked perfectly. I saw a nice little seam and I hit it. From there it was just a foot race and green grass.”
Saint Louis’ Nainoa Lopes was intercepted by Donte Utu on his first pass of the game. The Crusaders then scored touchdowns on their next five possessions of the first half and Lacaden added two scoring runs in the third quarter in a game between teams tied for No. 4 in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser Football Top 10.
Lopes finished 11-for-17 for 227 yards. He was intercepted twice by Utu. The Crusaders allowed 154 yards of total offense.
“I just want to give everything out to the coaches, my teammates, the defense. Everybody played their part today,” Lacaden said.
Aside from Saint Louis, another team elated with Saturday’s result was Kamehameha, which had its season extended.
The three ILH Open Division teams — Saint Louis, Punahou and Kamehameha — all finished the second round 1-1, so a two-game, tie-breaker playoff will be held. A draw of cards will determine which teams play each other in the first playoff game and which team receives the bye.
“We’re not in control of anything the way the ILH and however the system goes,” Alualu said. “We’re just going to wait for the next game.”
If Saint Louis, which won the first round, claims the playoff, the Crusaders will be the ILH champion and awarded the league’s lone berth in the four-team state tournament.
If Punahou or Kamehameha claims the playoff, that team will play Saint Louis for the ILH title.
Saint Louis went up 8-0 on Lopes’ 22-yard pass on fourth down to Jordan Nunuha and Lacaden’s 2-point conversion run with 48 seconds left in the first quarter.
“We finally got all our weapons back. Jordan Nunuha is a guy coming off an injury. He got us out of that hole. That’s what we need. We need playmakers,” Lacaden said.
On Punahou’s next possession, Saint Louis’ TJ Alualu intercepted a Hunter Fujikawa pass and returned the ball to the Buffanblu 31.
Lacaden scored four plays later on an 8-yard run up the middle, and he ran in the 2-point conversion to make it 16-0 with 10:57 remaining in the first half.
The Buffanblu cut the deficit to 16-6 on John-Luke Twigg’s 1-yard plunge with 7:42 to go in the half. The 2-point conversion run failed.
The Crusaders came right back on Lopes’ 39-yard strike down the left sideline to Stytyn Lasconia, and Vincent Tautua’s 2-point conversion run, which made it 24-6 with 4:16 remaining before halftime.
Punahou got within 24-14 with 2:39 left in the first half on Fujikawa’s 5-yard pass to Utu, and Fujikawa and Utu also connected on the 2-point conversion pass.
Saint Louis went up by 18 on Lacaden’s incredible run, and extended the advantage to 37-14 on Lopes’ 22-yard pass to Roxten Popa-Hernandez with 22 seconds left before halftime.
On the first play from scrimmage of the second half, Lacaden scored on an 80-yard run up the middle to make it 43-14 and a 10-yard run with 8:28 left in the third quarter to cap the scoring.
“We wanted to see him run the ball and trying to get him ready for the next game,” Alualu said. “He was amazing tonight. Glad to have him back. I don’t think he was 100% (because of a foot injury), but he did a great job.”
On Sept. 21, the Crusaders beat the host Buffanblu 31-21.
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At Radford
Punahou (3-5, 1-3) 0 14 0 0 — 14
Saint Louis (5-3, 3-1) 8 29 13 0 — 50
STL— Jordan Nunuha 22 pass from Nainoa Lopes (Titan Lacaden run) 0:48
STL—Lacaden 8 run (Lacaden run), 10:57
PUN—John-Luke Twigg 1 run (run failed), 7:42
STL—Stytyn Lasconia 39 pass from Lopes (Vincent Tautua run), 4:16
PUN— Donte Utu 5 pass from from Hunter Fujikawa (Utu from Fujikawa), 2:39
STL—Lacaden 75 run (Lasconia kick), 1:44
STL—Roxten Popa-Hernandez 22 pass from Lopes (run failed), 0:21
STL—Lacaden 80 run (kick failed)), 11:46
STL—Lacaden 10 run (Lasconia kick), 8:29
RUSHING—Punahou: Keegan Dunn 6-16, Brady Lau 3-14, Fujikawa 2-11, Twigg 3-7, team Sean Connell 3-6, team 1-(minus 1). Saint Louis: Lacaden 14-248, Tahlen Kekawa 5-27, Lopes 4-24, Mose Lilo 3-20, Mana Heffernan 1-11, Tenari Maafala 3-11, Madden-Rush Ahuna 1-5, Napoleon Stevens 1-4, Maa Fonoti 3-4, #43 1-3, Kamuela Sablan 1-2.
PASSING—Punahou: Fujikawa 11-27–2-101 Saint Louis: Lopes 11-17-2-227, Lilo 1-2-0-10.
RECEIVING—Punahou: Kyler Matsui 5-55, Zion White 4-33, Connell 1-8, Utu 1-5. Saint Louis: Lasconia 2-49, Exodus Brown 2-32, Hashley Kingston Siliado 2-24, Xavier Brown 1-37, Lacaden 1-33, Nunuha 1-22, Popa-Hernandez 1-22, #83 1-10, Dallas Kealohanui 1-8.
