Just like the old days, the Saint Louis defense will have a say in the eventual champion of the top tier of ILH football.

The Crusaders beat Punahou for the third time this season, holding the Buffanblu out of the end zone for a 35-3 victory at Radford’s John E. Velasco Stadium. Saint Louis goes on to play Kamehameha for the league’s second-round title next week, and a victory would earn it its first league championship and state tournament berth since 2021. Punahou’s campaign ends after ruling the league for two years.

If Saint Louis loses to Kamehameha next week, the Warriors would be the second-round champion, setting up another game between the teams, as the Crusaders were first-round champs. The winner of that game would go to the state tournament.

The Crusaders have given up an average of 12.6 points in its nine games in the Open Division so far this season, its lowest since finishing the 2002 season with a 12.2 mark near the end of Cal Lee’s first dynasty. Saint Louis held Punahou to 145 yards, just 74 of them in the air.

“The defense has been setting us up all year,” Saint Louis coach Tupu Alualu said. “I know there is a lot of room to get better, we work hard in practice and we compete and I am happy for the kids. We just have to stay disciplined and give all glory to God.”

The Crusaders started the game with a heavy dose of Titan Lacaden after his five-touchdown performance the last time the two teams met, running five straight snaps to him out of the wildcat formation following a false start. Nainoa Lopes assumed the quarterback position after that, but Saint Louis still struggled to move the ball.

Punahou broke the scoring drought with a 30-yard field goal to begin the second quarter for a rare lead before Saint Louis turned the offense on. Stytyn Lasconia hauled in a slant from 6 yards out from Lopes for the first touchdown and Lacaden ran the conversion in. Lacaden then ended a 13-play drive that included a successful fake punt on fourth-and-12 by catching a slant from Lopes from 11 yards out to make it 15-3 after the conversion with 46 seconds to go before the half.

Jordan Nunuha added a score on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Lopes nine plays after intermission and Lacaden sealed it with a 5-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter before Xavier Brown piled on with a 13-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Mose Lilo.

Lopes finished his evening with 224 yards passing and three touchdown passes to give him 16 for the season, with Hashley Kingston Siliado serving as his favorite target with seven catches for 64 yards. Tahlen Kekawa held down the ground game with 65 yards on 11 carries. Nine Crusaders caught passes and nine had at least one carry.

Punahou finishes its season with a 3-6 record after losing a large senior class last year. It hadn’t had six losses in a season since 2000, Kale Ane’s second year at the helm after taking over for Dan Morrison.

“We knew going into it that we had tempered expectations, but I think we showed a lot of glimpses of things to come,” Punahou coach Nate Kia said. “I’m proud of the way our guys grew throughout the season, how they developed. It’s a continual improvement — it is never a straight line, but watching the few senior leaders we had be able to step into a leadership role was fulfilling. The future looks bright.”

The Crusaders improved to 6-3, with one of their losses coming 31-28 to Kamehameha after beating them 37-7 previously. One of those teams will end 2024 as the ILH champion, a title the Warriors haven’t held since 2009. before the Crusaders and Buffanblu started trading it back and forth

“If we beat Kamehameha we are ILH champion,” Alualu said. “Beating them is the plan. We owe them. They beat us the last time and it won’t happen again.”

PREP FOOTBALL SUMMARIES

ILH

NO. 4 SAINT LOUIS 35,

NO. 7 PUNAHOU 3

at John E. Velasco Stadium

Punahou 0 3 0 0 — 3

Saint Louis 0 15 6 14 — 35

Pun: Dash Watanabe 30 field goal

STL: Stytyn Lasconia 6 pass from Nainoa Lopes (Titan Lacaden rush)

STL: Lacaden 11 pass from Lopes (Stytyn Lasconia kick)

STL: Jordan Nunuha 9 pass from Lopes (pass failed)

STL: Lacaden 5 rush (Lasconia kick)

STL: Xavier Brown 13 pass from Mose Lilo (Lasconia kick)

Rushing—Pun: John-Luke Twigg 13-27, Hunter Fujikawa 2-13, Aaron Johnson 3-12, Dash Watanabe 2-12, Keegan Dunn 2-7. STL: Tahlen Kekawa 11-65, Nainoa Lopes 8-35, Titan Lacaden 6-16, Tenari Maafala 3-16, Napoleon Stevens 1-16, Kaeo Apduhan 1-7, Jonah Goro-Ania 3-5, Ma’a Fonoti 2-5, Kamuela Sablan 1-0.

Passing —Pun: Hunter Fujikawa 9-27-2-74. STL: Nainoa Lopes 18-27-0-224, Mose Lilo 3-4-0-22.

Receiving—Pun: Zion White 3-26, Dash Watanabe 2-16, Donte Utu 2-16, John-Luke Twigg 2-6. STL: Hashley Kingston Siliado 7-64, Titan Lacaden 4-48, Ahuna Madden-Rush 2-47, Exodus Brown 1-31, Stytyn Lasconia 3-18, Xavier Brown 1-13, Jordan Nunuha 1-9, Tahlen Kekawa 1-9, Ha’alilo Lemamea-Oto 1-7.